5 Expert Tips For Storing Your Spices And Keeping Them Fresh

Spices are the cornerstone of many good meals. A plate that might otherwise be a drab affair can be transformed with just a few fragrant grains of brightly colored spice — it's a bit like magic, really. But these cuisine-altering substances don't come cheap. Filling a spice rack can be a significant barrier to entry for budding cooks. And once you do have a full complement of seasonings, you want to make sure that you protect those precious aromatics however you can. Given the gravity of the matter, we asked not one but two experts to weigh in on the best spice practices for home cooks.

Our first spice expert is Ethan Frisch, co-founder and co-CEO of Burlap & Barrel, a company renowned for its single-origin spices and single-origin sugars. On top of selling some truly excellent spices — including some that can be tough to find elsewhere, like black lime, wild mesquite, and urfa chili — the company has a focus on sustainability and supporting small farms.

The second spice specialist we spoke to is Hadar Cohen Aviram, executive chef and senior manager of the culinary department for the North American branch of McCormick. McCormick is, of course, a titan in the world of spices. The Maryland-based company has been selling spices since the late 1800s and now has brands and products available to consumers in more than 150 countries and territories — including our top-ranked store-brand sauce mix. So let's see what tips these two experts have for us on how to keep your spices fresh and your dishes vibrant.

The most common spice issue that one runs into in the kitchen is a loss of freshness. Compared to many ingredients, spices have an exceptionally long lifespan, but they do deteriorate. As Frisch puts it, "Spices don't go bad exactly, but they do diminish in intensity." If you notice a dulling of coloration or a loss of aroma in a jar of spices, this is a good indication that it is past its prime. Fortunately, noticing these changes doesn't mean that the spice needs to be thrown out. "You can continue to use it," Frisch says, "you may just need to add a little more in cooking."

But if you've ever been forced to use really old spices in a dish, you know firsthand the pain of realizing too late in the cooking process that your meal will not have the aromatic oomph you were hoping for. Aviram suggests nipping that problem in the bud by keeping track of the age of your spices with a simple labeling technique. "Use a permanent marker to note the date a new jar of seasoning was opened when buying new spices," she advises.

According to Aviram, ground spices like cumin or paprika have a shelf-life of two to four years if properly stored. Leafy herbs like rosemary, basil, and oregano keep for one to three years. That might seem like a while at first glance, but once you start labeling your bottles, you might realize how long they can hide out in the back of the spice cabinet.

While we're talking about the lifespan of spices, it is important to note that whole spices have a much longer shelf-life than ground spices. Aviram explains the matter as such: "Spices are full of volatile oils that release when ground — that's why ground spices would generally lose flavor faster than in their whole form. Whole spices tend to keep better, around one to two years more in a sealed bottle." If freshness and vibrancy of flavor are your top priorities, whole spices are the way to go. Aviram advises that a jar of whole peppercorns, cumin seeds, or cinnamon sticks can last as long as three to four years in before losing potency.

As far as actually using these whole spices goes, it's simpler than you might think. You can do it the way people have been grinding spices for millenia, with a good old mortar and pestle, like this granite offering from Priority Chef. Or if you prefer to cook without the need for much elbow grease, you can pick yourself up an electric spice grinder, like this one-touch model from Shardor.

Even with an electric spice grinder, it is still a bit more work to grind your spices fresh for each meal that you want to cook. A perfect middle ground is home-grinding your spices in small batches: enough for a few recipes, but not so much that it will go stale before you finish using it. As Frisch says, "Spices don't go bad, but they don't get better with age either! Use them, don't store them."

Using spices at their freshest is a surefire way to imbue your dishes with vivid flavors, but let's be honest, you can't only use brand new spices. You are going to need to store them — and storing spices correctly makes all the difference. According to Aviram, "The main culprits of flavor deterioration are light exposure, moisture, ... and heat. Lucky for us, there's a way to reduce all of these to extend the flavor of our spices as much as possible. Keeping your spices in a cool, dark place away from direct sunlight pretty much addresses all these factors." What she means when she says cool and dark is room temperature and away from direct light — think cabinet or drawer, not refrigerator. Neither Aviram nor Frisch recommend storing your spices in the fridge, with Aviram warning, "the 'freezer flavor' will settle in and alter the spice's flavor."

There are plenty of methods out there for storing spices and keeping them fresh, but a few of the best are a spice drawer (with the jar tops clearly labeled), a spice cabinet (but not above the stove, where there's too much heat and moisture), and a simple spice rack. Drawers and cabinets are dark, cool places perfect for prolonging piquancy. As for the spice rack, Aviram suggests simply keeping it away from the stove and out of direct sunlight. "Spices will last longer in a dark cabinet, but if having them out in the open means they are used more frequently, shelf life might not be an issue," she says.

Just like it is a reality that you can't exclusively use brand new spices in every meal you cook, it is also a reality that some of your spices are going to get lost in the back of the cabinet and lose their original luster. According to Frisch, "Supermarket spices are already stale before you open the jar! Good, fresh spices will last about a year before their flavor starts to decline." But those quietly deteriorating jars are not necessarily a lost cause. While they may not have the same punch that they used to, you may be able to revive them.

Aviram gives us two simple methods to bring tired old spices back to life. First, you can simply toast them in a skillet. She suggests dumping the whole jar of ground spice into a dry skillet over medium-low heat and toasting until the spices become noticeably more fragrant, then cooling the spice and returning it to the jar. But keep a close eye on it, as ground spices can quickly move from toasted to burnt.

The second method is one of the best ways to use expired spices: creating a spiced oil. It is similar to the first method, but with the addition of a bit of oil. Simply warm the oil in a pan, add the spices, and stir together until fragrant. This oil can be used right away in cooking or stored for later.

You may be able to give some spices a second life with a quick toast or oil bath, but that isn't always going to work. Even with McCormick's redesigned bottles intended to keep spices fresher for longer, they still fade. Sometimes, the spices just need to go, and that's okay. When those old jars of spice no longer deliver the flavor you need, they are no longer of much use in the kitchen. Or, as Frisch puts it, "If your spices don't taste good, don't use them!"

Picking up a few jars of spices at the store can sometimes come with a bit of sticker shock, which can deter us from tossing spices that no longer serve up the intensity we expect. But Frisch points out that those seemingly expensive spices are actually a great value when you think about it. "They have a huge impact on the flavor of your food and enjoyment of your meal," he says, while pointing out that the cost is typically only "pennies per serving."

Another thing that might stop you from replacing your old spices is a desire to avoid food waste. But you don't have to just toss those old spices in the bin. Frisch suggests composting stale spices or using them for pest control around the house or in your garden. Aviram, on the other hand, prefers to use old spices to make potpourri, either to give as gifts or simply to keep her kitchen smelling lovely.