A household spice cabinet is a daunting to face for the first time. What spices do you need? How should you store them? There are several things to consider in stocking your first spice cabinet, so here is a quick rundown.
Instructions
1. Choose a dark, cool and dry cabinet in which to store your dried herbs and spices. Dark and cool because light and temperature affects the flavors of spices, causing them to dissipate prematurely, and dry to avoid mold.
2. Collect the hardware that you will need. Airtight metal canisters are better than jars, again to avoid the light. Additionally you will want a grease pencil, computer labels or a label-maker in order to identify the contents of your canisters. Finally, you will want a fine Microplane grater for nutmeg, one or two good quality peppermills for pepper and an electric blade type coffee mill for everything else.
3. Whenever possible, get whole spices in preference to ground because whole spices give you better, fresher flavors and they have a much longer shelf-life than ground spices do. Not all spices are available in whole form, so purchase those in smaller quantities and replace them every six months or so. Whole spices are good for about two years. Whole spices are available through numerous on-line sources in addition to your local spice shop. When labeling spices, add the date in grease pencil so you can rotate them in a timely manner.
4. Herbs are a different issue. Fresh herbs are now available in the produce section of most grocery stores, so we don’t have to be as reliant on dried herbs as we once were. Some recipes call for dried herbs in preference to fresh ones, however. In that case, again, purchase small quantities and dispose of them after six months.
5. Stock with your favorite herbs and spices! Some basics are included here, and you can use these as a starting point, but branch out by experimenting with things that sound interesting to you and to herbs and spices that compliment your cooking style.
Tags: dried herbs, herbs spices, grease pencil, spices available, Whole spices, will want