Do you use out of date spices? I made pancakes at lunch time and used some cinnamon that said 'best before Aug 2013', it tasted fine and I put it back in my spice rack to use again. Any one else use spices that are years out of date? I find out of date dried herbs lose their flavour so I generally throw them out.

As long and they still have flavour then yes.
Also if they're not a solid block. Sometimes knifing them can break them up but sometimes it's not worth the hassle.

Yes, I use them sometimes if I don't want to waste something or don't have any fresh in. They either taste weaker than new, or take on a dusty, musky, aged flavour that lets the dish down.

Remember, there's a difference between 'best before' and 'use by'. The later suggests the food will be spoilt and possibly harmful by then. The former merely that it won't be at its best any more, as I described.

Yes I do.
I made a very good curry this week using multiple spices to make a paste.
Technically they were past their best but it was delicious.

But to give you an example I noticed recently that my cardamom pods were quite a bit out of date. They still had an aroma but I picked up a new jar when shopping.
When I got home and smelled the new pods the aroma was overwhelming compared to the old pods.

No issue for me using out of date spices. I do however keep them stored in a kitchen cupboard and not like this.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Premier-Hous...rds=spice+rack

They will be ok but will have lost a lot of their flavour. I chuck all mine out once a year and replace them. It's a habit I've got in to. I find dried herbs like parsley, basil, chives etc completely tasteless and useless when dried (oregano being the exception) so I buy fresh, chop and freeze in ziplock bags.

I have a couple of these in my cupboard.

That is so ugly

Spice paradise!
http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/

If you don't use spices regualrly then it's recommended to buy smaller packs/jars so you can use them up before they go out of date (inot because they go off but the flavour goes).

I bought a bunch of spices from online and even cooking a curry every week I wasn't making a dent in the bags of spices so started giving packets of them away to family and friends.

Most spices, and the same with rice and pasta, can be used years after their sell by/best by date. As others have said they may lose some of their flavour but should be safe to use. If they look or smell odd then don't use them but otherwise they should be fine. I have used all of the above well past the date on the packaging.

Yes always.
They're usually 'best before' dates rather than 'use by' dates, meaning in this case that they'll just lose their potency/flavour the longer you leave them past the date.

I used five-spice last night which was BB 11/2013. It was ok.

Yeah most herbs don't dry very well, dill being the worst.

I'm not a 'make it yourself' preacher of the ilk this forum attracts, but for me, having a herb patch is indispensable. Mine is just a metre square outside the back door and has a whole row of parsley (which I use liberally), thyme, sage, curry, sorrel, rosemary, marjoram and basil.
Very low maintenance, useful, and some of them are self-seeding too.

I once bought dried oregano from an elderly couple selling it at the side of the road in Turkey, it was in plastic bags and still on the stalks, it tasted amazing and I only wish I could buy some more! I moved house in 2000 and threw out cinnamon dated 'best before 1988', I'd still been using it up 'till then, not very often but that's why I had it so long .

I heard a chef on TV - cant remember who - say that spices should be replaced after a month of being opened irrespective of the date!

As if anyone other than a professional kitchen would do that

Oh, I do despair!
For years I've posted on various "Food and Drink" forums In which posters generally enjoy talking about food, sharing ideas, cooking it, eating it and sharing recipes.
This is the only "Food" forum where comments such as the above are made.
I've seen posters on here attacked as "snobs" for mentioning the inflammatory words "from scratch".
Yet you proudly claim that your home grown herbs are superior to shop bought dried herbs.

I stated that for me homegrown herbs are better, but that's also because I have space and love gardening. indianwells (who is a far better cook than me, judging by his posts) buys his herbs as it's probably more convenient.
I also never said anything about my herbs being superior to fresh shop bought ones (which is comparing like with like). They're probably much of a muchness.
Were I to dry parsley and thyme etc it would probably be just the same if not worse than the bottled Schwarz ones you get in supermarkets.

I don't really have a problem with people saying they do things from scratch but there have been instances of supercilious and snooty inferences made. A good example would be in a thread titled, say, "What is your favourite Indian takeaway side-dish?"
.... followed by about four replies about how crap and generic indian takeaway side dishes are and how it's much better to make your own 'from scratch' blah blah.
i.e not answering the question.

A lot of it is just showing off culinary credentials.

Similarly, I've seen posts discussing say, making a home made curry, get replies such as "waste of time- you won't match a takeaway" or "just buy a jar" and the posters called "supercilious" or "snobs".
Anyone genuinely asking "Have you tried making your own?" will get shot down.
I've taken time over the years to learn different cooking techniques and enjoy it.
It's not something you mention often on here though.
I just don't understand the divide.
It's Food.

What is "curry"?

Curry Leaves I expect.

They are an in important ingredient in many of the "curry" dishes I make.

You can buy them fresh (my local Tesco has them). Any I don't use, I freeze the leaves as I find they keep their taste much better like this than when dried.

I know what curry leaves are but, AFAIK you can't grow them here. That is why I questioned the poster who says he grows them. Does he mean the curry plant which is not a herb and not edible?

It's a small, though lankily framed plant, looks a bit like rosemary.

I use it sparingly in salads etc for a bit of a zing, which comes mainly from its aroma (especially when warm from the garden) rather than from its flavour.

Equally stupid comments then, especially if they were made in a thread asking about homemade curries.

The thread might not specifically be about making your own. The thread may be about your favourite curry or pizza but if anyone, helpfully, asks "have you ever tried making your own?" it usually goes downhill.