Has anyone ever frozen spices?

Adillo303

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Gold Site Supporter
I bought bulk Basil and Herbs Du Provence. As is typical for me, I bought way too much. I was storing it in an airtight container. It occurred to me that opening and closing the container still allows the spice to age.

I took most of the spices and vacuum sealed them and put them in the freezer.

Has anyone ever tried doing this?

Any ideas? - suggestions?
 

Adillo303

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Gold Site Supporter
I made the foodsaver bag big enough to reseal a few times, so the plan is to use the spice that I have out and replenish from the frozen stock.

I was going to freeze some ginger root tonight as well, but, one of my Labradors stole it and ate it. He is currently nursing a sore stomach. I understand Ginger root freezes well.

The spice I have is dried. I will see what happens.
 

bigjim

Mess Cook
Super Site Supporter
I freeze dried spices. Typically those that I use rarely. I have always frozen in the can, but just had an idea. Why could you not roll spices in several layers of plastic wrap, then, twist in small quantities, like link sausage? That way you would only have to cut off one section at a time and you would eliminate the moisture problem inherent in opening and closing a frozen container? Like I said, I haven't tried this, but I will, and I would guess that it would work.
 

Adillo303

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Gold Site Supporter
I think that I left out some information. Sorry. The spices that I have are dried. Moisture should not be an issue. I know that if I buy a bottle of spices from a grocery store that their potency wains over time. I am hoping that the vacuum seal and the freezer will abate this.
 

GotGarlic

New member
Just FYI, herbs and spices are not the same thing - herbs are leaves, like basil, parsley, and thyme, while spices are seeds, fruits, roots and bark, like black pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon. I don't know if freezing dried herbs will prolong their potency or not, but freezing fresh ones does.

My advice is not to buy herbs in bulk anymore; if you have space (my first herb garden was in window boxes, my second in a half-whiskey barrel), plant the herbs you use most this spring. I have a large herb garden now (started 15 years ago) and in the fall, I empty the herb jars in the kitchen and refill with my own dried herbs. Drying them is easy - I put clippings in a dry vase out of direct sun and wait a week or so, then strip the leaves, leaving them whole as much as possible, and refill the jars. I freeze fresh basil in ice-cube trays with water, then throw them in a pot when I need some during the winter. HTH.
 

Adillo303

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GG - All verry good advice.

Actually, we did start growing herbs last year. We do not have much land, so I built a rack and we are container gardening. We use as much fresh spice as possible during the season and dry what is left.

I have always had a problem with my eyes being bigger than my stomach. Or in this case no really good idea of how much basil 4Oz is or how much Herbs Du Provence 8Oz is.

I really agree with you yjsy fresh grown is best. We are trying to learn the balance of what we can grow in the space that we have vs how much wee will actually use of it.
 

bigjim

Mess Cook
Super Site Supporter
I think that I left out some information. Sorry. The spices that I have are dried. Moisture should not be an issue. I know that if I buy a bottle of spices from a grocery store that their potency wains over time. I am hoping that the vacuum seal and the freezer will abate this.
The moisture problem with dried spices comes from the sweat created by taking them in and out of the freezer. Same with coffee, which I get several pounds at a time. Any quantity of spices other than the pepper is too much, so, I freeze most of them and keep only a small quantity out.
 
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