Key points
- A revolving tower brings every jar to the front with a turn of the base, and its footprint is a circle.
- A narrow tower or a wall and drawer rack frees the counter when the spot is tight.
- Count the spices you cook with, then pick the rack one size up, not three.
- Most of our filled racks carry a refill program: register within 90 days, order refills for up to 5 years.
Start with the spot, not the rack
Before you look at jar counts, stand where you cook and find the place the rack will live. The usual answer is the counter beside the stove, and it is the one spot extension food specialists warn against. Ohio State University Extension says plainly not to store spices on the counter close to the stove, because heat and light shorten their shelf life. Clemson's Home & Garden Information Center gives the same advice for any food storage near oven ranges, hot water pipes or heating ducts.
So pick a cool stretch of counter an arm's length from the burners, a cabinet shelf, a pantry shelf or a drawer. Then measure it: depth from the backsplash, width between whatever stands on either side, and height up to the cabinet above. Those three numbers sort our racks faster than any photo. The guide to how long spices last explains why the distance from the stove matters more than the look of the rack.
Revolving racks: every jar comes to the front
A revolving rack sits on a turning base. You spin it and the jar you want swings round to you, so the back row never becomes the forgotten row. That is the shape most of our racks take, and the differences are in height and footprint.
The tall towers stack jars in columns. Our 20-jar revolving rack in polished steel stands 13.5 inches on an 8.5-inch base. The Heritage 20 holds the same count on a slimmer 7.18-inch base and stands 13 inches tall, which suits a corner where width is short but the cabinet above is high. The Heritage 16 drops to 10.81 inches for the space under a low cabinet.
Short carousels go the other way. The Ellington 16 is 6 inches tall, low enough for a shelf inside a cabinet. The Salem 20 sets its jars on two turning tiers around a center column that holds spatulas, a whisk and a wooden spoon, so one spot on the counter does the work of a crock and a rack. It is the widest of the group at 12.5 inches, and it needs that room.
Narrow towers for tight corners
Some kitchens have a gap rather than a counter: the strip between the coffee maker and the wall, or the corner where two runs of cabinets meet. A square tower fits there better than a round one, because its flat sides sit flush against the wall.
Our Warner 16 is built that way. It is 6.25 inches deep and 8.13 inches wide, with a wood top and base around brushed steel panels, and it still turns on its base. Its jars carry lift-and-pour caps, so you can shake through the holes or open the flap and pour a spoonful. The Hourglass 16 brings the count down to a 5.5-inch width in acacia wood, for a counter where steel would look out of place.
Wall, drawer and shelf racks
If the counter is already full, take the rack off it. The Bamboo 3-in-1 holds 16 cube jars and is 2.75 inches deep, so it can stand on the counter, hang on the wall or lie flat in a drawer. The Criss-Cross racks work the same three ways, with metal loops on the back for hanging: 18 jars in bamboo, or 10 in a gray-wash version that is 14.75 inches wide.
A drawer has one more thing in its favor. It is dark, and a drawer away from the oven is usually cool. For a pantry or a deep cabinet shelf, the Lincoln 15 sets its jars on three wire steps, so the back row stands higher than the front and every label shows. The whole range sits on our spice rack shelf, with the size of each rack on its card.
How many jars you need
Count before you choose. Open the cupboard and set aside the spices you reached for in the last month. Write that number down, then count the jars that come out only twice a year. Pick the rack that fits the first group with a few spare places, and give the twice-a-year jars a drawer.
A bigger rack is not better if half of it goes untouched. The extension charts agree that ground spices lose flavor over months, so a jar you open once a year will be weak by the time you need it again. NDSU Extension suggests buying smaller containers unless you plan to use a larger amount within the best storage time.
- Ten jars or fewer: the Criss-Cross 10 on a wall or in a drawer.
- Fifteen or sixteen: the Lincoln 15 for a shelf, the Ellington 16 under a cabinet, the Heritage 16 or Warner 16 on the counter.
- Eighteen to twenty: the Criss-Cross 18 off the counter, or the Heritage 20, the Salem 20 or the polished steel 20 on it.
Filled jars or empty ones
Most of our racks arrive filled. The Heritage 20 holds basil, bay leaves, celery salt, chives, cilantro, coriander, crushed mint, dill weed, fennel, herbes de provence, Italian seasoning, marjoram, oregano, parsley, pizza seasoning, rosemary, savory, sea salt, seasoning salt and thyme, with the note that the assortment may vary. The jars on the Warner and the Heritage 20 are filled and sealed in a monitored facility in Massachusetts. The Bamboo 3-in-1 works another way: its cube jars come empty, with the spices packed separately for you to fill at home.
If you already own the spices you cook with, start with empty jars. Our 3 oz empty glass jars stand 3 1/2 inches tall and 1 3/4 inches across, in sets of 12, and the same jar holds a blend you mix yourself. Write the date on the lid when you fill it. Clemson's factsheet suggests dating anything that has no date of its own, and you will want to know later which jar went in first.
| Rack | Jars | Base (in) | Height (in) | Refill program |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20-Jar Revolving, Polished Steel | 20 | 8.5 x 8.5 | 13.5 | 5 years, see packaging |
| Heritage 20 | 20 | 7.18 x 7.18 | 13 | Register within 90 days |
| Salem 20 | 20 | 12.5 x 10.25 | 8.75 | Not stated for this rack |
| Heritage 16 | 16 | 7.19 x 7.19 | 10.81 | Register within 90 days |
| Warner 16 | 16 | 6.25 x 8.13 | 11 | Register within 90 days |
| Ellington 16 | 16 | 10.63 x 9 | 6 | Register within 90 days |
| Hourglass 16 | 16 | 7.75 x 5.5 | 10.88 | Register within 90 days |
| Lincoln 15 | 15 | 9.5 x 9 | 5.88 | Register within 90 days |
| Bamboo 3-in-1 | 16 | 2.75 deep x 10.75 wide | 12.5 | 5 years |
| Criss-Cross 10 | 10 | 4.88 x 14.75 | 7.5 | Register within 90 days |
The refill program, read closely
Kamenstein has been in American kitchens since 1893, and the refill program is the part of a filled rack that keeps working after the first jars run low. On most of our filled racks it reads the same way: register the rack within 90 days of purchase, and you can order spice refills for up to 5 years. The details sit on the packaging or on an insert in the box, and the program applies to residents of the US.
Two habits make it worth the effort. Register the day the rack arrives, while the box and the insert are still in the kitchen, since 90 days pass faster than a jar of oregano. Then keep the insert in the drawer with the warranty cards. When a jar starts to smell of nothing, that is the moment to order, and the guide to spice storage has the signs to look for.
Every piece named here is part of the Kamenstein range.
