Every ground spice starts off as something whole. While it’s easier to just buy the ground version, there are a lot of benefits to buying your spices whole and grinding them yourself. Although it’s a more arduous task, if you want the best flavor possible, start buying your spices whole.
Quality
Often, if you buy your spices whole, you will be getting a better quality spice because it’s the whole product. This is especially the case if you buy your spices from ethnic stores, because they get them from countries that have the best quality products.
Freshness
With ground spices, you never know how long they’ve been sitting in a warehouse before they got shipped to the grocery store. Therefore, buying them whole and grinding them yourself will ensure that you’re getting the freshest spice possible. And with freshness comes better flavor.
Different Uses
While there are recipes that call for ground spices, a lot of different dishes need whole spices. Whether you’re pickling, making a curry paste, or a Cajun boil, there are a lot of ways to use whole spices as they are.