Survival Spices and How-to Store Long Term
Favorite Spices – Long Term Storage ‘Must Have’ Spices?
We all have our favorite spices. And, you might say that there are several ‘staple’ Survival Spices, right?
Mrs.J and I have several drawers in the kitchen with nothing but spices – all sorts of flavors. We also buy some of them in bulk – vacuum sealed bags for long term storage. When a spice jar is getting low, we’ll open a bulk bag and refill it as needed.
Spices can really compliment the overall flavor of a given food / meal – completely altering it to one’s taste, a particular cuisine, ethnicity…
One thing is for sure with regard to long term food storage and preparedness: Having a wide variety (and quantity) of spices will make even ordinary staple foods such as Rice & Beans (and many others) more palatable with various flavors!
How-to Keep Spices Fresh, Long Term Storage
Spice Storage Tips:
- Keep your favorite spices in the dark (e.g. drawer, cabinet)
- Store spices away from stove or other heat source
- Air-tight jars are good
- Vacuum seal or Ziploc bulk storage
Our daily-use spices are kept in two drawers in the kitchen (as opposed to on a rack mounted on the wall). We keep all of our extra spice (bulk) storage in a storage bin with a lid. Various packaging. It’s kept in a relatively cool place in the house.
We really haven’t come across any noticeable degradation issues over the years. I believe that if the original spice/herb product is of good quality (there’s cheap junk out there), it will maintain freshness and ‘pizzazz’ for a long time.
Bonus Tip:
Don’t shake spice over steaming food. Moisture will get into the container, possibly speeding up mold growth. Instead, shake some of that spice in your hand and sprinkle it on.
Don’t get food fatigue. Spice it up!
Lets say you’re having to dig into your long term food storage (for whatever reason). Hopefully you won’t become mired in dull food flavor fatigue…
Think it through. You’ve spent time and money storing extra food for ‘just in case’. Don’t forget about the spices.
One thing I find interesting… even though we have a wide variety of spices, I tend to reach in the drawer for my favorite spices. I need to force myself to try new flavors!
Your Favorite Survival Spices
So here’s the question for you… What are your favorite spices?
Of course, the ‘staple’ spices are SALT and PEPPER (peppercorns)! If I could only have one, it would be Salt. If I could have two, they would be Salt and Pepper!
I like ‘Montreal Chicken’ and ‘Montreal Steak’ seasoning. Yum. Something about their formula is delish.
Garlic every day. We grow our own. So it’s always fresh (until middle of winter time). Also have it in dry powder (spice) form – in a jar.
Other staples like Oregano, Thyme, and Basil. Many uses, as of course you know…
Turmeric! Sometimes sprinkled on fried eggs, along with some crushed black pepper (a healthy combo in moderation).
Oh, regarding the salt, we mostly use Pink Himalayan Salt in our salt grinder. Again, apparently more healthy than processed salt. That said, iodized salt is a good thing too because most people are iodine deficient these days.
The other salt that I use… Kosher salt (larger crystals) for marinating steak (at least one hour ahead of time). Oh boy…
Rosemary. I love the flavor. Sprinkled on chicken is so good…
Onions. Is that a spice? Well, we dehydrate Vidalia onions during the summer. Then, we’ve got Vidalia yumminess all winter.
Oh my, there are so many good ‘survival spices’ (grin). I could go on and on. But I’m curious to know some of your own favorites… and any secrets how to store spices long term.
[ Read: Grow Your Own Garlic – Just Plant The Cloves ]
[ Read: Dehydrated Onions | How to Dehydrate and Store Them ]