Why do spices in your cabinet get hard?? And what’s the best method to soften them back?
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They will trap moisture over time and as a result will harden.
The easiest way to get them back in a powder form is to empty the contents into a pestle and mortar, and grind it up until the clumps break down.
You can then put it back into the original container and use as you like.
If ground spices accumulate moisture, they will form clumps and harden. The best solution is to keep them in the fridge so they will not break down.
For a good few of them they are ruined at this point if they are ground spices. Maybe not ruined, but they will have lost a great deal of flavour. Usually ground spices start to lose their flavour after about 6 months.
You’d be as well to dump them and buy fresh, but you can also revive them by gently warming them in a dry pan.
Whole spices will stay fresh for much longer, easily a couple of years. Dried herbs will maybe get 2-3 years.
Doesn’t answer this question but I keep my brown sugar from getting clumpy and hard by keeping a piece of break in the jar with it. Soaks up the moisture.
If it’s age, you’ll either need to dump em or mix fresh ones in and grind them out again.
If it’s just moisture getting into container, you can grind them out and then put them in a new container that seals better, keeping moisture out. Where I live, if you don’t close the container good moisture WILL cause spices to clump together in a matter of days. If this regularly happens with fresh-ish spices you need better containers. If it’s happening with spices 6+ months old, you should buy less spices as they start losing a lot of flavor at that point just from aging.
Moisture. You need to store your spices in a sealed container in a cool, dark, dry place. The bottles they come in are almost always inadequate – notice how they come to you from the store sealed. That’s to keep moisture out during distribution. I recommend you transfer to glass with a gasket. You can even use those tiny jam jars they sell in bulk, the lids make an adequate seal.
I would not recommend storing spices in a refrigerator; although refrigerators dehumidify the air, there are too many variables that can mitigate that, lots of vegetables, meats, poorly sealed containers, open food, etc…
I would recommend buying small containers of spices. If you’re not using them before they clump to hell, you’re not using them fast enough.
I recommend buying whole spices and grinding them yourself. Whole spices will retain freshness for much longer than ground spices – we’re talking months or years (depending on the spice and how good your storage is) vs. weeks. You have no idea when the spices you buy at the grocery store were pre-ground, you’ve no idea how old they are. We’re talking picking up either a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder (and don’t worry that the plastic gets stained, just wipe the thing out before your next use). Fresh ground spices will change your life.
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