Comments on: Where can I buy odd-shaped boxes?

Question: Where can I buy odd-shaped boxes?

beerbajay — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 02:52:59 -0800

Where can I buy small plastic boxes which have one square (or mostly square) side, but a very shallow depth? As depicted in this drawing. I want them for holding spices.

... instead of having unwieldy round jars. I'm interested in anything that roughly fits these requirements; it doesn't have to be perfect.

By: watercarrier

watercarrier — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 02:58:50 -0800

Tic Tacs. You buy them and empty them and use the containers.

By: watercarrier

watercarrier — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 03:02:34 -0800

Also - contact the lady who put together this site - she purchased a set. Her email is on the bottom left.

By: Dunwitty

Dunwitty — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 03:09:20 -0800

I don't have a vendor for you, but: Alton Brown tells us not to store our spices in plastic, because plastic absorbs some of the essential oils (and presumably leaks something back?)

Just his two cents, here.

By: zoel

zoel — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 04:33:30 -0800

I agree with Alton Brown and Dunwitty re plastics and spices.

I think these are the boxes that watercarrier' link refers to. They may not be exactly what you are looking for but they are a nice small storage solution and very reasonably priced.

By: ghost of a past number

ghost of a past number — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:05:05 -0800

Check out American science and surplus, they may have something you like.

By: beerbajay

beerbajay — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 06:26:35 -0800

I think tic tac boxes are bit too small for my purposes, though they fit the other requirements quite well.

As for plastic boxes being bad, that's true, but spices in my house are consumed very rapidly so I'm not too worried about it, and the boxes would probably be better than the plastic bags i've purchased (and keep) the spices in currently. Maybe there's some glass containers that are relatively small and stackable?

By: watercarrier

watercarrier — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 07:07:16 -0800

Yeah the Tic Tac containers are way too small. Check this out - I think it might be what you're looking for and the plastic is food grade.

By: craven_morhead

craven_morhead — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 07:11:37 -0800

I use watchmakers cases, as recommended by Zoel.

By: bcwinters

bcwinters — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 07:13:03 -0800

How about Tupperware Spice Containers? The proportions aren't exactly what you specified (6.4cm H x 4.4cm W x 8.9cm), but they are stackable.

By: beerbajay

beerbajay — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 07:24:15 -0800

Wooooooah those Tupperware ones look ace.

By: onhazier

onhazier — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 08:09:40 -0800

The tupperware ones work nicely, especially when you go through your spices quickly. The tall ones hold 2 glass jars worth.

By: SuperSquirrel

SuperSquirrel — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 08:34:31 -0800

Interesting spice storage ideas from the Container Store.

By: Dunwitty

Dunwitty — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:49:40 -0800

Oh yeah, Alton specified that spices need to be protected from light, also. So you might want to consider opaque containers.

That Alton.