Friday 1 August 2014

Shelf Life

For years I have struggled with storage of baking tins. I have put them in heaps – but they don’t nest properly, and they fall over, I have stored them in plastic boxes – but they won’t pack efficiently. Others have this problem too – lots of pictures like this on the Net.

greyred

stack1I don’t have neat sets of tins that will go into one tidy stack like this – mine are random rectangles, squares and circles, some flat, some with rims – and don’t even mention the Bundt/tube pans which have a hole up the middle! And as for my loose bottomed tarts…

The Blessed St Delia sets great store by using exactly the right sized tin, or her recipe will not work. But by the time I have dug all the tins out of the cupboard and sorted through for the correct one, the urge to bake has often left me. Or I use a tin which is approximately right, and wonder why the cake comes out flat – or bubbles over the top as it cooks. I have finally sorted myself out. It cost me £5 but I am pleased with the result. I bought one of these in IKEA

variera-pot-lid-organiser

It is a Variera pot lid organiser, and expands from 8.5cm to 50cm. I have been able to stack my baking sheets, cake tins, cupcake pans etc vertically, with no more than four in each division. It looks so tidy – and now I never have to take out more than 4 to get to the one I need,. My loaf tins do nest, so they are stacked at the end

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Because the rectangular pans are all ordered now, that has freed up the shelf above and I have 4 neat nests of round tins there. I don’t know why I didn’t do this before [other bakeware organisers are available – like this one] Last week I needed my square brownie pan – and found it almost instantly, inside the slightly larger grey silicon square pan. Everything is so much more efficient. What I can’t work out is how I came to possess quite so many tins. I know I purchased some of them [my pair of long narrow rectangular loose bottomed tins] but others seem to have mysteriously appeared over the years! I must ask Liz and Steph if they need any of them  – better to pass on my spares now, rather than bequeath them in my will!!

7 comments:

  1. Don't talk to me about loose bottomed tarts.......

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  2. Definitely something I have been dealing with. Now I see how well your system works, you have given me the incentive to fix it

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  3. I have just the same problem, so might have a look at the Lakeland one, thanks!

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  4. Some people don't like Ikea. Personally I think they have very good, innovative ideas that not only solve storage problems but, enable you to personalise your storage.
    And they usually have exactly what i need/want at a reasonable price too.
    Must get one of these storage racks although, I don't have as many baking tins as you have in your photo but, this may change shortly, I won a baking set with the housing asscociations' magazine - don't remember entering it or what it consists of! I enter a lot of competitions but, this is the first one I've won this year.
    Will put up a post when I recieve it.

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  5. Bravo!!!! They look great!!! I find it hard to store plastic containers neatly. I recently got an under shelf storage thing from Lidl but what I WOULD like is one of those plate organisers you can put in your cupboard to organise plates of different sizes but not sure where to buy them!!

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  6. :0) Thank you, Angela.

    This is just what I've been looking for and am in dire need of.

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  7. Just about to comment then I read Gary's...too funny!
    Jane x

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