5 Essential tips to remember before you buy spices for your kitchen

by Kristen White Blogger

Do you have a passion for cooking? Do you love to cook food for others? The reason can be anything, but in order to make good food, you need to buy the best quality spices.

Buying spices is not easy, especially if you are a beginner. We often make this mistake of buying spices by only looking at the expiry date, not the manufacturing date. If you want to buy the best quality of spices, you need to follow this guide.

In this article, we have mentioned a few tips that will help you find top-quality spices for your kitchen.
1. Avoid grocery stores
Products on the shelves of your grocery stores are usually 3 to 4 months old and before that, they spend almost a month sitting in the warehouse. The average shelf life of spices is not more than 8 to 9 months. Chances are spices that have already lost their effectiveness.
2. PURCHASE WHOLE SPICES
One of the best to ensure your spices remain effective for a long period is by buying them whole and grinding at home, yourself. Whole spices stay fresh longer compared to packed spices. Since the shelf life of spices is low, whole spices will stay fresh for a long period, they might even last the whole winter is packed properly.
3. BUY THE BEST QUALITY SPICES YOU CAN AFFORD
Have you ever wondered why some spices are cheap and others are expensive? As per the health regulation, it is not possible to grow and process spices that are from defects. These defects include foreign matter such as strings, dead insects, and more.

So how to buy authentic and pure spices?
The best place to look for pure spices is the authentic spice market. They usually have a whole and good quality of spices and they are available at an affordable rate. They sell spices that you use for daily cooking, for example, if you want to buy fenugreek leaves, you find them at the authentic spice market.
Yes, it is possible that the seller might sell poor-quality of spices, but you have the freedom to talk to the staff and smell the spices before you buy them. The safest way to buy good quality of spices is by buying them in small quantities and test the spices at home.

Another way to buy good quality spices is by buying directly from the spice merchant. If you are looking for chipotle in Australia, you need to search for a merchant who provides the best quality chipotle.

4. BUY SPICES IN SMALL QUANTITY
Just because it is cheap to buy in bulk, it doesn’t mean it is the best idea. Since spices have a low shelf life, they will go stale if left for a long period. Buying is bulk is not useful unless you are a chef or running a restaurant. The best way to buy spices is in smaller quantities. This ensures that your spices are used before they lose their effectiveness.

5. WHY BUY WHEN YOU CAN GROW YOUR OWN
If you want to use the purest and most authentic spices, then the solution is to grow your own. Hang the bundles of fresh herbs and leave them for some time to dry. Fill the jar with fragrant leaves and store them properly. If packed correctly, these herbs and spices will last for a long period or may be two whole seasons.