I find a good selection at our locally owned health food market.....and the turnover rate is fast so the spices are fresh.
I am fortunate to be able to grow herbs all year long.

I find a good selection at our locally owned health food market.....and the turnover rate is fast so the spices are fresh.
I am fortunate to be able to grow herbs all year long.

We have several health/natural stores here in down that you can buy in bulk~~which means you only buy what you need. They have small bags and you pay by the ounce. It has saved me a lot of $$~~~also buying in the ethnic section as an above poster said is way cheaper. I have bought some of my herb teas this way at 1/3 of the price in a fancy box.

SheliaJ~~~I knew a lady that but one of those vanilla beans in her ground coffee bag to flavor it~~way before they started making flavored coffees~~~it was yummy. I remember thinking how smart she was;) You could maybe have done that with the leftover bean?

I have to say I was shocked how much it cost!

And if you can get the spices at a bulk food store or ethnic market, save the square tins you like and refill them. I am fortunate to have a bulk food store 10 minutes away. I buy by the oz, and fill my own containers. For that matter, Sheila, for what it would cost for me to buy the spices for you and ship them, it might still be cheaper for you for me to get them and ship them!

Tami

I mostly buy Penzey's spices and I grow most of the herbs we use. Penzey's are sold bottled and also in packages which are a lot less expensive!

Another vote for Penzeys. I only pay between $25-35 for 15 vanilla beans there (I make all my own vanilla extract)--depending upon the year, and the availability. A pound of cream of tartar is only 11.30.

Their products are far fresher, and of much higher quality than anything I've ever purchased in a grocery store or even a spice market. And they're generally much cheaper as well.

You have to be careful with cheap spices. I bought some cheap poppy seeds and they were rancid which I didn't realize until the muffins were done. Had to throw them all out! 95% of my spices come from Penzeys. Much cheaper and better than grocery store stuff.

I have been buying my spices by the ounce from natural food stores for the last 30 years. I can buy enough of a spice to fill my spice jars for way less than $1 per spice. The store is 5 minutes from my house.

We have a Hong Kong market here they have all kinds bulk and large containers, bags of all sorts of stuff, including spices and seasoning . I am so happy to have discovered that. I like different kinds of salt, I can buy many exotics so cheap. Also beans wow all kinds and quantity. They also have tanks of live lobster they are huge never seen such huge lobsters a store, and crabs too.
I have seen some of the strangest fruit and vegetables there it expands my knowledge and experience going there. There are more types and brands of rice there than I expected.

I read once to pour out a little of the spice on a piece of white paper and leave all night. in the morning look to see if there are little "tracks" running thru it. if not then the spice is ok (for older spices)

I have also discovered that Trader Joe's spices are significantly less expensive than the big grocery chains.

I went to buy saffron once....it was over $25 for a tiny little bit. Does anyone know why that stuff is so expensive? I have no clue what it tastes like, I was just trying a new recipe. I decided to make something else that night! lol

When I buy spices I always look for a container where I can actually read the 'Best By' date. Sometimes that can be difficult. I use a Sharpie to write the date I opened it.

McCormick's offers this advice for keeping spices:

Ground spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, turmeric): 2 to 3 years
Herbs (basil, oregano, parsley): 1 to 3 years
Seasoning blends: 1 to 2 years
Whole spices (cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon sticks): 4 years.
Seeds: 4 years (except for poppy and sesame seeds, which should be discarded after 2 years)
Extracts: 4 years (except for vanilla, which will last forever)

Juelli--saffron is the stigma from a specific crocus flower. Each flower only has 3 of them, so as you can imagine, it takes a lot of work, land and plants to grow any kind of quantity--making it the most expensive food in the world.

I buy all my spices, seasonings, etc from Con Yeager. Con Yeager's processing plant is located about 10 miles from me and until just a few months ago I went right to the processing plant to buy what I needed. They moved the retail outlet even closer to me last fall. They do mail order and the prices can't be beat. I love all their products. Check them out at Con Yeager Spice.

I saw on an Alton Brown cooking show, never buy cinnamon in stick form. They use the least favorful lowest quality cinnamon to export as sticks. Ground cinnamon is better quality.

I've discovered that the spices are considerably cheaper in the ethnic food section of the grocery store - unfortunately they don't have as large a selection. I also buy from Trader Joe's. If you have ethnic food stores near you, they probably have a wider range of choice.

There is a store in Ft. Worth, one of the Oklahoma Gardening contributers always talks about. I asked her for the name/website, as I couldn't find it. it's called Penerys.

http://penderys.com/

They have Saffron. Check it out.

oops, looks like I put the wrong link up

No, it doesn't let the link come through. I am deleting it.

This post was edited by OklaMoni on Sun, Jan 6, 13 at 22:52

Thanks for the education Azzalea! I did not know that. I also do not have a clue what saffron tastes like, or what it does to a recipe! I guess I never will know because I could never pay that much! :)

oops, looks like I put the wrong link up

No, it doesn't let the link come through. I am deleting it.

This was after multiple tries.

This post was edited by OklaMoni on Sun, Jan 6, 13 at 22:51

I buy some spices at the bulk store, and others when the grocery store has packages on sale for 99cent.

I bought my flax seed the other day at the bulk store, and it was $1.29 lb last time I bought it, and yesterday it was $1.99/lb. That's quite a jump in price.

Nuts are hugely expensive! Walnuts, etc.

I buy what I can at Dollar Tree. They all cost a dollar and I have never had a problem with them. I used to buy the little Tone brand ones for a dollar too but I haven't seen them for a whild

I believe you can substitue tumeric for saffron.

Turmeric subbed for saffron will give you a yellowish saffron-like color, but certainly not the same flavor.