A "lazy" susan is the one with a center pole. A "super" susan is the one with no center pole and with "turntable" type shelves mounted on stationary shelves. There are pros & cons to both.

Pro(s) to both:

• It's very easy to access whatever is stored in it...everything is in front. All you have to do is rotate the shelves and what you want is right in front of you!

If something does fall off (in the cabinets w/out a curved wall, more on that later), it's much easier to get to the item than if you have a blind corner cabinet and something fall off. With a blind corner, you have to reach (if you have very long arms) or crawl into a cabinet that's deep inside a "blind" area. [This reason plus the fact that many of those "half-moon" units don't last is one of the reasons my KD discourages blind corners of any kind.]
Note: The pie-cut type cabinet (90-degree angle instead of diagonal front) gives you a bigger opening than a diagonal opening. It also gives you more useful floorspace and counter frontage, less of a "closed in" feeling (particularly in small-to-medium size kitchens), and less inaccessible deep corner space.

Pro(s) to a lazy susan:

• Biggest pro, IMHO, is that the walls of cabinets designed specifically for lazy susans follow the contour of the round (or pie-cut) shelves so closely that I'm not sure even a grain of rice could fall off the shelves.

Another big pro, again IMHO, is that if you have the pie-cut type, the doors can be attached to the shelves and rotate into the cabinet when you open it. No doors banging the adjoining cabinets...something that can be an issue, especially the doors that are two pieces attached with a piano hinge with the doors flopping about.

Pro(s) to a super susan:

• No center pole in the middle to limit the size of items you can store on a shelf.

No center pole to block access to items.

Con(s) to a lazy susan:

• Has a center pole in the middle that limits the size of items you can store on a shelf.

The center pole could block access to items. However, all you have to do is rotate the shelf and no more "blocking"!

Con(s) to a super susan:

• Walls are usually not (never?) curved to follow the contour of the round shelves. This is the biggest con, IMHO.

Doors cannot be attached to the rotating shelves so the doors must be opened b/f access contents, You also have to be careful the doors do not bang into adjoining cabinet(s).
You lose some vertical space b/c you have the stationary shelf + turntable

for each "shelf". (Lazy susans just have the "turntable" shelf and it's usualy thinner.)

For super susans, it's best if the stationary shelves are adjustable so you can customize the height of the shelves.

A "lazy" susan is the one with a center pole. A "super" susan is the one with no center pole and with "turntable" type shelves mounted on stationary shelves. There are pros & cons to both.

Pro(s) to both:

• It's very easy to access whatever is stored in it...everything is in front. All you have to do is rotate the shelves and what you want is right in front of you!

If something does fall off (in the cabinets w/out a curved wall, more on that later), it's much easier to get to the item than if you have a blind corner cabinet and something fall off. With a blind corner, you have to reach (if you have very long arms) or crawl into a cabinet that's deep inside a "blind" area. [This reason plus the fact that many of those "half-moon" units don't last is one of the reasons my KD discourages blind corners of any kind.]
Note: The pie-cut type cabinet (90-degree angle instead of diagonal front) gives you a bigger opening than a diagonal opening. It also gives you more useful floorspace and counter frontage, less of a "closed in" feeling (particularly in small-to-medium size kitchens), and less inaccessible deep corner space.

Pro(s) to a lazy susan:

• Biggest pro, IMHO, is that the walls of cabinets designed specifically for lazy susans follow the contour of the round (or pie-cut) shelves so closely that I'm not sure even a grain of rice could fall off the shelves.

Another big pro, again IMHO, is that if you have the pie-cut type, the doors can be attached to the shelves and rotate into the cabinet when you open it. No doors banging the adjoining cabinets...something that can be an issue, especially the doors that are two pieces attached with a piano hinge with the doors flopping about.

Pro(s) to a super susan:

• No center pole in the middle to limit the size of items you can store on a shelf.

No center pole to block access to items.

Con(s) to a lazy susan:

• Has a center pole in the middle that limits the size of items you can store on a shelf.

The center pole could block access to items. However, all you have to do is rotate the shelf and no more "blocking"!

Con(s) to a super susan:

• Walls are usually not (never?) curved to follow the contour of the round shelves. This is the biggest con, IMHO.

Doors cannot be attached to the rotating shelves so the doors must be opened b/f access contents, You also have to be careful the doors do not bang into adjoining cabinet(s).
You lose some vertical space b/c you have the stationary shelf + turntable

for each "shelf". (Lazy susans just have the "turntable" shelf and it's usualy thinner.)

For super susans, it's best if the stationary shelves are adjustable so you can customize the height of the shelves.

A "lazy" susan is the one with a center pole. A "super" susan is the one with no center pole and with "turntable" type shelves mounted on stationary shelves. There are pros & cons to both.

Pro(s) to both:

• It's very easy to access whatever is stored in it...everything is in front. All you have to do is rotate the shelves and what you want is right in front of you!

If something does fall off (in the cabinets w/out a curved wall, more on that later), it's much easier to get to the item than if you have a blind corner cabinet and something fall off. With a blind corner, you have to reach (if you have very long arms) or crawl into a cabinet that's deep inside a "blind" area. [This reason plus the fact that many of those "half-moon" units don't last is one of the reasons my KD discourages blind corners of any kind.]
Note: The pie-cut type cabinet (90-degree angle instead of diagonal front) gives you a bigger opening than a diagonal opening. It also gives you more useful floorspace and counter frontage, less of a "closed in" feeling (particularly in small-to-medium size kitchens), and less inaccessible deep corner space.

Pro(s) to a lazy susan:

• Biggest pro, IMHO, is that the walls of cabinets designed specifically for lazy susans follow the contour of the round (or pie-cut) shelves so closely that I'm not sure even a grain of rice could fall off the shelves.

Another big pro, again IMHO, is that if you have the pie-cut type, the doors can be attached to the shelves and rotate into the cabinet when you open it. No doors banging the adjoining cabinets...something that can be an issue, especially the doors that are two pieces attached with a piano hinge with the doors flopping about.

Pro(s) to a super susan:

• No center pole in the middle to limit the size of items you can store on a shelf.

No center pole to block access to items.

Con(s) to a lazy susan:

• Has a center pole in the middle that limits the size of items you can store on a shelf.

The center pole could block access to items. However, all you have to do is rotate the shelf and no more "blocking"!

Con(s) to a super susan:

• Walls are usually not (never?) curved to follow the contour of the round shelves. This is the biggest con, IMHO.

Doors cannot be attached to the rotating shelves so the doors must be opened b/f access contents, You also have to be careful the doors do not bang into adjoining cabinet(s).
You lose some vertical space b/c you have the stationary shelf + turntable

for each "shelf". (Lazy susans just have the "turntable" shelf and it's usualy thinner.)

For super susans, it's best if the stationary shelves are adjustable so you can customize the height of the shelves.

I have 2. I want to keep my counters as clear as possible, so all my small appliances-toaster, stick mixer, Cuisinart, sandwich thing, etc are in the LS near the peninsula. The other LS stores all my baking needs-flour, vanilla, sugar, etc.

Ditto sixtyohno, I had one in my last kitchen and kept all small appliances there: electric knife, stick blender, waffle iron, hand mixer, food processor, even a pasta maker until I decided to sell it.

What I wished was different were solid bottoms on the carousel. I had wire ones, bigger things were always tipping over, small things (like the top to the food processor) falling through.

I use the one on top for Tupperware storage. The lids are organized using the lid holder from Ikea- that item is so handy. I also store the extra small appliances on that one. The bottom one stores all my extra can goods
since our pantry area is small. I only access that one when we run out of something so maybe only once or twice a week I have bend down and look there:)

We have Super Susans in our corner cab.
Ours house pots & pans on the upper shelf and casserole dishes & lids on the lower

Ditto to willtx. Super Susan without a center pole!
I have some larger vessels, crock pit, and a few larger ceramic bowls in mine.
I keep 2 items just inside the first door for easy access without spinning- drainer set on one shelf and my salad spinner in the other shelf.
Oh- last night, I put a few extra thermal mugs in the back corners and if DH doesnt ask about them ny the new year....

Also use the bottom cabinet for waffle iron, pressure cooker, etc. The upper one has little used staples. Am reorganizing right now and haven't come up with anything right for the upper. At one time I had some lazy susans, but they created wasted space. There are times I would like a blind corner or one of those expensive pullouts connected to the door.

I know you will love your susans and the efficiency of the rotating shelves. Just plan to store things that take advantage of the vertical space as well as horizontal shelf space.
Pie shaped containers might be useful if you plan to store bulk foods there, but I don't know of any. Perhaps someone will list a source. They OUGHT to exist.

Here's what I did or plan to do:

The two shelves of my bottom super susan holds all of my small appliances: sous vide, mixer, blender, food processor, grill, Nesco roaster--that sort of thing. There is a lot of vertical space between these two shelves, and small items do not make good use of that vertical space, IMHO. There is very little wasted horizontal or vertical space here.

One year after cabinet installation, I am just now getting around to putting super susans into the very larger corner wall cab. 15'' wall cabs make for a very big and very inaccessible upper area (26'' x 26'').

I am putting four susans in with less space between than is usually planned. The two lower shelves will hold sets of fairly often used items: mugs, stemware, tumblers. Upper shelves will hold seldom used casseroles and such.

Because there isn't much space between shelves, I plan to store largish flat items or sets of duplicate items like glasses to make it easier to find what I am looking for.

Because the upper cabinet has glass doors, the fronts of each susan will probably showcase white teapots and pitchers for decorative effect, as the shelves do now.

I simply cannot WAIT to get these installed. They SHOULD go in Saturday. They are just to big and heavy for me to lift into place. So I empathize with your eagerness to play.

@ Bellsmom, hi did you get your super susans installed, and, if so, are you loving them? Pics please!

May I ask, what is the difference between a lazy Susan and a super Susan?

(other than the fact that Super Susan gets a lot more done :)

What a thorough answer - thank you Buehl! I feel better knowing that now.

Our lazy Susan is made of flimsy plastic and is underutilized. It would suffer under the weight of a Cuisinart, for example. I would like to replace it with something else after we do the refacing of our cabinets. It's good to hear about what others do with this space.

Lovevintage
Thanks for asking. Yes, I did finish the upper cab super susans and I started a thread on them a while back. I really, really love the susans.

The storage pics might be useful on this thread, too. Just keep in mind that these are 15'' uppers, not 24'' base cabs which could hold much, much more. But it would be equally accessible.

Here's the link:

Here is a link that might be useful: Upper cab lazy susans

After a few months experience, and having fought with the cabinet guys to get this changed, but just giving up after being SICK of dealing with it,(whew), I have to say..... The lazy susans with the afore-mentioned hinged doors are working pretty well. I am the only kitchen-dweller, however.

I have the big oval crockpot, rice cooker, waffle iron, juicer, 2 big stockpots, and the food scale on it in one cabinet. On the sides, I have the extra KA mixer bowls, the spare prep sink (you never know when one of those babies is going to go out, so I keep a spare,lol!), and some boxed liquor bottles.

On the cooking side, I have cast iron skillets(3), 12" skillets, the wok, the elbow to install the hood, the double boiler and bowls for it. I put some clear plasic magazine files that I got at Container Store on either side, in the unused space, and they give me divided vertical storage for metal pans, cookie sheets, and cutting boards. Ther is also room here for oil bottles. I actually have room above all this on the sides to have another layer of storage.

Just some ideas for ya.

Nancy