Pepper powder

[Daryl]

I have seen these on a couple threads here. How long does the powder/salt keep?

[Richtee]

Depends greatly on the way it's made. The salts will not last very long typically. Moisture and salt being hygroscopic in nature tend to dull it out pretty quick. But With proper air tight storage in the freezer... you could eek a few months out anyway. Powders are a different deal. With good storage, a year is easily attained.

When the Smitty's pepper spice comes in I vac in 1 pound batches, and place in the light-proof freezer. I have dug out 2 year old packs I noticed little difference in.

[curious aardvark]

keep it cool, airtight and out of sunlight - it'll keep for quite a long while.

[Daryl]

Thanks for the replies!

[Fishawn]

I've used jalapeno salt that I made, which is more like a bunch of different spices, and it's been good year later

[SMOKE FREAK]

If properly dried and stored peppers are good for a couple years...

I don't grind it till I need to use it...Well I grind in small batches...

Im thinkin that when mixed with salt its gonna be more prone to drawing moisture and will shorten its storage life...

But seriously...Is it gonna last THAT long...It doesn't at my house...

[mackbrad]

My jap powder stores for a while and I mean a while but my hab powder dosent store long prolly would if I didn't. Eat it on everything

[HistoricFoodie]

Am I missing something? Why would you make a large batch of something so simple, and then store it and risk degradation?

All dried spices, when left whole, will keep two days longer than forever. The whole spice trade was based on that simple fact. Those caravans often took more than two years to reach their destination.

Once they are crushed, broken, ground, or otherwise processed, they start losing their potency, with heat and light being the big negative factors. Most ground spices, therefore, should be replaced after sitting no more than a year.

That's the theory. The reality is, most of us do not have paletes that discerning. If we had a sample of newly ground, and year-old spice, we could likely tell them apart. But just having the old stuff, not so much. Which is why many people think their old spices are still potent.

Even so, it's a matter of seconds to grind an immediate need of a spice, so why do more than a few days worth at a time?

[HawgHeaven]

Am I missing something? Why would you make a large batch of something so simple, and then store it and risk degradation?

All dried spices, when left whole, will keep two days longer than forever. The whole spice trade was based on that simple fact. Those caravans often took more than two years to reach their destination.

Once they are crushed, broken, ground, or otherwise processed, they start losing their potency, with heat and light being the big negative factors. Most ground spices, therefore, should be replaced after sitting no more than a year.

That's the theory. The reality is, most of us do not have paletes that discerning. If we had a sample of newly ground, and year-old spice, we could likely tell them apart. But just having the old stuff, not so much. Which is why many people think their old spices are still potent.

Even so, it's a matter of seconds to grind an immediate need of a spice, so why do more than a few days worth at a time?

Very true. Anything I can find or grow, gets dehydrated and ground as needed. So much better...