Kitchen

[bargainsgirl]

I just wonder how long do you actually keep your spices?  Read all the suggestions but just wonder ...  

[Ainhisg]

I go by the date on the bottle.  If it's just a month or two past that, I will still use it but buy new for the next time.

[Meowingkitty]

As long as possible. They're to expensive to replace just because someone made up an arbitrary date and that says you need to replace them. 

[Shelbelle]

Forever, if they look fine and taste fine ! sometimes the color can change a bit. 

[SilleeMee]

I haven't looked closely at the spices I have in my cupboard. I know some of them are over 10yo but I haven't gotten around to tossing them out. They must be saw dust by now...lol! I don't cook so spices go unchecked for a very long time.

[loriqvc]

When there are good sales such as BOGO, I'll stock up on spices I use fairly often. If I haven't opened a bottle, I will keep it until it reaches about a year past the printed date or until I start using it and reach 6-9 months past the printed date. (And if I open an older bottle and it doesn't look or smell right, it gets chucked.) After I open and start using a spice that is well in advance of any printed date, I use it within a year, or within two years for peppercorns since I know they have a longer peak shelf life.

Some spices may be technically "fine" for longer than a year or two, but many truly do lose quite a bit in terms of effectiveness over time. To me, it is more of a waste to use a spice with disappointing results than it is to just get rid of something that is no longer going to perform as it should, affecting a whole meal. And in the cases when I do end up throwing something out, it makes me take an extra moment to ponder during those sales to determine if I'm just buying something because it's a good deal rather than because it's something I need. I know that bulk-buying mentality is ingrained in me a bit due to a childhood of serious penny pinching, so I have to make sure I'm thoughtful in what I buy and how much I buy. 

[Ainhisg]

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@Meowingkitty wrote:

As long as possible. They're to expensive to replace just because someone made up an arbitrary date and that says you need to replace them. 

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You do know that's not an arbitrary date, right? Companies test spices to see how long they will stay at their peak. 

A person can still use spices after the best by date, but the oils in them could have started to evaporate, and the flavor and color may have been affected. It's not that they are bad; it's just that a person doesn't get peak flavor from them. Like someone else said, in my opinion, it's more of a waste to have your food not flavored well, than to throw out old spices and buy new.

[cjm61]

• Since our home is in a humid climate I keep until it clumps together. Otherwise, I keep and use until it's gone. 

[Sooner]

We use a lot of spices.  I go through them every autumn.  If they really haven't been used much I put them on the counter, and if we still don't use them after a month or so, out they go.

Otherwise, they get used up and replaced pretty often

[Q-Checker]

I keep and use them indefinitely as long as they smell OK and there is no clumping. When cooking for company or for a potluck, I use either an unexpired jar or fresh spices, buying a new jar if I do not have an unexpired jar of the needed spice on hand.