Spices in mylar?

[phantomdan2005]

Well, I am starting a long term food storage plan, but with all the food out there that can store, I havent found too much information in regards to spices.

Are you able to store the following spices in bulk in mylar bags and oxygen absorbers?

- garlic salt/powder
- minced onions
- salt
- peper
- oregano
- red peper flakes
- generic italian seasoning

Also, does anyone know the shelf life if stored this way?

[kdoughty]

From what I've read here, yes. Although you don't need to do all that for salt. Just like sugar, salt is a natural preservative and doesn't need oxygen absorbers or sealed mylar really. It just needs to be protected from critters.

[CO-retired]

Originally Posted by phantomdan2005

Well, I am starting a long term food storage plan, but with all the food out there that can store, I havent found too much information in regards to spices.

Are you able to store the following spices in bulk in mylar bags and oxygen absorbers?

- garlic salt/powder
- minced onions
- salt
- peper
- oregano
- red peper flakes
- generic italian seasoning

Also, does anyone know the shelf life if stored this way?

I've wondered the same thing....................I do lots of preps(dehydrated vegs)
in qt.ball mason jars......I would think that every spice but salt would be fine in a jar with a 100cc. 02 absorber in it............................anyone?

[MikeK]

I store my spices in mylar with O2 absorbers now, but in reality, they did just fine in their original jugs. I rotate through them in a few years anyway. Over time spices lose some pungency, but you can generally correct for that by using a bit more and tasting as you go. In mylar they last better without losing pungency. But they're still pretty fragile flavor wise, so I'd keep them rotated the best you can.

As for actual useful lifespan, pretty much forever. I'm using up some old jars of spices that have sat around for 10 years or more. Some of them are pretty bland at this point, but they're still flavoring up some tasty dishes once I compensate for that.

I have about 100 spices around here (can you tell I like to cook ethnic cuisines?), so I'm very concerned about getting maximum life out of them now. So far, mylar and O2 absorbers have worked out great. Canning jars with O2 absorbers would work too, just keep them out of the light. Light and heat is harder on spices than O2 is.