I love to create my signature taste in food with my homemade spice blend & I know you do too, but wait do you still struggle doing this at your best? Don’t worry you will be at your A-game after reading this.
One major reason why your spice doesn’t retain its flavour is that you store homemade spice blends & whole spice in an improper way.
Spices are really magical because they elevate your ordinary meal giving it unmatching flavour and taste at every bite.
But it can be so daunting spending the Saturday to shop for your spice, only to create a spices blend in the kitchen that is a mess.
In this post, I will discuss all you need to know in selecting & storing your spices in order to create a highly flavoured homemade spice blend every time.
At the end of this post, you should be able to practically know how to properly store homemade spice blend, whole spice better & maintain its potency over time.
EASY & PROVEN WAYS TO STORE HOMEMADE SPICE PROPERLY.
If you have been struggling over the years to keep your spices retain their flavour & potency then this post will serve you all you need to store your homemade spice properly.
1: BUY IN SMALL QUANTITIES
If you won’t mind the first thing to properly retain your spice flavour over time is basically to shop small, aside from the benefits of fresh flavour in your homemade spice blend it is also safe for mother earth.
So anytime you are going to shop your spice buy from trusted vendors and only buy in the quantity you can use up within a limited time.
2: STORE HOMEMADE SPICE IN THE RIGHT CONTAINERS
What is a spice blend without its powering flavour, I bet it’s a NO..remember one of the main items you should always be concerned about when storing your spice is the storage containers because they can make or mar your blend.
I will always recommend a glass jar to store your spice blend but ensure that’s if you are making your spice at home ensure it’s left to cool down before pouring in a jar.
Spices are best stored in amber glass jars because they provide excellent UV protection as well as prevent harmful content from leaching on the spice blend as they are mostly found in plastic bottles.
3: BUY WHOLE SPICE ONLY
If your storage is of utmost importance then your purchase should also be a concern. Never try to buy already grounded spice as they are mostly unfresh & possibly mixed with less quality spice to increase profit margin.
So I will always recommend buying whole spice & blending with your own dry miller at home. Examples of spice you should buy whole include: nutmeg, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, coriander etc
4: KNOW YOUR SPICE SHELF LIFE
Most spices have different shelf life & the ironic part is that we create our homemade spice blend with a combination of different spices that can stay active within varying times.
The need to be in the know of how long each spice can leave will be a good start to knowing how well to keep the spice.
For whole spice, they can last as long as 4-3 years while homemade grounded spice can last between 1-2years.
So to ensure a retained spice shelf life ensure to create your homemade spice blend with only fresh spice only so that other spices in the mix won’t affect the overall outcome.
5: USE THE APPROPRIATE QUANTITY ALWAYS
How often you open your spice jar at every time of usage affect its potency. I will always recommend that you have a perfect size, dried scoop spoon to take your spice from the amber jar anytime its need to be added to soup, salad, stew etc.
Using this prevents the frequent opening of the spice jar that makes it lose its flavour so fast.
6: BLEND YOUR SPICE TO USE ON THE GO
If you are a lover of spice then the need to keep it fresh will be on your top list, so getting the best out of your spice is ultimately frying & blending your spice when it’s actually needed.
I will suggest you shop for a dry mill grinder, that makes it easy to blend your spice whenever you are ready to add them to your bakes, soup or marinate.
7: KNOW YOUR SPICE & ITS FLAVOUR COMPOUND.
Different spice belongs to distinct classification based on their flavour compound knowing what category each spice you have in your pantry belong to can significantly affect how potent & its shelf life.
Some of the classifications are: sweet warming phenol examples of spices in this category are cumin & fennel
Warming terpenes examples of spice in this category include nutmeg, dill & coriander. The spice in this category doesn’t need to be overly toasted because it loses its flavour from excessive heat.
Knowing the flavour compound helps with the proper storage of your spice to help prolong its shelf life & retain its flavour in food.
8: AVOID DIRECT SUNLIGHT
Always store in a closed cupboard & prevent spice from direct heat like sunlight. If your spice is kept in amber spice jars they are better properly stored when it doesn’t have contact with sunlight.
9: TEST FOR POTENCY BEFORE STOCKING UP
I don’t take chance when buying my spice I mostly have a taste, have a smell to confirm if the spice I am stocking up on to make my homemade spice blends is in its fresh stage.
Or better still have to chew some edible spices to feel the flavour & determine if the spice is freshly harvested & stock up on them.
CAN I STORE HOMEMADE SPICE IN THE REFRIGERATOR?
When a spice is stored in the refrigerator because it helps retain the flavour & life span of some selected spices. Examples of spice that can be refrigerated include chilli, paprika & cayenne pepper
DOES EXPIRED SPICE AFFECT MY HEALTH OR MAKE ME SICK?
Whether it’s a whole or grounded spice it is recommended that consumption of spice that has exceeded its shelf life shouldn’t be consumed as it can negatively affect the health of the person in question while for some consumers it could lead to diarrhoea, constipation and many more health-related conditions.
HOW CAN I KNOW IF I SHOULD THROW OUT MY SPICE
Spice get rancid after a long while thereby losing its strong smell & potency, this invariably leads to the reason why you get to add an excess quantity of the spice before it can taste so good in soup, bakes & stew.
If your spice or spice blend smell more like dust rather than the original flavour then such spice has gone rancid and should be thrown out.
CAN I STORE GROUNDED SPICE IN THE FRIDGE?
Keeping spice in the fridge requires that your whole spice or spice blend should be stored in an airtight spice jar & store away from the compartment in the refrigerator that can easily be spilt with water.
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