Kitchen canisters are not only useful storage containers they are also kitchen accents that accentuate your kitchen décor.  Most canister sets contain four graduated pieces that are sized to accommodate standard packaging of flour, sugar, coffee and tea.   Some kitchen canister sets have matching pieces available that can be bought separately like cookie jars and pasta jars.

Materials used to make canister sets vary and they can be metals, glass, ceramic or plastic.  Each type of material has its advantages and disadvantages.


  • Safety first if you have children in the home.   Glass and ceramic containers can chip, crack or break so they might not be the smartest choice around kids.  However, glass and ceramic is very easy to clean.  Another important point is that the glass or ceramic kitchen canisters won’t disfavor the stored food items.
  • Stainless Steelis very complimentary to some decors, especially if you have stainless steel kitchen appliances.  Well-made stainless steel kitchen canisters will last a long time.  However, they can be dented and even scratched.  Choose only high quality stainless steel kitchen canisters if you want ones that are easy to clean and stand up to constant use.
  • Metal kitchen canisters, for instance copper kitchen canisters are very decorative, yet may be hard to keep clean.  Metal canister sets are lightweight and many have beautiful painted designs.  Again, be sure to choose only metal kitchen canisters that use high quality metals and good coatings of paint.  The paint on inexpensive metal canisters sometimes starts to peel exposing the bare metal.  Once the bare metal is exposed it’s subject to rust.
  • Plastic Canisters are safe around children, easy to clean and will seal food products.  However, some say that plastic, “gives off a taste” which can be due to the manner they are cleaned.

Kitchen canistersare something that you will use for years on end so it’s important to select canisters that will not only match your décor, but also match your life style.  When selecting a canister set consider the amount of use they will get by members of your household to help you determine the best type of material to choose from (ceramic, glass, copper, etc…) .  You might also want to consider if there are matching items available that you can add later on to compliment your kitchen canister set.

Some of the most popular kitchen canister sets and Canister Sets on the market with solid reputations to back their products are; Oggi, Old Dutch, Le Creuset and Pinzon with free shipping from Amazon.com.