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
Annual pre-cookie-season swap of baking powder + baking soda (every year before Christmas cookies).
Smell-test herbs and spices before use. 2026-09-06: smoked paprika and cardamom both smelled great, so the rib rub is safe for now. The system just formalizes what the nose already does.
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