"Best before" dates on herbs and spices

mom23

Hi just been helping mum clear her cupboards and she has lots of these some never been opened my dad used to love to cook and was always buying them for some recepie or other!!(sadly he died a couple of years ago and mum has never used them) some have bbd of 2003:eek:
Should we chuck them i am in true MSE style making everything from scratch so would use them.
Do herbs and spices know the date
Thanks in advance

Linda32

It more likely they will lose their flavour, than be anything wrong with them.

Having said that, if you say they were kept in the dark, in the cupboard. Someone will be along sooner with more advise, but I reckon they will be fine, maybe someone will suggest using a bit more than a receipe calls for to help with possible loss of flavour.

gingin_2

I used some sage with a bbe of 2003 last night, it had definitely lost some of it's strength but I am still here so nothing disastrous, I agree just use a little extra than the recipe calls for

Nicki

You should be able to tell by a combination of smell and sight whether it is worth using them or not, Usually the green herbs lose their potency quite quickly so if the colour is faded and they don't smell aromatic then not worth using them. Spices tend to last a bit longer, but you'll be able to tell again by smelling them whether there is any flavour left in them, and if there is, it would be a good idea to use a bit more than usual to compensate for any deterioration.

thriftlady_2

I agree with the other posters, some loss of oomph in the flavour.

Reminds me of a time a few years ago now when my mum sorted her cupboards out. There were things in there with price labels in old money :eek:

Gryfon

I have some old ones, those I have newer ones of because I misplaced the first lot I just throw because I won't use them.

Got loads of spices though which I just know I'll never finish before the bbd!

overlykeensaver

I would imagine the dried herbs wouldn't be so good, but the spices may be ok, if a little less potent than they should be. If they still have their spice aromna, I would use them, if not, chuck!

LydiaSophia

I used some Curry Powder the other day that had a BB4 2005. I used loads and it didn't taste of anything! :-(

Ted_Hutchinson

If you buy your spices whole and grind them yourself in a spice grinder you will get a far better flavour than with spices that have been packed ground.

Spices keep better whole and so you've got more leeway with BB dates.

Larger packs of spices are much cheaper than small packs so it's good to have like minded friends who you can share a large pack with.

KatrinaC_2

mom23 wrote:

Hi just been helping mum clear her cupboards and she has lots of these some never been opened my dad used to love to cook and was always buying them for some recepie or other!!(sadly he died a couple of years ago and mum has never used them) some have bbd of 2003:eek:
Should we chuck them i am in true MSE style making everything from scratch so would use them.
Do herbs and spices know the date
Thanks in advance

I regularly use flaked chillis with a BBE date of 1998 and dried herbs with BBE dates from the last millenium.

Have a sniff and if they smell manky, don't use them.

Kat