The key is surface area. When a spice is pre-ground, more of it is exposed to the air so it goes stale faster. Some spices (such as whole nutmeg and whole allspice) shouldn’t even be ground days before being used because their potency degrades extremely quickly. In general, the less time between grinding and using, the better the flavor.
Why Buy Bulk Whole Spices?
Buying in bulk dramatically reduces the cost to you. Buying Bourbon vanilla beans in the grocery store can cost several dollars or more per bean. Buy your vanilla in bulk and you’ll be paying about 41 cents per bean, including shipping.
In grocery stores whole spices sell less often than lower-quality pre-ground spices. This means that even when you do find them in stores they may have been sitting there for a very long time indeed.
I had an opportunity to use samples of our Tahitian vanilla beans about a month ago, and they were supple, moist, and incredibly fragrant. I have seen store-bought Bourbon beans literally snap in half if bent slightly.
Our spice suppliers sell to restaurants (so does our sister company), which not only means the spices we carry are of very high quality, but that there is rapid turnover in their supply so you won’t be buying spices that are already stale.
Comments 5
Up to now I have been strictly a utilitarian sort of cook. I cook to eat. I learned to only make sure the food tasted good enough to eat. So, for me and people like me, being told we need to NOT ground the nutmeg, etc., is a big help. I was literally not far from grinding the nuts up and putting them in a jar. So glad now I didn’t.
What I noticed about the Tahitian Vanilla Bean was that it felt like a raison when I split it before putting it in the vodka. I’m thinking a nice clump of vanilla beans would make an excllent gift at Christmas for my more worthy cooking friends.
Lynn A.
Just tried the annatto in the sampler pack you sent – made “annatto (achiote) butter”. To make this, I melted some butter, added the annatto, and made (essentially) yellow clarified butter. Good as a substitute for saffron or turmeric if you want to lightly color something, such as potatoes, also good in Mexican or Caribbean foods where the seasonings also add color.
I made some really good “Risotto-style” potatoes by melting the annatto butter in a large skillet, caremelized some onions, added diced potatoes and chicken broth until the broth evaporated and the potatoes were soft. Potatoes turned a light yellow. Added some leftover Easter ham and peas and it was delicious!
Now I have a question. My friend and I want to get a bag of the vanilla beans and make more vanilla extract, vanilla sugar, and vanilla bourbon. What is the shelf life for these? And, when I made put the beans in the vodka to make the one bottle of vanilla extract, I did not soak them in water first. Am I supposed to soak them first before putting them in the vodka?
The vodka is a very pretty color now. No doubt it is vanilla vodka for sure at this point, but I am holding off for vanilla extract. My daughter did her best to get me to crack it open Easter for a drink, but I wasn’t going to mess up the vanilla extract for anything. So now I should really make some vanilla vodka. She says it is delicious.
Lynn A.
P.S. If you are sending out emails, I’m still not getting any to let me know new articles are up. So just in case, if no new emails, I will assume you just aren’t sending them this week.
Dear Lynn,
The vanilla beans themselves should last for about a year if kept in an air-tight container that keeps them from drying out. Do not put them in the refrigerator.
You shouldn’t have to worry about vanilla sugar going bad, although I would consider removing any beans that have been left in there once it smells and tastes the way you want it to. You should keep it in a dry place.
Finally, you do not have to soak the beans prior to adding them to the extract. Because of its high alcohol content, it should last a very long time indeed, just keep the lid on to keep it from evaporating. I would say that the bourbon will probably have a similar shelf life.
-Matthew
Thanks for the info, Matthew. I appreciate it. My friend was given a very large jar of vanilla sugar some years ago, and didn’t quite understand a jar of sugar for Christmas, but she used the sugar to dust sugar cookies in, and then she understood the beauty of a jar of vanilla sugar. Til now, she didn’t know this is how it was made. Another mystery solved. Lynn A.