New to the newsgroup, so hope I've done things, i.e. title/request/etc,
correctly. Some groups get really cranky when you don't follow their
formating.

Anyway, I'm building a spice rack out of some left over baltic birch and
hardboard and was wondering what spacing is typically used between shelves?
I was thinking of using dowling on the face of the shelves, to hold the
spice jars on the face of the shelf, with the top dowel located at about 1/2
the height of the spice jar. Was thinking of using a spacing about 1.5x the
height of the spice jar? That way the spice jar could just slip between the
top of the dowel and the bottom of the next up shelf?

Comments?

Thank you in advance,

Alfred

On Sep 22, 9:30*am, "PinInCalgary" wrote:
New to the newsgroup, so hope I've done things, i.e. title/request/etc,
correctly. Some groups get really cranky when you don't follow their
formating.

The group zealots here tend to focus more on political issues rather
than posting format.

In this group, the just remember to snip the quoted post for brevity,
and then post your comments underneath the quote. So far, so good!

Anyway, I'm building a spice rack out of some left over baltic birch and
hardboard and was wondering what spacing is typically used between shelves?

When I build something that has storage for containers, I usually
build off the largest container. So for me, I would design around the
largest spice bottle that you intend to use.

For something small like spices, you could easily make yourself a
cardboard mock up of a spice rack. Then you could see your design and
check the spacing and functionality of it before
cutting up your material.

Welcome to the group!

Robert

On Sep 22, 10:35*am, "Lee Michaels"
wrote:

I should point out that I asked a question about spice racks on here once
and was immediately shouted down by various culinary types who told me that
no real cook exposes their spices to the light of day. *They hide them in
drawers as to preserve freshness, etc.

Well, the shouters need to get with the program. I keep the long term
bottles in the rotation out of the sun. This is particularly bad for
dried peppers as they not only lose their color but their potency.

My kitchen isn't in the sunlight, and I use most spices fast since I
cook a lot. I like well spiced and complex flavors, so the spices
don't stay around long. I have not fancy bottles since they irritate
me when I am cooking or making rubs, etc. I even buy some spices in
the largest containers I can find so I can have them on hand for beef
and pork rubs, sauce bases, etc.

I passed that info onto the person who asked for my help. *I was informed by
this female. queen of the house, that she was the ruler of her domain. And,
as such, she deemed that spice racks were an important decorator
item/fashion accessory.

I decided to sit this one out.

Coward!! (Just kidding....)

I am hearing the "yes dear" voice of a successful relationship.
"Discretion is the better part of valor" says I.

Not an argument you would win in this life or the next! :^)

Snip.....

Anyway, I'm building a spice rack out of some left over baltic birch and
hardboard and was wondering what spacing is typically used between
shelves? I was thinking of using dowling on the face of the shelves, to
hold the spice jars on the face of the shelf, with the top dowel located
at about 1/2 the height of the spice jar. Was thinking of using a spacing
about 1.5x the height of the spice jar? That way the spice jar could just
slip between the top of the dowel and the bottom of the next up shelf?

....snip

Thank you for the fun responses. Almost felt like I was watching the end
credits from "Monty Python's Holy Grail" which were almost as funny as the
movie itself.

Alfred

On Sep 22, 11:31*am, "Lee Michaels"
wrote:
I explained to both her and my wife that the proposed
spice racks would require hundreds of dollars of new tools and specialized
bits. *And expensive wood and lots of time would be required as well.

Again, a little admiration coming your way from me. Knowing your
opponent well is a valuable negotiating tool.

Buying something from the store became an option all of a sudden. *Me, I was
relieved.

And then to give her a viable solution, brilliant.

I don't build any small stuff for others as they come to me and say
"you know, I want one like those they sell at Pier One" or I saw this
at "XXX, and wanted on like that in the same color".

Someway, they think it will be cheaper to build in a shop, just one at
a time. Someway, they always seem to think I have premium material
"laying around". Just because a project is small doesn't mean it
won't eat up a pile of materials.

When those conversations get started, I used to ardently encourage
folks to buy what they saw so they could get exactly what they want.

Now if it comes up, my SO puts the kibosh on the situation
immediately. After all, my spare time belongs to her, anyway.

Robert

"Lee Michaels" wrote in message
...
Snip



I should point out that I asked a question about spice racks on here once
and was immediately shouted down by various culinary types who told me
that no real cook exposes their spices to the light of day. They hide
them in drawers as to preserve freshness, etc.


You should also know that if you are from Arkansas, ;~) you have no need
or possibly do not know what a spice rack would be used for. right
Swingman... Snicker.

Leon wrote:
"Lee Michaels" wrote in message
...
Snip


I should point out that I asked a question about spice racks on here once
and was immediately shouted down by various culinary types who told me
that no real cook exposes their spices to the light of day. They hide
them in drawers as to preserve freshness, etc.


You should also know that if you are from Arkansas, ;~) you have no need
or possibly do not know what a spice rack would be used for. right
Swingman... Snicker.

LOL ... IIRC, condiments, spices and educational materials are
confiscated at the border.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

PinInCalgary wrote:

Anyway, I'm building a spice rack out of some left over baltic birch and
hardboard and was wondering what spacing is typically used between shelves?
I was thinking of using dowling on the face of the shelves, to hold the
spice jars on the face of the shelf, with the top dowel located at about 1/2
the height of the spice jar. Was thinking of using a spacing about 1.5x the
height of the spice jar? That way the spice jar could just slip between the
top of the dowel and the bottom of the next up shelf?

Just recently rehung a spice rack for a friend that I made using "French
cleats", which makes the racks adjustable.

http://www.e-woodshop.net/Projects9.htm

(scroll down to "Cabinet Door Adjustable Spice Rack")

Here it is in its new location a few years later:

http://www.e-woodshop.net/images/IMG...90911-1454.jpg

FWIW ...

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

"PinInCalgary" wrote in message

Anyway, I'm building a spice rack out of some left over baltic birch and
hardboard and was wondering what spacing is typically used between
shelves? I was thinking of using dowling on the face of the shelves, to
hold the spice jars on the face of the shelf, with the top dowel located
at about 1/2 the height of the spice jar. Was thinking of using a spacing
about 1.5x the height of the spice jar? That way the spice jar could just
slip between the top of the dowel and the bottom of the next up shelf?

Comments?

My only comments is to make a spice drawer rather than a rack. Serious
cooks keep spices in closed area, out of the light.

"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
...

"PinInCalgary" wrote in message

Anyway, I'm building a spice rack out of some left over baltic birch and
hardboard and was wondering what spacing is typically used between
shelves? I was thinking of using dowling on the face of the shelves, to
hold the spice jars on the face of the shelf, with the top dowel located
at about 1/2 the height of the spice jar. Was thinking of using a spacing
about 1.5x the height of the spice jar? That way the spice jar could just
slip between the top of the dowel and the bottom of the next up shelf?

Comments?

My only comments is to make a spice drawer rather than a rack. Serious
cooks keep spices in closed area, out of the light.


That is what they say but I wonder what the spices are exposed to in the
grocery store until the "serious cook" gets his hands on them.

"Leon" wrote in message


That is what they say but I wonder what the spices are exposed to in the
grocery store until the "serious cook" gets his hands on them.

Beats me, I don't buy my spices in grocery stores. Thee are better sources,
like Penzey's, or Pendry's.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
"Leon" wrote in message


That is what they say but I wonder what the spices are exposed to in
the grocery store until the "serious cook" gets his hands on them.

Beats me, I don't buy my spices in grocery stores. Thee are better
sources, like Penzey's, or Pendry's.

However at Penzeys they're on display in glass bottles or clear plastic
bags. Dunno about Penderys, they're not in driving distance.

"PinInCalgary" wrote in message
height of the spice jar? That way the spice jar could just slip between
the
top of the dowel and the bottom of the next up shelf?

Over time, I've realized there's several things to consider with spice
racks. If they're open to sunlight (bad) or even a lot of kitchen light (no
as bad, but could be much better) then much of your spice will lose it's
colour, potency and taste over the months it sits there.

Two options you might want to consider:
Put your spice bottles in a rack that resides in drawer. Although the link
given is a prebuilt plastic drawer insert, it illustrates what I'm talking
about and you should be able to easily model a wooden one similar to the
plastic model shown.
http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/pa...=3,43722,43743

The second option for a wall mount spice rack is to use spice jars that
eliminate most or all of the light such as the metal spice jars shown in the
link below,
http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page...t=2,2120,33146
Alternatively, you can search out some glass spice jars that have UV
filtering which is the light that hurts your spice potency. I confess to not
being able to find a link to the UV type, but I have heard of them if you
can find them.

Good luck with your spice adventures.

"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
Ed Pawlowski wrote:
"Leon" wrote in message


That is what they say but I wonder what the spices are exposed to in
the grocery store until the "serious cook" gets his hands on them.

Beats me, I don't buy my spices in grocery stores. Thee are better
sources, like Penzey's, or Pendry's.

However at Penzeys they're on display in glass bottles or clear plastic
bags. Dunno about Penderys, they're not in driving distance.


My father almost sits at the front door waiting for the mail to arrive with
his perscriptions. He does not want them to sit in the heat. I keep
telling him that the medication has been in hotter conditions on the way to
his house.

"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
...

"Leon" wrote in message


That is what they say but I wonder what the spices are exposed to in the
grocery store until the "serious cook" gets his hands on them.

Beats me, I don't buy my spices in grocery stores. Thee are better
sources, like Penzey's, or Pendry's.


Which may be true but from the packager to your store of choice I seriously
doubt that the spices are handled any better than the load of nails going to
the local hardware store, except at perhaps certain staging intervals.

"Leon" wrote in message
That is what they say but I wonder what the spices are exposed to in the
grocery store until the "serious cook" gets his hands on them.

Beats me, I don't buy my spices in grocery stores. Thee are better
sources, like Penzey's, or Pendry's.


Which may be true but from the packager to your store of choice I
seriously doubt that the spices are handled any better than the load of
nails going to the local hardware store, except at perhaps certain staging
intervals.


Short term makes little or no difference. Sitting exposed in your kitchen,
especially if in direct sunlight from a window, for months does though.

"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
...

"Leon" wrote in message
That is what they say but I wonder what the spices are exposed to in
the grocery store until the "serious cook" gets his hands on them.

Beats me, I don't buy my spices in grocery stores. Thee are better
sources, like Penzey's, or Pendry's.


Which may be true but from the packager to your store of choice I
seriously doubt that the spices are handled any better than the load of
nails going to the local hardware store, except at perhaps certain
staging intervals.


Short term makes little or no difference. Sitting exposed in your kitchen,
especially if in direct sunlight from a window, for months does though.


I see, I wonder how long those spices, especially those from other
countires, sit waiting to be exported.
I hear what you are saying and cannot disagree with exposure problems.

Anyway, I'm building a spice rack out of some left over baltic birch and
hardboard and was wondering what spacing is typically used between shelves?

May I suggest a visit to your kitchen wares outlets to see the
"standard" items available and get an idea of the "standard"
offerrings and the measurements of interest to you.

Also, take your digital camera, tape and pencil/pad with you.

Spices used to come in a rather standard suite of containers when I
was a boy. Now, the containers are part of the marketing efforts and
one cannot count on finding the latest spice with integral grinder in
the same size container the pepper came in.

What is true, however, is that the jars are relatively small and
similarly enough in size that they get lost on the shelf behind their
competition for one's attention and palette.

A strair step affair is sold that allows one to elevate the second and
third (and so on) row of spice jars an inch or so above the one in
front. THis helps.

Anothe option combines this approach with a turntable affair that
makes the most of the space and actually improves access to that
little can of Allspice that used to get lost in the rear.

If you have one of those high-end Kitchen stores in the neighborhood a
visit could be worth the gas and time.

"Hoosierpopi" wrote

What is true, however, is that the jars are relatively small and
similarly enough in size that they get lost on the shelf behind their
competition for one's attention and palette.

With the exception of those monster, commercial size spice containers sold
at Costco.

Thank you for all the continued responses. Hadn't thought about "visiting"
the local kitchen supply store. Not certain how they would feel if I bring
my tools along for measuring.

Unfortuantely, the spice drawer idea, while very appealing, won't work in
the kitchen we have. The kitchen needs a complete reno including ripping out
a wall, right now it's about the 10'x10' and that's being generous. Barely
can have two people in the kitchen at once because of where the doorways are
and where the appliance plug-ins were located.. We've got a total of about
32" of usable countertop - unfortunately not in one continuous run -, and
hence a total of 2 drawers which are used to hide the utensils from the
kids. How we've avoided significant cooking injuries to date is a miracle.

Thanks again,

Alfred

"PinInCalgary" wrote in message
news:jc5um.46086$PH1.13021@edtnps82...
New to the newsgroup, so hope I've done things, i.e. title/request/etc,
correctly. Some groups get really cranky when you don't follow their
formating.

Anyway, I'm building a spice rack out of some left over baltic birch and
hardboard and was wondering what spacing is typically used between
shelves? I was thinking of using dowling on the face of the shelves, to
hold the spice jars on the face of the shelf, with the top dowel located
at about 1/2 the height of the spice jar. Was thinking of using a spacing
about 1.5x the height of the spice jar? That way the spice jar could just
slip between the top of the dowel and the bottom of the next up shelf?

Comments?

Thank you in advance,

Alfred

"Leon" wrote in message

I see, I wonder how long those spices, especially those from other
countires, sit waiting to be exported.
I hear what you are saying and cannot disagree with exposure problems.

Depends on the spice. Many are harvested but once a year. They have to
last for a year so that makes it even more important to store them properly.

"PinInCalgary" wrote in message
Thank you for all the continued responses. Hadn't thought about "visiting"
the local kitchen supply store. Not certain how they would feel if I bring
my tools along for measuring.

Take a camera with you and if someone questions your measuring everything,
just explain that you're seeing how/if it will fit neatly in your kitchen.

*Serious cooks keep spices where the sun don't shine

Anyway, I'm building a spice rack out of some left over baltic birch and
hardboard and was wondering what spacing is typically used between
shelves? I was thinking of using dowling on the face of the shelves, to
hold the spice jars on the face of the shelf, with the top dowel located
at about 1/2 the height of the spice jar. Was thinking of using a
spacing about 1.5x the height of the spice jar? That way the spice jar
could just slip between the top of the dowel and the bottom of the next
up shelf?

Comments?

My only comments is to make a spice drawer rather than a rack. Serious
cooks keep spices in closed area, out of the light.


That is what they say but I wonder what the spices are exposed to in the
grocery store until the "serious cook" gets his hands on them.

Easiest way around that is to never buy your spices ground...them whole and
grind them yourself as you need them.

This won't work for all spices, of course...paprika, chili, garlic and onion
powdes come to mind.

And Penzeys has a fast enough turn over that I would not be too concerned
about the couple of days of sunlight your oregano may get.

Mike

"davenport" wrote in message
Easiest way around that is to never buy your spices ground...them whole
and grind them yourself as you need them.

This won't work for all spices, of course...paprika, chili, garlic and
onion powdes come to mind.

With garlic and onion, there is a good compromise, Buy the dehydrated
chopped stuff and make the powder from it when needed. A bit more involved,
but I'd dried paprika peppers and chili too, but it is just easier to buy
them ground.