The Best Ways to Use Old Spices
If you’re anything like me, in your adult life you’ve accumulated a vast supply of spices in your kitchen, many of which you bought and then used exactly once. Then one day you look at your spice shelf and you notice a thick layer of dust on those bottles and wonder if the spices go bad? The qualified answer is no .
Spices never really go bad, but over time they lose their potency, eventually becoming completely useless for their original purpose (bringing flavor to your gray life). One easy way to tell if your spices are expired is to do a ” smell test” on them, which is what it sounds like. Spices should have a sharp, powerful flavor; if yours smells bad (or doesn’t smell at all), then they are too old.
But when your thyme and bay leaf have become withered ghosts of themselves, do you just throw them away? Not necessarily – spices actually have many alternative uses. While it can be hard to separate fact from fiction when it comes to hacking into your old spices, here are a few ways to use them that are completely legal.
Prepare
The easiest way to use old spices is to use old spices . Because spices never go bad, you can still use them in cooking . If they’re a bit bland, use more than usual – you really can’t go wrong, as you’ll need a heavy hand with table salt at dinner at worst.
An old hack is to toast spices right before using them in a recipe. Throwing a few depleted spices into a skillet or grill for a few minutes and exposing them to heat can open up the last reservoirs of flavor and aroma trapped in those old seeds and bark shavings, giving them a final boost right before adding them to your dinner.
Pest protection
Insects and rodents are often repelled by the smell of spices, so using an aged spice rack to protect your garden and home can actually workâmany gardeners plant plants specifically to repel pests . The warning here is twofold: on the one hand, your spices are old, so they’re not as hot and therefore won’t work as well as fresh spices when it comes to pest repellency. Second, these methods probably won’t work as well as commercial products. But! Unless you’re dealing with a DEFCON-1 vermin invasion, some of the spices in your stance will work well against them.
Mix old cayenne pepper with a little dish soap and water to protect your plants from aphids and other hungry insects. Bags of old bay leaves placed in the dark corners and nooks of your home will help drive away cockroaches, and bags of mint will help keep mice away. You can also prepare a mosquito repellent from boiled rosemary, strained and poured into spray bottles. The good news is that even if these methods don’t work, they will leave you and your home smelling great.
clean your house
Some spices have powerful cleansing properties. Thyme, for example, contains the essential oil thymol, which acts as a fairly effective antimicrobial agent . Thymol is used in commercial cleaning products, and you can make your own using the old thyme on the spice shelf – just pour boiling water over the thyme, let it steep overnight, strain it into a spray bottle, and add some rubbing alcohol. This will be a fairly effective cleaner for surfaces in the home.
Another spice that is useful for cleansing even after it has aged is cream of tartar . This spice can help you get rid of stains, scratches, and dried-on food leftovers in the kitchen and even the bathroom. Mix it with baking soda and lemon juice to make a paste that can be left on bath rings and other stubborn stains.
Upgrade your laundry
Spices smell good, so it’s not hard to imagine making simple packets of spices from old stock and throwing them in the dryer. Do you want your clothes to smell like lavender? No need for fancy sheets to dry, just load up a bag of leftovers. You can use just about any spice and make pouches out of almost any leftover fabric.
Mulled wine
Mulled wine is a delicious delicacy on a cold evening. All you need is some red wine, sugar and lots of spices ( you can also add cognac or fruit if you want to be ambitious). It takes about half an hour to drink a mug of spicy, alcoholic goodness, and you can use many different spices to create different sensations. Cinnamon and cloves are the most popular choice, but why not grab a box of cheap reds and spend the weekend experimenting with your old spices to see what works?
Air freshener
There is a smell in your house. It is a fact. You don’t realize it because you live there and don’t notice it (thank God), but your guests know it very well. If you want to control this smell, you can use some old spices for this. All you have to do is bring a pot of water to a boil, add some spices to it, and let the steam do its thing. The longer you let it simmer, the further the flavor will spread, it will last surprisingly long.
Start a spice garden
Your spices are old and spoiled, barely able to spice up your food, but there may be some hidden life in some of them. After all, many spices are seeds, and you can grow real plants from spices on your shelf. Coriander, ginger, cardamom and mustard seeds are just some of the spices you could breathe new life into.
Your mileage here will vary because a) these spices are often processed in ways that limit their viability to germinate and b) they are already old. However, if you’re thinking about throwing away your spices, put them in the ground and pamper them, you end up with a delicious spice garden instead, and then you can harvest your own extremely fresh spices forever!
crafts
Finally, if you’re creative, you can add spices to various DIY projects to add a bit of zest. Make your own candles or soap? Add some old spices for a nice flavor. Spices have been used to make natural dyes for centuries, so whether it’s your homemade clothes or dyeing Easter eggs, your old spices can add color. And a few simple sachets to hang in your closet can infuse your clothes and the space you occupy with a wonderful fragrance.