Thanksgiving Prep: Check Your Spices!
Sometimes little used spices sit in our spice racks for years–even decades. After all, how many times a year do you really need poultry seasoning or pumpkin pie spice? But, did you know that ground spices can lose their flavor after a few years? Here’s how to know when to throw out your kitchen spices, and start over:
Basic Guidelines: How long do spices last? According to OChef, ground spices maintain their freshness for 2 to 3 years, and whole spices such as cinnamon sticks maintain their freshness for 4 years, and probably even longer.
The Nose Knows: Open up the container and give it a little shake. Does it have the same robust smell you remember? Is there any smell? If not, pitch it.
Cool Tool: McCormick offers a How Old Are Your Spices online tool for determining the age of your McCormick spices. Enter the code on the bottom of the container, and they’ll tell you exactly when the spice was packaged. Just FYI- if your McCormick spices are in metal tins, they are at least 15 years old! Time for a shopping trip!
The spice rack above will hold 16 different spices. It’s made of sugar maple, has a rotating base, and the bottles are included. If found it at Kitchen Universe.
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1 comment
Thanks for pointing out that spices DO expire - most people don’t know this. The best way to keep track of your spices is to keep them organized and actually know what you own. My father invented a spice rack called the SpiceStack that holds spices in the kitchen cabinet away from heat and light which can deteriorate spices faster. Check it out at SpiceStack.com and Happy Cooking!
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