this post was submitted on 27 Mar 2026
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There has to be some elite grandma tech for this.

Where I live even with all the precautions in the world my onion and garlic powders in particular absorb moisture very quickly and turn into rocks that I have to chip at to use.

strats?

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[–] hellinkilla@hexbear.net 8 points 1 month ago (2 children)

put some rice in the jar

or submit to nature and scrape/grate off the block as needed. maybe you can have it cake into a more convenient shape, like flat and thin like a cracker that would be easier to work with. crack it in pieces and store that way.

[–] korthrun@lemmy.sdf.org 12 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Seeing how rice illiterate a lot of the world is I'd like to clarify on your behalf:

Uncooked rice. Put some grains of dry, uncooked rice in the spice bottle. It's fairly common in equatorial areas, as it's cheap and it's effective.

[–] hellinkilla@hexbear.net 7 points 1 month ago

yes this is correct. i should have been more specific lol

[–] JustSo@hexbear.net 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I think I'll start leaving half a cup of rice inside the outer-most container that all the spices live in as prophylaxis.

[–] hellinkilla@hexbear.net 3 points 1 month ago

not sure if it'll work. but up to you.

if you don't want to mix rice with your stuff, you can put it in a little thin bag like a teabag.

[–] invalidusernamelol@hexbear.net 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

On top of the other good advice, you should also pre-mix your spice blend in a small rameken or bowl and add it to whatever you're cooking from that. If you're dumping seasoning over a hot cooking dish, the steam can really quickly clump stuff up.

[–] JustSo@hexbear.net 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yeah this is a good tip, I reckon that might be at least half the explanation for how things ended up so clumped in this instance. I might check with my fellow kitchen user to make sure we're on the same page about this.

[–] invalidusernamelol@hexbear.net 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I say to do this, and I absolutely don't abide by it lol. I'm always adjusting and it's so tempting to just grab the seasoning and go for it. If you do need to do that it's best to put it in your hand first.

[–] JustSo@hexbear.net 2 points 1 month ago

Yeah it seems like onion powder is just waiting for you to slip up one time and absorb the whole steam cloud.

[–] Damarcusart@hexbear.net 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It isn't exactly a perfect strat, but I usually just use a chopstick to break it apart and scrape off all the spice I need from the big spice lump, works better than something like a spoon or a fork in my experience.

[–] JustSo@hexbear.net 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

This gave me an idea. I need to check when I make beans later if there's even enough left to be worth it, but a pointy knife should crack everything up and then i could tip it into a ziplock or similar to crush it up.

[–] Damarcusart@hexbear.net 3 points 1 month ago

Yeah, ziplock bag to crush things up is always a good idea, make sure it isn't overfilled though or else it might burst.

[–] WokePalpatine@hexbear.net 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

onion powder is so bad for this.

[–] JustSo@hexbear.net 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I think maybe its protecting the rest of my spices like a sacrificial anode.

[–] plinky@hexbear.net 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

dunno about garlic but you can gently heat something like salt or pepper at 50-60c, spices probably better to be closed though and mixed a couple of times. grandma tech would be to use a pan instead of oven to get it over quickly

[–] hellinkilla@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

yes once a whole box of salt turned to a brick and I was able to dry it out with heat to recover it.

[–] plinky@hexbear.net 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

i'm more doubtful about exactly garlic tbh, cause it's sensitive to temperature and i never tried, normal spices can handle 100c no problem, and dry very quickly that way without losing aroma that much (with a pan or oven), but can intermix the smells if you are doing all at once in an oven (angery )

i also think some hotels use giant ovens for their salt shakers, as it's the least effort

[–] Thordros@hexbear.net 3 points 1 month ago (2 children)

salt is safe up to 800c lmao

Which is incidentally why it's used in some solar power plants to store energy at night!

[–] hellinkilla@hexbear.net 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

but garlic electricity wears down devices faster.

[–] Thordros@hexbear.net 3 points 1 month ago

The smell is nice, though.

[–] plinky@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

they do use other salts there, with lower melting points and not as aggressive

[–] Thordros@hexbear.net 2 points 1 month ago

But they aren't adding fat or acid, so I bet their solar plant tastes like SHIT!

[–] hellinkilla@hexbear.net 2 points 1 month ago

at some point though you are toasting your spices...? which is a nice thing to do and in some cuisines, required.

roasted garlic is nice. so maybe roasted garlic salt is OK.

perhaps a solution to your problems might be to get whole instead of ground spices. impossible to cake up, and have better flavor. I grind a month's worth at a time with a dedicated coffee grinder. keep in little jars. a mortar and pestle is quieter, cheaper and doesn't require electricity but more laborious.

[–] Athena5898@hexbear.net 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Ive used some salt in the past but its so-so effective and it's a pain for the cholesterol.

[–] JustSo@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago

oh true that's a pretty classic anti caking agent isn't it. Maybe a chunk of rock salt that can be mostly kept out of the actual seasoning process would be effective.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 2 points 1 month ago

Rice or the silicone packets that come in vitamins and other stuff?