This Modular, Magnetic Spice Rack Helps You Organize Your Spices by Cuisine for Easier Cooking

Many kitchens appear neat and organized until you open a cabinet. Instead of keeping your herbs and spices out where you can see them, you may file them away behind a door for the sake of neatness. But when it comes time to make a recipe, you have to spend forever rummaging through jars to find the right ingredients. No more. Chef Caddy, an appliance currently raising funds on Indiegogo, is an organizational system for spices that you'll want to show off on your counter.

The modular Chef Caddy system divides spices into columns of four, with end caddies for cooking oils and vinegar. One section is meant for basic spices that are used across multiple cuisines, including salt, pepper, onion, and garlic. Additional caddies are meant to hold spices that are specific to a certain cuisines. Your Thai column, for example, may hold Thai basil, red curry powder, chili powder, and mint, while your Mexican caddy may be used to store Mexican oregano, cumin, paprika, and cayenne.

So far, Chef Caddy has raised more than $112,000, far surpassing its initial $25,000 funding goal. You can pledge $39 on Indiegogo to receive one base unit, which includes a bottle caddy, a spice caddy with four spice bottles, and a set of blank labels. A set of three spice caddies and two bottle caddies costs $99, and for $179, you can get three more spice caddies and three mounting plates. All options are still available, and it's estimated that the Chef Caddy will ship in December 2019. 

Casey Moulton came up with the idea for Chef Caddy when teaching his "Kitchen Karate" meal-prep classes. The secret to prepping a week's worth of meals in a couple hours, he told students, is to organize herbs and spices according to cuisine. In addition to saving time looking for spices, the system makes it easier to cook without a recipe. After hearing the positive response from students, he decided to turn the DIY kitchen hack into a product anyone can buy.

The set comes with blank labels for the spice jars, so you can customize your caddies to reflect the cuisines you cook most. Larger blank labels that go on top of the caddies act as cheat sheets: You can use them to write down condiments and aromatics that fit the cuisine (for French cooking, you might write butter, shallots, wine, and Dijon mustard). That way, you can create a cohesive flavor profile for the dish you want to make without opening a recipe book.

The Chef Caddy organizational system allows you to easily find whatever spice you're looking for, no matter how many spices you use on a regular basis. Each section of the modular spice rack snaps together with magnets, so you can add more spices to it as you expand your culinary repertoire. And it looks appealing sitting on your kitchen counter.

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