I don’t have a proper or fancy spice rack. I have a shelf. An open shelf in my little galley kitchen. I have what I consider to be a pretty good collection of spices. It’s probably medium in size. It’s a nice rack. (if you will)
Here’s what I realized last night: every single spice. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Expired.
I’m not talking a month or so ago, not even a year. Nope. Seems like 2010 was the year all of our spices died.
My impulse is to trash them all. (I totally just heard my Mother gasp.) I can’t find anything online that says consuming expired spices is bad. It can’t be good but so far most searches are about packets of ranch dressing, not bottles of cumin.
So what would YOU do if you were in my shoes? Keep the spices and slowly replace? Chuck them all now and slowly replace? Use them and become possible radioactive? Find someone to marry on eHarmony and register for a swank new spice rack?
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
Unless they smell off in some way (like they’ve molded or been obviously contaminated), they’re almost certainly just less potent than they were. So go ahead and use them, just use a little more to get the full effect (and use them up faster!).
Yeah I have used many spices out of date by years and I am still here to speak of it. They are dried in a sealed container I think you are fine.
I’m in the same exact boat. So what I’ve decided to do is gradually replace the old spices. I keep an eye on the sales where I normally shop and load up when I can. It will take a while to replace all the bottles (I never realized how much a spice whore I was until now), but that’s ok. I’m still using some of the old stuff for now, since I’m sure it’s still ok, just not as tasty as it should be.
I’ve never looked at the expiration on my spices. I’ve kept using them. Obviously if they smelled funky or looked funky or worse, then I’m trashing them. But so far, that’s only happened once (I won’t describe what it was – totally gross). However, even though not spices, I will say that for baking soda or baking powder, they definitely need to be used within expiration dates as they lose their leavening ability and you can ruin a cake with old baking powder or baking soda.
as long as they’re not moldy, the only reason they expire is to make you go buy more. Its not like they’re going ot dry out…
Your spices are positively youthful compared to some of ours! The dates are only BEST BEFORE, not USE BY, so though there may be a lessening of potency, they should do you any harm. I say use and replace as needed. I wonder if you chucked them all out together last time they passed the BBD, hence then all expiring at the same time this time?
I agree, they are all just less potent. Can you give each one a little test? Smell it and look inside. If it seems withered, replace. If not, keep!
I am with the crowd here. I say use them unless they smell or look “off”. I haven’t even looked at the dates on ours, and we don’t seem to be affected by them.
I cannot say the same for expired, unopened, frozen salmon. It smelled off to me. I am not sure if it was psychological, but I COULD NOT bring myself to cook it.
putting my Spicy Bitch hat on for the moment: they’re unlikely to be contaminated with things that’ll make you sick. They’re just not going to be as potent and flavorful as they were. Particularly the powders. Whole spices can last a long time, so expired whole spices still probably taste fine. The powders, on the other hand, will be a fraction of their potency. You can still use them, you’ll just need to use a lot more to get the same flavor.
Go on a shopping spree at Penzy’s Spices, but I have been looking for a reason to do that.
I was going to say to ask Dagmar and, lo and behold, there she is. I recommend doing anything she says with one’s rack.
What everyone else is saying. They won’t go poisonous or anything. They’ll lose some of their strength, won’t be as fragrant, etc., but they’re not going to be harmful. Do you have a place where you can purchase spices in bulk, and then transfer to your own jars? Or I’ve also found that places like World Market have some good spices in plastic bags, that I’ll purchase for less than the jarred ones, and then transfer to my own jars.
(Just a few months ago, I threw away a bottle of spices from college. You know, the same college that is having their ten year reunion soon.)
Yeah, they just get less spicy. You just have to use more.
I ditto what everyone else has said only I will include going to a Whole Foods or other some such natural food store and buying your spices from the bulk bins. It is sooooooo much cheaper than buying new bottles, you can buy in smaller quantities so you may use them before they “expire”, and you are also re-using the bottles you already have (just run them through the dishwasher). Plus you can use up what you have and then go fill ‘em up! This is what I do and it works beautifully for me and also contributes to that oh so lovely “green” feeling!
AAAAAnnnnnd then I realized that Faith had already said this…. oh well…
I’m with everyone else…Unless you’ve got tons of money to go out and replace all of your spices, you should just keep on usin’ the ones you’ve got! Spices are damn expensive!
Keep them! Spices don’t go bad, you just have to use more of them to get their kick!
I always buy mine in bulk (I have a fancy spice rack with its own glass bottles) so mine don’t have expiration dates. Funny you bring this up now — a few days ago we were supposed to bring in a spice for a toddler school project, and I brought in half a dozen because some of them are so old that I was feeling generous. There are some that I know for a fact I bought in the days when I did a lot of cooking, in the mid-90s.
I’ve had saffron and mustard powder change beyond the point where I’d use them, but almost anything else seems to be good indefinitely, or based on my kitchen at least for 16 years.
I sell Tastefully Simple (www.tastefullysimple.com/web/jmckeeman) which is a gourmet food company known mainly for its spices and dips. Our spices are all shelf stable. That means they won’t make you sick (they could last forever), but we recommend to use them within 18 months or they may start to lose some of their flavor. If your spices are of good quality, they haven’t changed color or smell, then I’d say they are probably fine to keep.
After many years of this recurring, I now replace one old one every couple of months to keep the budget under control. I agree that any that aren’t moldy or obviously “off” won’t hurt you. However, as you replace old ones, remember that the new bottle will almost always be much stronger and adjust for that as you cook. I always intend to, but seldom do, put a date on the label when I buy them. Even I draw the line at about 5 years! The “spices” keep better than the “herbs.”
I’m positive that I’m in the same boat. I think they just lose their potency/flavor, but they won’t make you sick. I would slowly replace them, but I would keep them for that day that we all have when we reach for the ginger or cumin and at the moment don’t care if it’s old or not!