Carla Hall's Trick To Avoid Using Expired Herbs And Spices

Chef, author, and delightful TV personality Carla Hall has been a mainstay of our culinary entertainment landscape since she burst onto the scene in 2008 as a contestant on "Top Chef: New York." Her enduring popularity is not only the result of her spirited energy and approachable, comforting recipes, though. Hall stands out because she doesn't hold back when sharing advice and insights to help at-home chefs cook with more confidence. She'll tell you in a heartbeat how to cook perfect grits every time or how to soak up fried food grease, and she just recently shared some other seriously helpful tips with Redbook. One stands out as immediately applicable to every home cook: how to easily avoid using expired herbs and spices.

Expired spices and seasonings are a nonstarter for one simple reason: They've lost all their flavor. So, before you add a dash of cumin or a sprinkling of cinnamon to a dish, follow these steps to ensure you're actually adding any seasoning when you're seasoning. First, the sniff test. When you take the lid off of the jar, can you smell heat, flavor, pepperiness, or an herbaceous aroma? If you're not sure or aren't confident in your olfactory sense, Hall recommends rubbing the spice between your fingers. If it releases a scent, it will certainly flavor your food. If the smell is barely there, it's time to toss it.

Hall also notes one caveat of expired spices: If the herbs still smell like they should, but the color has deviated from normal, they need to go. So, if your once-green oregano, basil, or sage has turned brown, it's time for the bin.

There are several tricks to keep your herbs and spices fresh throughout their life cycle, from purchasing and storing to using and storing again. When possible, it's better to buy the whole version of a spice rather than its ground-up form for longevity. This means buying cinnamon sticks over ground cinnamon, a nutmeg clove over ground nutmeg, and so on. If you do buy ground spice, try to buy the smallest amount possible — that way you'll use it all before ever worrying if it's past its prime.

Once acquired, be sure to store your spices in a cool, dark space away from your oven, stovetop, or sun-drenched shelf. As Carla Hall notes, dried herbs will last in a dark, dry, unheated space for about two years, while spices will last closer to three. Of course, no one is likely to remember when exactly they opened that basil, especially if it was two years ago, so Hall recommends writing the date on the container's lid as soon as you open it. Also, when we open a fresh spice jar, most of us toss that extra foil or paper layer of insulation beneath the cap, but Hall says keeping it will help the jar's contents stay fresh.

Hall even has a tip to keep your spices fresh while you're cooking. Rather than shaking, sprinkling, and seasoning your dish directly over the heat, measure out your spices in advance away from the heat source. When working over the stove, steam and warmth will start working their way into your spice jar, speeding up its contents' expiration.