# What's the oldest (dry) spice you have in your spice cabinet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-dry-spice-you-have-in-your-spice-cabinet/744519 "2016-01-28T21:37:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-dry-spice-you-have-in-your-spice-cabinet/744519/21 "2016-01-29T13:18:42Z")
Air tight and frozen is one thing. In your spice cabinet (as the OP specified) is another. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-dry-spice-you-have-in-your-spice-cabinet/744519/22 "2016-01-29T13:54:29Z")
My wedding was 12 years ago and I have a spice rack given to us then. About half of those are full and unopened. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-dry-spice-you-have-in-your-spice-cabinet/744519/23 "2016-01-29T14:02:44Z")
I don’t know the precise date of purchase, but we emptied out mom’s spice rack when she passed away and took home all of the unspoiled contents. There was an old tin of Durkee ginger that I distinctly remember seeing in the pantry during my childhood before we moved…in 1970! I kept it for its sentimental value (and yes there is still ginger in it that appears to be unspoiled). ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-dry-spice-you-have-in-your-spice-cabinet/744519/24 "2016-01-29T14:58:13Z")
I’m pretty sure my wife and I don’t have anything older than about 8 years old; the spice cabinets didn’t get moved when we moved in together after getting married. That said, I’m sure that if I dug, there’s some 6, 7 or 8 year old stuff in our spice cabinet. Probably some spice blend that we got, and discovered that we didn’t like, or that we forgot about. Commonly used stuff like bay leaves, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, garlic powder, peppercorns, chili powder, etc… get used fast enough that they’re probably 6 months to a year old anyway. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-dry-spice-you-have-in-your-spice-cabinet/744519/25 "2016-01-29T15:03:01Z")
I know when we got married the wife went through my pantry and dumped a lot of stuff, including a couple of unopened cans of ground pepper that still had PX labels on them. That meant, at the time they got pitched and I got an earful, they were at least 20 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-dry-spice-you-have-in-your-spice-cabinet/744519/26 "2016-01-29T17:18:44Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > When my mother passed, 10 years ago, I cleaned out her spice cabinet. Some of the spices had labels from before there were Zip Codes (1963). So they were \*\*\*at least \*\*\*42 years old. I’m in the same position (my mother is still around, though; she just quit cooking after Dad died). I’m sure some of her stash dates back that far as well. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-dry-spice-you-have-in-your-spice-cabinet/744519/27 "2016-01-29T17:22:45Z")
I have the remains of a very large bottle of whole cloves, that I distinctly remember as a child, and I am 65yo now. The cloves came into our possession through a relative who gifted cloves to many family members. Was there going to be a severe shortage of cloves back in the early 50’s or late 40’s? They are still extremely fragrant, I use them whole, or grind them into powder as needed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-dry-spice-you-have-in-your-spice-cabinet/744519.md?page=1)