Dry Spices-Tip

[Capt. Greg]

Someone may have already posted the same tip, don't know, didn't search. However, while provisioning for a trip to the Abacos Nov. of 2018, I got to thinking about keeping spices dry-mainly salt and those allspices containing salt. While rice is successfully mixed in with salt and added to shakers, this is not easily done in pre packaged shakers. My solution: add about a a pound of dry rice in the bottom of a gallon ziplock and store your spice bottles in that bag.

I was making breakfast on the boat a couple of mornings ago, pulled out my Morton's seasalt, and a year and a half later that salt was still separated and shook right out of the holes. Hope this helps some folks.

[Pegu Club]

Thanks for the tip Capt. Greg, will give that a go. I am a firm believer in keeping many Items in zip lock bags on our boat, we use a type of that sort of thing for our clothing, just squeeze out the air after closing the bag, doing so minimizes the humidity contact for what ever is in the bag, this is especially helpful for items that may be stored for periods of time. We found this especially helpful in climates where condensation is an issue.

Fair winds,

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Capt. Greg

Someone may have already posted the same tip, don't know, didn't search. However, while provisioning for a trip to the Abacos Nov. of 2018, I got to thinking about keeping spices dry-mainly salt and those allspices containing salt. While rice is successfully mixed in with salt and added to shakers, this is not easily done in pre packaged shakers. My solution: add about a a pound of dry rice in the bottom of a gallon ziplock and store your spice bottles in that bag.

I was making breakfast on the boat a couple of mornings ago, pulled out my Morton's seasalt, and a year and a half later that salt was still separated and shook right out of the holes. Hope this helps some folks.

Thanks Capt G.
I store all my spices in sealed glass jars, but each time the lid is opened it exposes the contents to fresh, moisture laden air. I have now put a tablespoon of rice in each jar and I think this will help keep the contents much fresher. I keep most of the spices whole rather than pre-ground and so the smaller granules of rice have sunk to the bottom of the bottles.

It was quite a revelation when I first started to grind spices on demand. The fragrance is heady and the flavours infinitely richer. The shelf life is dramatically longer keeping them whole. I am not sure why I was so surprised when initially trying this. I would never contemplate grinding coffee beans then leaving them sit for months or years before brewing a pot of coffee. The difference is on the same scale.

So a tip to add to yours: buy and store the spices whole .

SWL

[JanetGroene]

This is about seasonings that you use by the half teaspoon or teaspoon. Empty medicine gelatin capsules are very inexpensive to buy online. They come in many sizes. Fill with dry spices, keep cool and dry, add to hot sauces, stew, soups. The gelatin disappears. Janet Groene, BoatCook blog