Help! I need someone to help me with my frustration about SPICES. Perhaps this is not really a genuine food-pickle question, but I'm hoping to get some new advice regarding the purchasing and storing of spices. I have a jumble of baggies and magnetic jars, packets and containers. It makes me crazy and it takes twice as long to follow good mis-en -place practice.
My question has two main parts: freshness and storing. Bulck spices are tempting: great selection in specialty and ethnic stores. They are more pure and authentic and you can get any quantity you want. But some people claim that they are often less fresh, even stale, because they are not packaged air-tightDoes it help getting them mostly whole, not ground? Still, one does collect endless baggies unless, and this brings us to my second frustration, unless one transfers them into ones own jars that then need to be labeled. Available spice racks never seem to have enough containers, and labelling falls off. They are jumbled in drawers and on shelves, as I mentioned. So perhaps the answer is to buy them in pre-packaged, airtight containers from the store, but one can't find sufficient variety there, or even matching packaging. Magnetic spice racks appeal to me because one can SEE the spice variety, but one needs endless wall space for evererything, But maybe a freezer system would keep spices not in constant use fresher? To sum up:(1) Air-tight or bulck? (And from what sources)?
(2) How to store? Ugh! I hope someone out there can help me with this daily annoyance and frustration. Thanks in advance
13 Comments
I keep a lot of whole spice and grind as needed. I keep a separate coffee grinder just for spices.
The overflow--bags, jars, tins, and packages--I have sealed in large plastic containers, which I try to keep in a cooler, drier location.
http://www.food52.com/foodpickle/2236-how-do-you-all-store-your
http://www.food52.com/blog/977_spice_drawer_makeover
http://www.food52.com/blog/313_my_spice_drawer_trick
However, part of your question was about buying in bulk and buying spices whole vs. ground. Spices are expensive (and I am not a professional cook) so I tend to replace each spice as needed. I love the idea of toasting spices whole and grinding as needed, but honestly I don't always have the time. My spice storage is a drawer full of different brands and labels, which is actually helpful because I get used to what the different bottles look like. Sometimes I decant new spices into old empty jars because I associate a certain spice with a certain bottle or label. I also save little lidded glass jars to store homegrown rosemary, basil, lavender, etc. I love the idea of buying giant bags of spices from Indian grocers or Chinatown, but I do wonder about freshness. I bought a jar of cardamom pods years ago from Whole Foods and they were so green and soft they seemed fresh picked, so sometimes the splurge is worth it.
I'm not sure about the freezer. I know it's not advisable to store coffee in the freezer due to condensation after it's removed. I think the same might hold for spices.
I often get my spices bulk but not in obscenely large quantities.I either store them in existing spice bottles or in those plastic containers they sell at the restaurant supply store (kind of like those you get when you order soup at a take out.) I label them with painters tape and store them in my pantry (I have plenty of room there.) Downside is that it allows light in and it may degrade the spices but my pantry's dark and I use them reasonable quickly anyway. It's also away from my stove and heat.
Another solution is storing spices in a drawer.
http://lifehacker.com/#!5748309/the-geeks-guide-to-rebooting-your-kitchen
Either that or a magnetic spice rack mounted on the backside of the cupboard door, kind of like what Alton Brown does.