cleaned out the cabinets....

[inkjunkie]

Found some un-labeled spice bottles. Took a sniff....found the "lost" ground up Chile peopers...my eyes are still watering.
Found some canned goods from 09.
Do have a question. Found some spices that had a date from the middle of last year. We dumped them, better safe than sorry. One of them was cayenne pepper. Just wondering if it would have been un-safe to use it?
We filled up a 50 gallon trash can with stuff. Our next trip to the dump is gonna be a bit more pricy than normal. We average about $28 every 4 months or so, the can we filled yesterday is,heavy enough I struggled rolling it back thru the yard...

 

[themule69]

Spices that are kept dry will not become unsafe to use. They will however loose some flavor.

Happy smoken.

David

 

[bear55]

David is right.

 

[themule69]

Best if used by means just that most of the time. Salt has a best if used by date yet salt will never go bad. Wine has a best if used by date however some 100 year old bottles of wine sell for thousands of dollars. The manufacture is required to have a use by date. Some want you to toose it so they can sell you more.

Happy smoken.

David

 

[noboundaries]

Fresh spices are definitely best, but spices kept dry and in an airtight container last well beyond their expiration date.  They do lose flavor but are still useable.  Middle of last year, no problem. 

 

[wimpy69]

We have a high turn over rate of common spices and herbs so there always fresh. Low usage items ,home ground chillies and dried garden herbs are vac jarred or bagged. I recycle chile seeds and cayenne when they start smelling flat to the garden and flower beds to warn off rabbits and squirrels. Also mix them with water for a pepper spray to mist plants with.

 

[gary s]

I like your plant misting idea 

Gary

 

[inkjunkie]

I like your plant misting idea 

Gary

So do I. If I was not so tired yesterday I might have remembered about the poop eating pups. Could have mixed up the cayenne with water and we nt out and sprayed some of the poop from our older dogs...

 

[gary s]

Maybe that is something that Dachshunds do ?  Wife little dog Abby is the very same way. The first time they came to visit we were on the patio and here she comes with something in her mouth, I said "That's Poop !!!! "  niece said yeah, she likes to eat poop. and said "Abby spit that out"  I said " No wait leave her out here and let her clean up my yard"

Gary

 

[wimpy69]

Great for aphids, whiteflies, cutworms etc.. Squirrels were chewing holes in my pumpkins for the seeds something fierce this fall so I coated the hole entrance with cayenne. Never heard a squirrel make a noise like that before, then it proceeded to scour it's face thru the grass trying to get it out of it's eyes. Wouldn't go near the pumpkins after that.

 

[inkjunkie]

Just r

Great for aphids, whiteflies, cutworms etc.. Squirrels were chewing holes in my pumpkins for the seeds something fierce this fall so I coated the hole entrance with cayenne. Never heard a squirrel make a noise like that before, then it proceeded to scour it's face thru the grass trying to get it out of it's eyes. Wouldn't go near the pumpkins after that.

ead this to my wife, she is still chuckling over it...

 

[randall lee]

Mix the cayenne in with the bird seed in the feeder, the fuzzy tail rats will put on a heck of a show trying to cool the mouth off.

 

[inkjunkie]

Mix the cayenne in with the bird seed in the feeder, the fuzzy tail rats will put on a heck of a show trying to cool the mouth off.

Have only seen 2 squirrels since 08. When I lived with my folks Dad had a gas grill. One night he and I were up late watching a movie and decided we needed a couple of t-bones. Next morning we were having breakfast and seen a squirrel freaking out on the deck. Thing was howling...I forgot to turn the grill off, said squirrel apparently walked on the lid...

 

[randall lee]

If you need some just say so, hard to keep them in check. I moved most of them off to other feeders by changing over to Safflower seed, bird still love them but the FTR's don't.