How long to jars/tins of spices last?

[Haertig]

I have a bunch of spices that are not exactly new. Many have no dates on them (assumed to be 10-15 years old). Things like paprika, cumin, rosemary, dried basil, various grilling mixed seasonings, Lowry's seasoned salt, garlic salt, dried minced onions, turmeric, onion powder, black pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning mix, Mrs Dash, etc.

I've been labeling the newer stuff for the last couple of years. Does the older stuff go bad to the point of making you sick (I doubt this would happen)? Develop bad or off tastes? Lose it's flavor or potency? Are there specific spices that should be thrown out more quickly than others? FWIW, here in Colorado we are very arrid - humidity typically below 20% (a bit higher in the mornings) - so I guess that's probably a plus for long term storage.

 

[LadyLocust]

@Haertig Have they been opened? or still air-tight. If they've been open than obviously potential contamination from who knows what. Sealed, I wouldn't think twice about using them.

 

[ClemKadiddlehopper]

I have had lots of old spices. They denatured, changed flavour and gotten bitter. They won't kill you or make you sick if kept dry, but they won't spice things up properly either.

The worst offenders I have tried are dried (ground) sage, oregano, basil, marjoram thyme; the leafy green stuff. I broke down and dumped those in the compost after testing them for over 20 yrs. I have twenty year old bottles that have never been opened so one day If I need to, I will give them a try. I don't worry much about spices killing me. I think it very unlikely and it's just one more way to go, if they do.

You can get more mileage out of rosemary if used in a marinade.

Stuff like ground turmeric, mace, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, whole anise, cloves, nutmeg and ginger kept vacuum packed, I call almost forever spices. Bay leaves do fine. Seeds do fine.

Seasoned salt will discolor but it is still good after a gazillion years and five different climates world wide. It's loaded in salt, after all.

 

[Haertig]

Have they been opened?

Yes, most all have been opened. The lids have been closed, so I'm not really worried about contamination. But they've been opened to the air.

 

[SheepDog]

Heat, sunlight, and airborne contaminants will affect the flavor and color of your spices. I keep all my spices in the freezer. I pull them out to use and right back into the freezer. I buy in bulk and have spices that are more than 20 years old that are just like new.

 

[Caribou]

Salt is a few billion years old so it will ago bad anytime now, or so I keep telling my wife. Peppercorns etc. that you have to grind up keep almost forever. Some spices will get weaker over time so you may have to use more than you did 20 years ago. But, if you can remember how strong a spice was 20 years ago you're doing better than I. I've got spices over 20 years old but I obviously don't use them much so there is no reason to replace them and the only reason to toss them is to clear shelf space.

 

[Peanut]

Many spices are high in volatile oils. It's what we smell first, when a seed or bark like cinnamon is ground. Very aromatic, they are in fact spices because of the oils.

Volatile oils don't stay around long once the seed or leaf is ground.

For example "pepper corns" can be sealed and stored like wheat or corn. They'll still be good several years latter. If it's been ground is loses what makes it taste like pepper in a year. If you had ground pepper vacuum sealed it might be good 2 years later.

I see the same thing with medicinal plants I dry. Most of the mints have strong volatile oils. I've dried the leaves and vacuum sealed them. In a year they've lost much of their potency. I toss them out and harvest more.

I toss out old spices and buy new fresh spices the same month every year. I try to keep it simple.

I also buy cinnamon bark, mustard seeds, whole peppercorns. Grind my own when I need it.

Edit to add... anyone else keep garlic powder in the freezer? I use a lot of it so I buy it it a bigger container. I keep the small bottle in the spice rack. When it gets low I refill it from the freezer.

 

[Wyatt]

My understanding of spices is that they don't spoil as much as get they get weaker in flavor with age.

Vacuum seal your spices and I believe they will last a very long time, right along with most dry beans, rice, flour, coffee, etc.

Side benefit is that rice, flour, etc., will never become contaminated with weevils either.

I prefer the chamber vacuum sealer over the external, "food waster" countertop vacuum sealer.

Granted the chamber vac is higher initially in initial cost, however, the vac bags are pennies each compared to anywhere from $0.50 on up for the external bags.

With the chamber vac one can vacuum seal liquids, whereas with the external vac you are constantly plagued with moisture from what you are vacuuming being drawn up and into the sealing area thereby compromising the seal and wasting a $0.50 plus bag in the process.

You have to be careful not to overfill the chamber vac bags or they will spill contents into the chamber. It takes practice, and a few messes. I've not attempted to vacuum seal flour so I honestly can't say how it would respond under vacuum.

Hard experience has taught me that within five minutes of using an external countertop vac, half of the seals have broken, meaning that if you had tossed them into the freezer, you would be pulling out freezer-burned food negating the benefit of having a vacuum sealer in the first place.

walmart.com sells chamber vacuum sealers for as low as $300 on up to over $1000. I purchased a Weston brand for around $700 awhile back from a different supplier and have used it numerous times and am well satisfied with the results. Do your due diligence if you decide to purchase one. You could stand to save some serious coin. I saved around $100 when I bought mine by shopping around on the internet.

The vac bags can be purchased from Walmart or webstaurantstore.com. Webstaurant will ship the vac bags for free. I have found that the bag size I use the most is 8X12 inches ($0.06 each). My machine will chamber up to 12X14 inches, ($0.13 each, roughly the size of a two-gallon Zip-Lock which are $0.96 each at Walmart.) however, in spite of having an abundance on hand I have rarely used any that big, while I have used 500 of the 8X12 inch size in the same amount of time.

Properly vacuum sealed meat will last for years in the freezer.

Interesting sidenote; walmart.com will ship to your door for free with a $35 minimum order. This is not to be confused with the walmart+.com where you pay a monthly fee of $12.95. While both require a $35 minimum order there is no fee for walmart.com, it's just that you cannot order refrigerated items for home delivery.

 

[Haertig]

Thanks for all the feedback and tips. Spices tend to remain in our house for quite a while - we must not use them as much as other people. I hate to throw them out, but then I'd hate to ruin something I'm cooking using outdated spices. I can't really taste the raw spices to see if they're still good - I would have no idea what raw paprika is supposed to taste like for instance. I imagine that many spices taste fairly nasty on their own, in a super concentrated state, than they do when used more sparingly on foods.

I think I may stop in the spice aisle at the store next time I'm there and write down some prices. I know the saffron and (real) vanilla is super expensive, but I'll bet the onion powder is not. I would have less trouble throwing out the cheap stuff.