Storing spices....what's best?

[TxHills]

OK. I started a thread on storing tea the other day, and got great replies. That's covered. I read through the thread on pepper....and although I have a little ground pepper, will be getting some peppercorns. That's the concensus, and I believe a good one. But I may have missed how to store ground pepper.....

Now...I posted in "Your prep for today" some spices my daughter got on clearence at Walgreens. With her discount, 30 bottles were 10 dollars. This does not include sugar or salt. I have several pounds of each stored away air tight and dry in food grade buckets and mylar. No o2 absorbers, as I already know that.

I've been saving my grand daughter's Caprisun packets. I'm not gonna buy little mylar bags, when I can re-purpose something that's already here. Now...do some of the spices need to be stored in mylar with OA's? Or just leave them in their sealed containers? Of course I have some open already that I use, so non-issue there.

So, here's a list. Leave em in their sealed containers? Store some in mylar with OA's? What say you guys? I'd think the salt based spices would be OK kept air tight and dry, along with crushed red peppers....

garlic salt
garlic powder
chicken bouillon
cinnamon sugar
ground cinnamon
seasoning salt
Italian seasoning
onion powder
chopped onion
parsley flakes
ground pepper
ground ginger
ground cloves
ground nutmeg
paprika
lemon pepper
ground cumin
crushed red peppers
chili powder
ground comino

Maybe others might add additional spices and make this a comprehensive thread that can be accessed as a future reference.

[TJETTN]

We've been wondering about this also. We've got quite a few spices bought and need to know if we should pack in small mylar (no Capri Sun packets here ).

[MikeK]

Spices, especially ground ones, lose their volatile flavoring oils rather quickly. Whole spices store best. And away from heat, light and O2. The Caprisun packs with small O2 absorbers would be about the best way to store them.

I buy them in bulk and repackage them down into about 6 months worth of use. Even stored in mylar with O2 absorbers, I can tell a difference as they age. But since real cooking is done by taste anyway, you can always adjust the amount in a recipe if the spice has lost a little flavor.

Leaf herbs like oregano, thyme and such, tend to lose flavor faster than root or berry based spices like ginger, hot peppers or peppercorns, even when bought as whole leaf. But they're still useable years later if you adjust the amount in your recipe.

A big problem with store bought spices is that they don't use high grade spices to start with. And the way they mill them and let them sit around until they package them, assures that they are already partially stale when you buy them. There are some awesome spice purveyers online that sell fresh, high grade spices. I bought most of mine initially at sfherb.com but have ordered some specialy spices from a few other suppliers. And the quality has been absolutely superb compared to store bought. Also, it's cheaper that way.

[stephpd]

I usually just keep them in the containers they come in.

[thyme2bprepped]

Check the labels. We just bought some paprika and it says it's best by Jan 2014. The one we have in use now actually expired a couple months ago but still smells good and has kept a nice red color.

If they are sealed airtight in the bottles and kept in a dark cool cabinet they should be fine until the expiry date and for some time longer than that.

It depends how long you are planning to store them and under what conditions.

[goose3]

All my spices, with the exception of salt and sugar (which may or may not qualify) are stored in mylar w/ O2 absorbers.

Whole spices, not ground, generally store better than ground spices. When you grind spices you expose much more surface area to degradation, which is why the admonition to store whole when possible (and it's why I store peppercorns not ground pepper).

I believe the name of the game is this: Store in an inert atmosphere in an airtight container which doesn't permit light to enter, and store in a cool place.

FWIW, I've stored a fair amount of dried garlic and dried onion, which are my two favorites. That's also stored in mylar w/ O2 absorbers.

[Velvet Elvis]

Does anyone know of a resource that shows a shelf life of individual spices if packed in mylar/02's?

Actually, I'd like to find a comprehensive listing for all kinds of food packed this way beyond the basic rice, beans, flour etc. What about dry milk, oatmeal, corn starch, dry potatoes. The search goes on...

[Mic]

I just store mine in the bottle that they come in because I am rotating them through my normal everyday cooking. I buy them in bulk at Sam's Club and they usually include...

Sea Salt
Pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Chilli Powder
Garlic Salt
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder

I can create a lot of flavors and dishes with just these spices so I don't have too many more beyond these, at least none that I bulk buy.

[Doc Simonson]

Anything that you can grow or easily trade for from someone that can, I won't store long term. I grow and dehydrate most of the herbs I need. Things that may take awhile to get back into the market place I will store in whole spice form. Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, peppercorns, and stuff like that I buy in bulk and repack in small amounts. I'm vacuum packing mostly, but plan on switching to OA soon. I've had fair luck with vacuum packs, but only doing it for less than a year. I've heard the horror stories.

[Grandad Prepper]

Originally Posted by Velvet Elvis

Does anyone know of a resource that shows a shelf life of individual spices if packed in mylar/02's?

Actually, I'd like to find a comprehensive listing for all kinds of food packed this way beyond the basic rice, beans, flour etc. What about dry milk, oatmeal, corn starch, dry potatoes. The search goes on...

The book "Dare to Prepare" has shelf life for all types of things, including what you've mentioned.

[lilangel]

Hi

A homesteading friend of mine introduced me to a place called San Francisco Herb Company. They sell bulk spices and baking products. We go in together on our orders and split up the stuff.

Some of the more interesting things that I have gotten from them are Lemon Juice Powder, Tomato Powder, and Vanilla Powder.

Heat and light are the biggest enemies of herbs and spices. What I have done is get whole not powdered (or powdered not liquid, ie. vanilla extract) when possible, break them down to smaller portions, store them in mylar bags with O2 absorbers. The individual mylar bags (labeled w/date and contents) are then stored in a food storage bucket.

I am able to open smaller packages as needed, therefore extending the shelf life. I also have been growing herbs in my kitchen. A small herb garden is easy to maintain. When SHTF I hope to continue doing this.

I don't know if this helps any, but it is what I am doing.

[gcvt]

I use wide-mouth pint size mason jars to store our spices. I use the Foodsaver attachment to vacuum seal the jars. Worked like a charm so far.

edit: I do store pounds of salt and peppercorns in 1/2 gallon size mason jars for long term...the small pint sized jars are only other spices that I use in smaller quantities for every day food preparation. Thankfully, I'm only a short distance from www.sfherb.com

[rextex]

I just keep mine in the original sealed containers. I've some that have been in my preps for around five years and they were still fine.

[aletoledo]

Originally Posted by MikeK

Spices, especially ground ones, lose their volatile flavoring oils rather quickly. Whole spices store best. And away from heat, light and O2. The Caprisun packs with small O2 absorbers would be about the best way to store them.

I buy them in bulk and repackage them down into about 6 months worth of use. Even stored in mylar with O2 absorbers, I can tell a difference as they age. But since real cooking is done by taste anyway, you can always adjust the amount in a recipe if the spice has lost a little flavor.

Leaf herbs like oregano, thyme and such, tend to lose flavor faster than root or berry based spices like ginger, hot peppers or peppercorns, even when bought as whole leaf. But they're still useable years later if you adjust the amount in your recipe.

A big problem with store bought spices is that they don't use high grade spices to start with. And the way they mill them and let them sit around until they package them, assures that they are already partially stale when you buy them. There are some awesome spice purveyers online that sell fresh, high grade spices. I bought most of mine initially at sfherb.com but have ordered some specialy spices from a few other suppliers. And the quality has been absolutely superb compared to store bought. Also, it's cheaper that way.

My new SHTF plan is to go over to MikeK's house.

[heartland]

I'm still using spices in the original container that's at least 12 years old. They are large containers and were given to us by someone in the food service industry. While they may have lost some of their oompf I find they still give plenty of flavor and I don't believe in throwing out spices.

[cchardwick]

Originally Posted by gcvt

I use wide-mouth pint size mason jars to store our spices. I use the Foodsaver attachment to vacuum seal the jars. Worked like a charm so far.

Ditto. I use quart wide mouth mason jars, oxygen absorbers, and the foodsaver vacuum attachment for everything including spices. If you use an oxygen absorber with the foodsaver attachment you can open the jar and close it without using the vacuum (in case of a power outage) and the oxygen absorber will kick in. I only store spices that I know I'm going to use. I have a whole kitchen cupboard full of spices that I haven't used in 30 years.

Are those photos of your personal storage? You really need to get some better containers. I use the glass mason jars because they are rodent proof and water proof. If you lost your roof and it rained would all your food be safe? If your walls were compromised and a squirrel or dog got to your stuff would it be safe? I've had ground squirrels chew right through plastic totes to get to my chicken food out in the barn. And I've seen people lose a lot of their food storage from an overhead broken water pipe.

I also avoid mylar because it's expensive to rotate your food, wasting all the mylar bags. Glass mason jars are reusable indefinitely. Here's my storage, I pour all my liquids and everything into quart jars and get enough spices to fill a jar completely. Mason jars stack really nice, this is about 500 quart jars!

[Velvet Elvis]

Originally Posted by Grandad Prepper

The book "Dare to Prepare" has shelf life for all types of things, including what you've mentioned.

To be clear, is the book listing shelf life for foods using mylar and 02s?

[Head4TheHills]

Originally Posted by gcvt

I use wide-mouth pint size mason jars to store our spices. I use the Foodsaver attachment to vacuum seal the jars. Worked like a charm so far.

I agree with this. I have some ground dried vanilla bean powder (see here) that I originally stored as quoted above in Spring 2008 (a little over 3 years ago). Last time I opened it to get some out (about 5 months ago), it was still fresh. I've since then been buying spices bulk and vacuum sealing them like this and, so far, I haven't had anything lose its flavor or spoil. The good thing about this is that you can open the jar, take some out, then vacuum seal it again.

[goose3]

My spices are stored in mylar w/ O2 absorbers. I have quite a bit of dehydrated garlic and onion, and a representative amount of various other spices.

I also have a bunch of whole peppercorns plus a number of pepper grinders. Post-SHTF barter material.

[mtnman37879]

Where are your pickling spices? Dill Weed, Dill Seed, Mustard Seed, Cloves, Allspice. Ya can't make a decent pickle with out these. Don't forget to keep "Canning Salt" around too.