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How long to keep spices

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shannone

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Exactly how long can you keep spices before they need to be replaced with new ones? I have heard 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year. I have a spice rack and my spices are about 5 months old and I am wanting to know when I should throw them away and get new ones.
 
I think it depends on the spices actually. Most of my spices don't last longer than 6 months, so I'm not too worried about it.
 
I keep mine about a year if not used up by then I replace
 
Most dried herbs and spices will keep for several years if kept in a cool, dry, and dark place with a tight lid. These days most packages of herbs, and spices are labeled with a "use by date".
 
This is the time of the year to start checking on your spices and herbs for all that holiday cooking and baking!


Your herbs should have good color - if they are faded - toss them.

Smell your cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, cloves, coriander and cardamom to ensure freshness and if you need to take a second whiff - that's a sign you better replace the spice. The aroma should jump out at you.

And you want the perfect flavor for your meals - always use fresh herbs and spices.
 
I have been sniffing through my spices and I noticed a few of them dont smell as strong as they use to so I got rid of them. I like to use fresh herbs also, but I have a lot of recipes that call for dried herbs.
 
I keep mine about 5 months. But i do not use them most.
I replace them after 5 months.
 
shannone, you can dry your own herbs, especially if you have your own herb garden... My grandma used to do it. She would pick the leaves, not many, and it depended on the size of the leaf and plant. Then she would lay them on a paper towel on a specific counter. She'd leave them there for a day or two, and occasionally turn them over so they dried evenly. I think you could use a dehydrater if you have one, but I don't know many people who have one anymore.

Also, any recipe that calls for dried herbs can be modified to use fresh herbs. I can't remember the exact substitution rule though, I'm sure someone on here has it. I usually add seasonings by taste, I'm bad about tasting the food to see if it's 'missing' something, then I'll dig through the cabinets/fridge to find the perfect thing to fix it.
 
Usually if I run out of fresh parsley (this is just an example) and I needed
1 tablespoon of fresh parsley - I substitute 1 teaspoon of dried.

Dried herbs are more potent so I usually use 1/3 of the measurement for dried when I am substituting dried for fresh.
 
We don't throw spices out here, we just use them till they're gone. Unless we were trying to make a gourmet meal or something, we wouldn't care if something had lost a little hint of flavor :p
 
Spices really aren't the kind of thing to go bad. I think BensMom is right, they can lose flavor a little, but not much.
 
I use some spices that I've had around for years. They taste fine to me. If I was a connoisseur then I could have a different opinion, but my oregano from 3 years ago tastes fine in my spaghetti today. Spices like cloves, and cinnamon stick might taste good after decades since they have such stong flavors. Keep the herbs and spices sealed and in a dark place like a cabinet and I think they keep quite well.
 
I didn't know there were other "rules" on spices till I saw this thread :eek:
 
We go though spices rather quickly here.. so ours are gone usually in 6 months. My gram has spices though that she has had for quite a long time.. and her food is still wonderful as ever.
 
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