Comments on: Storing Culinary Herbs and Spices

By: Nerdy Allegro

Nerdy Allegro — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:22:02 +0000

I like the helpful info you provide in your articles. I will bookmark your weblog and check again here regularly. I am quite certain I’ll learn many new stuff right here! Good luck for the next!

By: computer repair miami

computer repair miami — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:10:31 +0000

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By: Keith Harrington

Keith Harrington — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:43:34 +0000

Another good source I have found for very fresh herbs and spices is on the web at http://www.goodhopebotanicals.com.

By: Chile

Chile — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:35:59 +0000

Mimi – for liqueurs, which can include herbal tinctures, I just use the cheapest vodka I can find. Once infused with flavor, and in the small quantities used in cooking, you won’t notice the vodka. With liqueurs, the sugar syrup goes a long way toward making anything palatable.

Sharon – I’ve tried grinding spices in several different styles of spice grinders and even pepper grinders. I find that unless they are round like peppercorns, everything else just seems to slip right through the mill plates. Whole nutmeg is easily ground by hand but I’d like a way to deal with whole cumin seeds, fennel, mustard, etc. My little mortar and pestle does not grind them as thoroughly as I would like so I may look at the Asian market for a large one.

By: Preparedness Pro

Preparedness Pro — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:07:44 +0000

Thank you for this article, it was very comprehensive and thorough. I do enjoy more spices in my food than most and, like you, love Asian food and spices. I recently planted my own herb garden in the place I typically plant flowers. While it isn’t a large space, I love how fragrant it has become and have been researching this topic a lot recently. http://tinyurl.com/kwmqvv Great timing to happen upon this article.

By: Willow

Willow — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:31:26 +0000

Sharon,

When you make a tincture of rosemary do you use alcohol or vinegar? I would like to try this. I’ve used gin, with its juniper flavor, as a wonderful addition to potatoes. I might try making a rosemary-gin tincture for potato dishes.

Thanks for this post!

By: ehswan

ehswan — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:52:47 +0000

I do like you. I like your creativity, your gumption, your style, your indefagatable optimism. I LIKE YOU. How ever, and I know you’ve read this before. THERE ARE FAR TOO MANY OF US FOR THIS WORLD, IN ALL ITS DIVERSITY TO SUPPORT! This is not about growing your own food! We now face a stark choice. It won’t be pretty. I think you know what I’m driving at. Ahh, let’s see, most of the flora and founa are dieing off. Where does that leave us? I’ve flown over most of this country,(my country) and what did I see? Well for most of its growing parts a God Damn Giant Food
Factory, mostly devoid of any natural life. Check it out next time you fly over this once fine, filled with life land at 35,000 ft!

By: dogear6

dogear6 — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:11:38 +0000

I love Penzey’s! I’ve been buying from them for years and am glad to actually have a retail store of theirs near me.

I agree with the comments about using more spices. When I am doing volume cooking, such as soup, my measurements for dry spices tend to be in the tablespoons. If I am using fresh. it is half a handful, a handful, or more.

My husband finally consented to using fresh ground pepper when he cooks. Now he is complaining as how hard it is to measure. He was appalled when I said that if he was pan frying chicken breasts, not much. Pot of soup, a lot more. After several discussions, he’s finally willing to to eyeball it.

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:48:08 +0000

Grinding a bit of white rice after a spice helps clean the grinder – the oils stick to the rice powder, but the rice powder doesn’t stick too the grinder so much. So, grind spice A, grind some white rice, dump out the rice, wash the grinder (if you’re so inclined), and then grind spice B, followed by more white rice.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:17:45 +0000

Jyotsna, that’s really beautiful – thanks for the wonderful link. I want one!

Ellen, I agree that a really good mortar and pestle makes a huge difference – those little ones are mostly for decoration, I think. As mentioned, I really like my mexican style metate, which is made from volcanic rock, and really does a good job grinding.

I don’t recommend storing food in oil except in refrigerators or in cool cellars at refrigeration temps – you can grow botulism that way. The herbs in oil mentioned above are *frozen.* It would not be safe otherwise.

Robyn, it is one of those “well, how many grinders are you going to have” things . Ideally, I’d probably have one for all the really volatile herbs and spices, but I don’t – I have two coffee grinders, one for coffee, and one for spices. There’s a little bit of cross contamination, but I find a little bit of cinnamon in my cumin less troubling than a little bit of coffee in my cumin .

Sharon