Tips for properly preserving spices that housewives need to know

Spices, if not stored properly, will quickly lose their flavor or become watery. The following tips will help you store spices properly:

1. Salt:

Hot weather can easily cause salt to become watery or lumpy. To fix this, simply line the bottom of the salt shaker with a piece of absorbent paper. This will absorb all the moisture in the shaker onto the absorbent paper and keep the salt dry.

2. Pepper

- For dry pepper, white pepper: To keep the original aroma and spicy taste, you need to store it in a cool, dry place, in a glass jar with a tight lid, it can be used for 2-3 years. After grinding the pepper, you should also store it in a tightly closed glass jar. After grinding, the pepper only retains its best flavor for a few months, the longer it is left, the more the aroma will fade over time, so each time you should only grind a small amount just enough to use.

- For fresh pepper: Because it is green pepper and has not reached a certain maturity, it must be used immediately after picking, or only refrigerated for a short time to avoid loss of water and other substances in the pepper.

3. Onions, garlic

- For dried onions and garlic: You should keep onions and garlic in mesh bags, paper bags or baskets to have a certain ventilation. If stored in sealed bags or plastic boxes, onions and garlic can easily rot and mold. The storage area for onions and garlic must be dry and airy. Avoid humid places that will cause onions and garlic to sprout. Pay attention to checking the bag or basket containing onions and garlic regularly, find and remove bulbs that show signs of rot, softening or discoloration to avoid mold spreading to other bulbs.

- For fresh onions and garlic: You can wrap onions and garlic in a fresh leaf such as cabbage or banana leaf, and leave it in a cool place to keep the onions and garlic fresh for a few days, maybe longer in cold weather conditions.

4. Chili

- For dried chili and chili powder: you should store chili powder and dried chili in glass jars, tightly closed, placed in dry, airy places, away from direct sunlight. Humidity, temperature and light can cause chili to quickly lose its characteristic flavor.

- For fresh chili: If you want the chili not to spoil or dry out in the refrigerator, after picking or buying it, wash it, drain it, then put it in a zip lock bag (a plastic bag with a zipper) and store it in the refrigerator. The chili will stay fresh for a long time. Or after washing it, wait until the chili is completely dry, then cut off the stem and soak it in a mixture of garlic vinegar and a little sugar. Note that the chili must be dry when soaked, otherwise the chili vinegar and garlic mixture will easily become scum.

5. Vinegar

Currently, in addition to glass, we can classify plastics that can hold vinegar as polyethylene (preferably white) and PET. PVC can only hold neutral and dry foods such as water pipes, cigarettes, coffee, tea, etc. Therefore, to best preserve vinegar, choosing the material to hold it is a very important factor, please pay attention!

Hopefully the 5 tips above will prove useful in helping you preserve spices in the best way.

TP synthesis