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Unpopular opinion: Buying whole spices is cheaper than ground, even with a mortar and pestle
I used to always just grab the little jars of ground cumin and coriander at the grocery store until I went to a Mexican market in San Antonio last year. The owner there pointed out that the whole seeds cost about a third of what the ground stuff does per ounce. Now I buy a bag of whole cumin for $3 and it lasts me four months instead of two weeks. I just toast them in a dry pan for a couple minutes and crush them up with my mortar and pestle. The flavor is way better too, honestly. Has anyone else made the switch and saved money that way?
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susanm561mo ago
Yeah the toasting part is key, I learned that the hard way with stale cumin once.
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scott.miles1mo ago
Man I feel that so hard. I once bought a big bag of cumin from a bulk store and didn't toast it before using it in a chili recipe. The whole dish just tasted dusty and flat, like something was missing. My roommate asked if I forgot to add the spices and I was so embarrassed. Now I always toast my cumin in a dry pan for like 30 seconds until it gets super fragrant. It makes such a huge difference, seriously night and day.
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the_nathan24d ago
Toasting cumin is basically the difference between "chef's kiss" and "sad kitchen mistakes we don't talk about." lol I learned that lesson after making a curry that tasted like someone sneezed on cardboard. Now I treat my cumin like it owes me money and heat it up until it screams.
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