Bulk Spices - Amazon

[boarder42]

If someone has found a cheaper place to buy bulk spices and mustard seed garlic powerd/ ground red pepper etc. let me know. 

But you can do subscribe and save and get 1-5lb bags of this stuff and if you do 5 at once you get an extra 20% off.  Going to start making my own mustard now ... its amazing how cheap that stuff is in bulk with S&S

[dragoncar]

Not sure, but I know Costco is pretty damn cheap for basics.  I'd also check restaurant supply stores in the area.  This assumes you use tons of spice -- I don't do bulk spice mostly because I don't use enough (I get from "bulk bins" but only get a small baggie).

[boarder42]

9 bucks for 1lb of thyme and it will keep 4 years

[ivyhedge]

Not sure, but I know Costco is pretty damn cheap for basics.  I'd also check restaurant supply stores in the area.  This assumes you use tons of spice -- I don't do bulk spice mostly because I don't use enough (I get from "bulk bins" but only get a small baggie).

^
Yes. The problem we have with Costco is that there are certain spices that we cannot get there, although availability is certainly by-store. Amazon and our farmer's market downtown generally make up the difference. If you're in the Boston or DC areas, you have access to the restaurant supply stores that @dragoncar mentions (surely in other cities, as well).


Eat well!

[boarder42]

eating well is easy.  the internet is full of good recipes.  and grocery stores run sales all the time.  keep a deep freeze stocked with sale food and spices around and you can make anything all the time.

[Jamesqf]

If you live where there's a WinCo, they have a lot of bulk spices in bins, so you can buy as much or little as you need, and at prices WAY cheaper than typical bottled spices.  Probably works out cheaper than buying stuff by the pound, too, unless you're opening a restaurant :-)

[Thegoblinchief]

Much better to grow your own and use fresh. Most herbs don't need a ton of sun or root space.

The problem with bulk spices is that unless you use a ton, they lose volatile oils (flavor) rather quickly. You can avoid this somewhat by storing seed spices in whole form and grinding them in a small coffee mill. For leaf spices, there's a pretty dramatic falloff after about a year of two in my experience.

[Miamoo]

I'll echo goblin 100%.  But I (sounds like he does too!) have room (say 6x6) for a small but prolific herb garden.  Even something smaller would work.  Dry some and make your own seasoning mixes or use straight, freeze some for winter when a recipe calls for fresh whatever - not as good as fresh from the garden but still better than the expensive - who knows how long they've been around - herbs from the store.

[purplepants]

Sealing your spices in a mylar bag with oxygen absorbers should help preserve the flavor. 

Also, setting up (or joining) a co-op with likeminded friends is a great idea to enjoy the savings without the need for storage!

[boarder42]

Lots of spices can't be grown easily everywhere for as cheap as they can be bought. Yes herbs can be grown and I knew I'd get some flack for that example. But I travel 40% of the year and it can come in chunks. I've wastes more money buying herbs to grow and then them dying than it is worth to me. I can vacuum seal herbs to keep them fresh and I use a lot of thyme each year

[SingleMomDebt]

Costco no longer carries the big bulk of Mrs. Dash. Greatly miss it. but i do many do well with Amazon.
Then, there is always growing, drying and mixing your own blends. ;)

[Thegoblinchief]

Some spices also can have very different sub-versions or grades. For example, Korintje cinnamon has about double the VO content of standard cinnamon.

Like grains, spices store best in whole form. Buy a cheap coffee grinder at the thrift shop and use as a spice grinder. "Grind" coarse salt to wash one spice off.

Feel free to ask me for specific questions and I can ask DW. Her job revolves around spices and she can pick the brain of something like 10 food chemists.

[TomTX]

http://www.atlanticspice.com/store/gourmet-spices-bulk,category.asp

[eyesonthehorizon]

When I lived in Houston, Phoenicia out on Westheimer was my go-to. The price/quantity ratios were reasonably manageable for a single person cooking all her own meals (I'd get a pound-plus jug of fine-ground cinnamon for $5) and the VARIETY was wonderful - not a lot of places, in the South at least, where you can buy juniper berries, sumac*, marjoram, or cardamon and not pay an arm and a leg for the privilege. They pack their own bulk, so the containers are great and super-reusable, too. If anybody's out that way, it's one of the best options in a deeply antimustachian city of long drives, AC wafting from open doors, entrenched consumerism, and no biking.

Caveat emptor - I could walk in there, spend a whole day looking around and walk out having needed $10 of stuff and bought $40. Everything they have is amazing, often especially the produce. I'm not easy to tempt usually, so maybe this was just my personal kryptonite.

*(Juniper and sumac ought to be DIRT CHEAP - they grow wild in the area - but unless you own land on which to gather them...)

[Jack]

To me, "bulk" doesn't mean I buy a huge container, but rather that the store buys a huge container and lets me scoop out as much -- or, more importantly, as little -- of it as I want and then pay for it by weight. This is a "local [hippie grocery] store bulk" concept, not a "mail order bulk" concept.

It's great to be able to buy a little bit of 10 different spices for some ethnic recipe that I don't plan to make often for a grand total of 86 cents instead of $2.50 each!

[RetiredAt63]

We have Bulk Barn here - I can buy as little or as much as I want.  I grow my own basil and Greek marjoram (I like it better than oregano in spaghetti sauce) and dry them for winter use.
Bulk barn is good for other things - I can buy gluten-free almond meal (for baking for friends with celiac) for a lot less than I would pay elsewhere, including Costco.  And again I get just the amount I need.

To me, "bulk" doesn't mean I buy a huge container, but rather that the store buys a huge container and lets me scoop out as much -- or, more importantly, as little -- of it as I want and then pay for it by weight. This is a "local [hippie grocery] store bulk" concept, not a "mail order bulk" concept.

It's great to be able to buy a little bit of 10 different spices for some ethnic recipe that I don't plan to make often for a grand total of 86 cents instead of $2.50 each!

[Gerard]

In bigger Canadian cities, Asian-ish big supermarkets (in eastern Toronto, Al Premium or Great Food) sell whole spices so cheap (like, $2.77 a half pound) that I end up over-supplied and give the extra away to students and colleagues. As other people have suggested, buying whole and grinding in small amounts (maybe after toasting?) is the way to go.

Does anyone here keep spices in the freezer to help them last longer? I don't right now, but I could be talked into it.