Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Are there any spices that should not be frozen? Thanks.

Whole spices like whole nutmeg. Ground spices should be OK as long as they're vacuum-packed.

I'd also think that it would be kind of hard on herbs, even dried ones, but I haven't actually tried. I mean, vac-packed in a dark box I've found spices here to keep for up to 2 years.

I'm not sure what would happen to spices that would degrade them when frozen. I have been freezing them for many years, even before I had Foodsaver, though I'm sure that helps them keep even longer. I freeze whole spices and herbs, as well as ground spices, and have never noticed any problems. As a result, I was surprised when R. Iyer stated in [i]660 Curries[/] in all of those spice blend recipes that "refrigeration adversely affects flavors". Curious about this, I froze half of a batch of his twenty spice blend - actually I only made half, but I figured that I still wouldn't use up 1 cup in 2 months (or whatever the shelf life was that he gave), and that half cup seemed the same as the first half cup, though I will admit that I didn't have a freshly ground batch to compare it to.

I also freeze all my spices whether whole or not.
I have a huge plastic tub in my big freezer that's filled with Penzey's stuff!
I really have to get a grip.

Thanks folks. Tomorrow is shift from inside freezers to the new one. I've already commandeered one basket (have 3) for Penzeys stuff. I will freeze some new ones I just got but won't use often as well.

I also have a box (one I made, so it fit perfectly, w/o wasted space!) in my freezer with just the spices. When I need to refill a jar, I remove the bag, and let it come to room temp, so there won't be any condensation on the spice, then I snip the corner, and pour the spice out. Then I reseal it, and back in the freezer it goes!

I too use way too much of my garage freezer for my Penzeys stock. So how do yall have them organized? I used to have them divided into 4 ziplock bags in general alpha order, but then I came to the conclusion that it was easier to find them if grouped by color. So I have a bag of greens plus blondish bag, orange bag and brown bag.

Yes, I obviously need a Penzeys intervention as well.

Emilie

Ps. Sorry for the multiple revisions. We're on hour 15 of road trip from Va to Florida and I stopped firing on all cylinders back in SC.

I group mine by use or kind, so stuff used mainly in baking is together, whole spices are together, etc. Takes up an entire basket.