Last Tuesday I ruined a pot of chili by using old cumin

I was making a big batch of chili for my office potluck, about 6 quarts worth. Grabbed my cumin from the back of the spice cabinet, it was maybe 2 years old from the Market Basket in Nashua. That chili ended up tasting like dirt and sawdust, nobody touched it and I brought home almost the whole pot. Anyone else ever get burned by expired spices?

2 comments

2 Comments

rosek441d ago

You said it was in the back of the spice cabinet for 2 years, but old cumin gets musty way faster than that if it's pre-ground. You might have had better luck with whole cumin seeds, they last a lot longer than the powder.

robert_smith361d ago

Does anyone actually check if their cumin still smells right before cooking? I just kind of dump it in and hope for the best, maybe that's my problem with old spices.