Cleaned out my spice cabinet this morning and found a jar of cumin from 2018

I finally tackled that messy spice cabinet after putting it off for months, and discovered a jar of cumin that expired six years ago. Threw out about 15 old spices and organized everything by type so I can actually find things now. Has anyone else found a ridiculously old spice lurking in their kitchen that made you question your cooking habits?

3 comments

3 Comments

mason_lopez1mo ago

Found a five year old jar of oregano last week that still smelled great... I just doubled the amount in the sauce.

henryp401mo ago

Six year old cumin? That's still perfectly fine. Spices don't really go bad, they just lose some potency over time. People throw away perfectly good spices way too early because they see an expiration date and panic. You could have kept that cumin and used double the amount for the same flavor. Now you probably spent money replacing spices you already had that still worked fine. The whole "clean out your spice cabinet" trend is just people making their kitchens look neat at the cost of wasting food and money. If it doesn't smell bad or have bugs in it, it's still usable.

charlescraig1mo ago

You hit the nail on the head with "If it doesn't smell bad or have bugs in it, it's still usable." That's really the only test that matters. I've got a jar of smoked paprika from like 2018 that's still kicking around, and you know what? It's fine. The color's a little faded, sure, but it still smells like paprika and it still adds that smoky flavor to chili or whatever. I think people get spooked by the "best by" dates because they treat them like poison warnings instead of quality suggestions. Plus, if you're using a heavy hand like you said with the cumin, you're honestly getting more bang for your buck anyway.