Spice Cabinet Management

Household plan (agreed 2026-09-06) to stop cooking with stale ground spices. Several jars are years old and past usefulness - flagged while checking the rib rub. Deferred - plenty of other projects first; will happen in pieces, not all at once.

Already doing right

The system

Sharpie the month/year on each jar at purchase.
Rotate - oldest first out.
Buy small unless a spice gets used up before aging out.

Cabinet layout (planned)

Baking on the left, cooking on the right, combo/shelf-stable in the middle.
Frequently used toward the front, less used toward the back.
Expect a rough couple of weeks re-learning the layout after the reorg - accepted tradeoff for overall improvement.

Buy whole, grind as needed (rare / slow use)

Cardamom - pre-ground goes flat fast, and it's a rare-use item: worst of both worlds.
Nutmeg - a microplane works, no grinder needed.
Cumin, coriander, cloves, allspice - whole keeps for years.
Peppercorns (black + white) - if grinding at cook time.

Buy small, pre-ground is fine (volume / fast use)

Smoked paprika - backbone of the rib rub; single most fragile on the shelf. Pinch-test before any rub: if it's lost its smoky lift it's dead, and you can't taste it on ribs after smoking.
Chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, dried herbs.

Rule of thumb: buy whole anything used rarely or slowly (whole lasts years anyway); buy small pre-ground anything used in volume.

Status / next (deferred - will do in pieces)

Inventory the current cabinet (stamp dates on all jars)
Cull jars past their date
Decide whole-vs-ground swaps with Rowan (cardamom, etc.)
Reorganize: baking-left / cooking-right / combo-middle / freq-front / rare-back
Set the rotation order