Let's Get Spicy

If you enjoy cooking as I do and love trying new recipes from all over the world, you likely have a collection of spices and herbs in your cupboard or pantry. I have a huge collection. Everything from dried chile powders to curry powders, harissa powder, berber, and blends for everyday grilled meats. Some are more exotic than others and come at higher costs or are difficult to find. So what do you do with all of it? How do you store them if you don't use them all the time and don't want to waste money? Let's talk spices.

Spice Life

Spices in solid form have a decent lifespan. If you grind your own spices, you can comfortably store them at room temperature longer than powdered spices. The flavor profile of freshly ground spices is much better. The oils in the ground spice are what you essentially need for a recipe.

The shelf life of ground spices is about 6 months, give or take. That means that every 6 months you have to replace them entirely, or you may as well sprinkle pixie dust on your foods. You won't taste them. So grinding is better in that scenario.

And replacing a cabinet or pantry full of herbs and spices can be cost-prohibitive.

Make It Spicy

If you don't know how to grind your own, you have two options: an electric coffee bean grinder or a hand-cranked one. Either way, a grinder for coffee will give you the best powder consistency. Please don't use the same one you use for your coffee unless you like the flavor of cumin in your coffee. Cardamom is one thing, but cumin or harissa is not my cup of tea. Wait, I meant coffee.

Now, you can use the caveman way too, if you like, but you might need a couple of days to cook a meal then. The mortar and pestle is not a bad tool, but in the post-industrialization era, we did better.

Spice Dying Out-Toss It

Once ground, your spices encounter the same issues as store-bought ones. They have a limited shelf life. Also note that if you are purchasing ground spices, you have no idea how long those have been in transit and then in a warehouse or on the grocery store shelf. So subtract a month or two from that 6-month lifespan. I usually date the bottom of the tin when I purchase them, not when you open them. Remember, they may have been on that shelf for months already or in the back room somewhere.

The cupboards are full of spices. You are looking at them like, what do I do then with that anise powder or cardamom powder you bought last year for that one meal? Short answer. Toss it. Buy new, and when you do, even if you don't open it, put it in the freezer. It makes the shelf life much longer. How much? Well, when I hit a spice that has lost its potency, aroma, and flavor, I'll let you guys know.

Cold Spice-Not To Be Confused With Posh

I have almost the entire sliding drawer of my freezer filled with spice. I have my other freezers loaded as well. And still, my cupboard and pantry have more.

Some of you caught the extra freezers part. Well, aren't you perceptive?

Spice Story

I used to cook for a lot of people every week. I had my son's youth group of 150 or more kids and parents. I was the hospitality coordinator for my son's swim team, where I made the menu and all the meals for our team's local swim meets. This meant I cooked 3 meals a day for 3-4 days once a month, for 50-80 people. Do the math. That's a whole lot of cooking.

I was a stickler for giving them the full dining experience, so I set the banquet tables with linens, fresh flowers, and candy dishes with assorted tidbits. I rarely served the same menu twice and literally introduced every one of the coaches, officials, swimmers, and meet volunteers to the world. I cooked meals from every corner of the globe. So, I have a lot of freezers.

I stored the meats and the finished pans of cooked meals in them, right next to spices in larger quantities, when I would run out of space in the household refrigerators in the swim club's kitchen.

I still have most of them in my garage and two refrigerators in my kitchen. What can I say? I am a 'what if' kind of person. So while I have parted with one of the freezers, I keep one for beef, one for pork, one for fowl, and the other for seafood and spices. And yes, I know it's nuts. But if you ever need a spice or a pound of ground pork, I'm your gal.

My son calls now and then and tells me he needs to come home to go meat shopping. He means loading up his coolers with meats and taking them home. It makes sense, really. Have you seen the price of meats these days? The gas from Colorado to Kansas and back is cheaper, and he gets some home cooking before heading back.

He gets kisses and hugs for dessert, too.

(Published in Kitchen Passport on Medium, August 2026)

#cooking #food #foodie #recipe #cook

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