Take 5—10 minutes to declutter your spices. Do you spend extra time sorting through your spices every time you are cooking or baking? Is your spice cabinet overflowing?
Take each spice out of the cabinet looking at the expiration date or best buy date. Put the expired spices in one box to empty and recycle the container. Put the good spices in another box. Put the ones that don’t have a date in another box.
If you have any spices that don’t have dates or you cannot read the dates, test the spice for freshness. Take a pinch out of the container and rub it in between your fingers. If it does not smell or has a very faint scent then it is no longer good and should be put in the expired box.
While spices do not necessarily expire, they do lose their strength and flavor. Dried ground spices are typically good for 1 – 2 years and dried whole spices are typically good for 2 – 3 years.
Put the good spices back. They should be stored in a cool, dark area. Next time you purchase spices write the purchase date on the bottle to make it easier to declutter in the future.
