Dried Herbs

[Hosenbugler]

I have a cupboard full of the things, must be getting on for 50 different varieties, some I know are at least 5 years old. Now, they *seem* ok, which probably means they are, but would like other's take on the matter.

Do, or can they keep forever, like peppercorns , or do they lose flavour over time?

Should I be hoofing the older one's out, what say others?

Cheers

[BoRED S2upid]

Have a clear out. I bet you have duplicates. Grow some fresh stuff.

[ZedLeg]

Anything that’s been sitting for a year or so will have lost a lot of flavour.

You can still use them though. As long as they’ve been kept dry they don’t go bad.

[Hosenbugler]

Thanks all, I decided on a purge. Virtually all out of date the record was a jar of dried Oregano , use by Mar 2000 !!

Some of the stuff did look a bit iffy under scrutiny, cardamon pods, and some others. So, bit the bullet, just have to buy it as I need it :-)

[PositronicRay]

IME, dried spices are fine, for a long time.

Dried herbs never seem much cop, frozen works well though.

[Hanglow]

I used to think that dried herbs were dried herbs, until I grew and dried my own a while ago and my word they are so much better than most of the stuff you buy in the supermarket. Get them as fresh as possible

[dapprman]

Dried herbs and spices do have their places in cooking and sometimes do add a different flavour or effect - dried basil and powdered coriander are two that come to mind.

[nikaiyo2]

They wont kill you but the flavor deteriorates.

I had some dried curry leaves at the back of the cupboard, must have been 5 years old at least, they just tasted like bits of paper LOL

[zygalski]

A good rule of thumb is to use 50% more than the recipe suggests for every 2 years past their best before date.

[Gandahar]

Hosenbugler said:

I have a cupboard full of the things, must be getting on for 50 different varieties, some I know are at least 5 years old. Now, they *seem* ok, which probably means they are, but would like other's take on the matter.

Do, or can they keep forever, like peppercorns , or do they lose flavour over time?

Should I be hoofing the older one's out, what say others?

Cheers

They will be fine.

If you think herbs are bad think about those whole nutmegs that you buy to grate over something horrible "to make it more tasty" and then never get around to it ....

If you can accurately carbon date a whole nutmeg then it is still "good to go "

PS I went through our shelves in 2016 and found stuff in jars in there that had an expiry date before my daughter was born. My daughter is now 18 ! My wife never throws anything away.

When my auntie died, and she was brought up during WW2 and rationing, they cleared out her chest freezer and found it was full of meat 25 years old.

And as a comparison ...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZoHuMwZwTk


It's never too old ! As long as you cook it well enough or drink enough beer first

Edited by Gandahar on Friday 21st February 13:14