What is the best way to preserve xtra virgin olive oil. It is soooooo costly and I don’t want to screw-up by letting it get rancid.
Also, I am never sure about the shelf life of various spices i.e.; cloves, allspice, nutmeg, dried herbs, crushed red pepper flakes, dried onion/garlic,etc. etc. - - - even baking powder and baking soda. I don’t bake often.
Thanks! JJ
Even the spice companies such as McCormack and Spice Islands don’t recommend discarding spices that often, especially whole spices.
It is best to buy whole spices. As you need them toast them in a dry pan and grind them yourself. If they are aromatic they are still good to use. They never spoil, but will lose their aroma and flavor.
BOY ! I hear ya’ Joyce. I hate losing money on spices that get too old. I try using them up no matter how old they get, just use more if they seem weak.
But alas, KW is right. Lets face it, fresh is better. How many meals are we willing to not have such great flavor coz we were trying to use up the old weaker spice instead of getting fresher ones.
Same for oils. I can tell the difference between old oil and new, just by taste.
Best way to look at it; If I’ve gotta spend an extra $7-$12 every other month for fresh oils, spices, etc., that comes out to about about a buck-$1 a week. Well worth it, for the $30- $50 worth of groceries I buy every week.
Google “shelf life of spices” and you will see from many sources that what I said is true. A woman who owns The Spice Shop in London was on TV and said the same thing.
Insanity,
Where do you live? I wished I could get my spices and oils for 7 -12 dollars. And I also wished my grocery bill was only 30 - 50 a week. If I got out for 50 I would think I forgot a lot of stuff.