Have you ever heard of fungus growing on a jar of your favorite spices? If you have suffered from spoilage of herbs after storing them for a long time, then probably you didn’t follow the proper steps to keep your spices.
Spices are already rich in antibacterial and antifungal properties. Most of these spices have anti-tumorigenic, antiseptic, and anti-inflammatory. Thus, in a broader sense, herbs are self-preservatory. Hence, it requires significantly less effort to store and preserve these spices.
However, when you do not follow the proper steps while intense them, these may get soiled because of humidity, air, or access to moisture. These exposures could increase the contamination of spices by many spoiling ingredients.
You must consider many factors if you intend to store your favorite spices from the season for a long time. Keep reading this article to learn about the characteristics and steps required to store herbs for a long time.
Factors to consider while storing spices for a long time
Some essential factors can impact the shelf life of any food ingredients. And when it comes to spices, the list of steps narrows down to a few vital steps.
Some of the factors that a person needs to consider while storing the spices are:
- Jars are used in the storage and impact the shelf life of spices. It is preferable to use glass containers rather than plastic containers.
- Locking the jars pretty well is another factor that can impact the spoilage of spices. It would be best if you permanently stored spices in a vacuum sealed or well-locked container.
- Storage cabinet is another factor that impacts the shelf-life of spices. It would be best to store these spices in a clean and tidy cabinet. Dirty cabinets could be the source of contamination for the spices.
- Access to sunlight is also one factor determining the shelf-life of spices. It is better to store those spice jars away from sunlight if you want them to be helpful for an extended period. Exposure to heat from sunlight can damage the spices and remove their flavor and aroma.
- One hard and fast rule for preventing the spices from spoilage is that you should never store your spices in the refrigerator. The moisture inside the fridge could damage the spices. These will form into lumps and give easy access to bacterial and final infection if you store dry spices in most areas.
Some innovative ways to organize your spice rack to preserve the spices
Although it doesn’t seem a big task, mismanaged storage of spices could spoil your most loved spice over time. Hence, it is always safer to prepare in advance to store them in the right way and preserve them.
Here are some smart ways that one can follow to organize their spice racks so that the spices get a long shelf life.
1. Build floating wall shelves
The floating shelves could be a good option to showcase your spice while preserving them at the same time. You can store the jars of your spices in an arranged manner on those shelves. It will be handy, and your kitchen will look fabulous.
However, it would help if you considered certain factors while you make floating wall shelves. It would be best if you made sure that these shelves are away from direct sunlight and any water faucets or taps. These shelves also need to be away from the access of children as they may play with the containers and break them.
2. Use shelf organizers
Using shelf organizers is another best idea to store your spices for an extended period. This process would help to de-clutter the spice rack and make it look organized and pretty simultaneously.
Also, if you use the shelf organizers, it would be easier to sort all the different types of spices. You can put whole spices in various corners, blended seasonings n a distant corner, traditional spices in another town, and hot spices in another.
The use of a spice rack would also make the spice jars easily accessible to the person who visits the kitchen once in a while. Besides, a little organization wouldn’t harm the outlook of a kitchen as well.
3. Use a separate container for daily use and a separate one for storage
Another major factor that could spoil the spices is the access to moisture whenever you open a jar of your favorite spices. To prevent spoilage from daily usage, you can use separate containers for stock and a separate container for daily usage of spices.
You may use big jars to store the stock of spices and keep it locked at all times. And use a small glass or tin jar to pour the spices needed daily. This way, you can also prevent your spices from access to moisture and bacteria.
You can also sort the spices according to their color and usage to make them handier in the kitchen. This would prevent a massive amount of mess in the kitchen.
Besides, you can also regularly check the quality of spices once in a while if you intend to store them for a long time. However, most famous chefs suggest using fresh ingredients and freshly ground spices. Such fresh herbs give a peculiar taste to the food.