How to Organize Your Pots and Pans

Organizing pots and pans is of little concern to many renters, until the day comes when you’re in a rush, and can’t find what you need fast to make a meal. Maybe you discover a chipped glass pot lid underneath other pots that were thrown in the cabinet. It takes a small amount of time to organize your cookware, and it will save you time in the future and money to replace it. Here’s how to do it:

Buy Storage Solutions

Part of the problem is that you may not have adequate space to store pots and pans the right way. Even if you do have space, cabinet shelves aren’t the best way to handle pot lids. There are many under the kitchen sink and cabinet storage solutions to solve this problem. For example, a lid rack is handy to keep pot lids neatly stacked together, and away from other items that might damage it. There are also roll out drawers that you can stow away in kitchen cabinets to hold pots and other pans separately, instead of laying them on top of each other on cabinet shelves.

Where to Store Pots and Pans

Don’t store pots and pans in places that are far away from your stove. Get them as close as possible to the stove, so that they’ll be easy to find and put away (clean ones you grab and don’t use) when cooking. The best spot may be in the cabinet above the stove, or in a cabinet next to the kitchen sink. It wouldn’t be in the pantry or another storage area that’s not close by, except for items you only use once or twice a year.

Store According to Meals

Let’s say you follow a menu plan, or out of habit, you make one particular dish every Friday, and another one every Tuesday. It makes sense to group pots and pans according to those meals. If you’re working with a small amount of pots and pans, then don’t try to organize them this way. However, if you have extras, then think about what items you can group together based on meals. For example, if your favorite way to end the work week is to make ground beef spaghetti casserole, then store the skillet to brown the meat and the pot to boil the pasta together. That’s not to say that you won’t use the skillet at other times, especially since that may be the only skillet you have. However, if you put it back with the pot, it will be faster to find what you need to make the casserole again.

Rods

Install shelf rods in cabinets to hold together cookie sheets and muffin pans like books. Slide them in between the rods when you’re not using them, which will prevent them from tipping over and getting scratched. The rods are easy to install and quick to set up.

Once you organize your pots and pans, it’s hard to return to the old days of storing them in a disorganized fashion. You’ll improve your cooking and baking experience, and may even enjoy it more.