How To Tell If The Spices In Your Cabinet Are Still Good

When's the last time you cleaned out your spice rack in your kitchen?

If you were to go to my house and open up my pantry, you would see an amazing collection of spices. I'm a big fan of a variety of spices to add flavor to my food. I couldn't tell you how many that I have in my cabinet. I also couldn't tell you when the last time I actually sorted through my spices. I guarantee that I have more than a handful that are years old. Chances are they are probably hard as a rock. I have all of these spices and only use a select amount...I have a problem.

I'd be willing to bet that you might have quite a few spices in your cabinet that are have been in there for a while too. However, do you know if they are still good or not? Furthermore, do you know how to tell if they are good? It wasn't until I saw a post earlier today that I learned how to tell if a spice was still good or not. I just assumed that if it was hardened and clumped together, it was time to toss it.

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McCormick Spice issued a few reminders as to how to tell if your spices are too old. As you may know, spices and herbs don't spoil like fresh food does, but that doesn't mean that they don't have a timeline to use them by. Herbs and spices will lose their flavor and potency after a while, which is counterintuitive to use them to "spice up" your food. That's why the company has offered up a few tips to ensure your spices still do the trick.

I think it goes without saying that if you have either one of those featured above, you should probably get some new ones. However, if you want to learn more about how to tell if your herbs, spices, and blends are still good, check out the information below:

(H/T- McCorminck)