Whenever possible, buy whole spices and grind them yourself. The pre-ground, packaged brands on supermarket shelves may contain other ingredients such as rice, flour, or salt, as the FDA does not require manufacturers to list additional ingredients. Also, what you find on the shelves of grocery stores may be six months to a year old. Whole spices have a longer shelf life. So do yourself a favor and grind your own spices or select high-quality brands.

Cooks Illustrated magazine tested 12 models  of grinders, and the KRUPS Electric Spice and Coffee Grinder came out on top. Note that once you use a coffee grinder for spices, you don’t want to use it for coffee beans. Make it a dedicated spice grinder only.