Tahini paste is healthy and nutritious since it contains proteins, essential vitamins, and minerals. It is produced from sesame seeds that are grounded and toasted. It’s a vital ingredient in hummus, halva, and also baba ghanoush. Some use it in salad dressing and marinades, among other uses. If you like eating products whose ingredients include tahini, you will notice if they miss it. So how can you store tahini? let’s see!
How to Store Tahini
Do you have a challenge storing leftover tahini? Maybe you store it in the refrigerator, and it becomes dry, hard, or even lumpy. Note that, after some time, the tahini often goes rancid. You need to be extra cautious when storing it if you want it to have a long lifespan. Always ensure that the place where you store your tahini is cold and dry. You should not expose it to any source of heat and not even sunlight.
If you live in a hot environment, you should keep the leftover in the refrigerator immediately. If you live in a pretty cold area or its winter season and it’s dry, you need to place the tahini on your kitchen shelf. But if its summer or even winter and it’s highly humid, you should never put your tahini under room temperature.
Once you finish using tahini, close the container immediately. That will ensure that your paste will remain fresh until you finish it. You should also form a habit of covering homemade tahini before putting it in a fridge. If you left it uncovered, it would end up absorbing coolant gasses. It will harden or even taste foul. Generally, it’s unhygienic to leave the food and drinks uncovered since particles of dirt and dust will get in.
Does Tahini Need To Be Refrigerated After Opening?
Maybe your question is, does tahini need to be refrigerated? Tahini has a high oil content. If exposed to high temperatures, it will go rancid quickly. That’s why you need to put it in a refrigerator once you open it. Once tahini gets chilled, it will be difficult to stir it. So you should never put it in a fridge before stirring it thoroughly. If you want to use it and realize that it has separated again, warm it on the counter for a few minutes. Mix it well, and then use it.
How Long Does Tahini Last
You should check the sell-by date when buying the tahini. It is an estimation of how long the tahini will remain fresh. There is tahini with a sell-by date of 2 years while other manufacturers indicate six months. There is a brand that will advise you to use it in one month. If you put an unopened bottle in a refrigerator, it will last for 4-6 months. If it’s in the pantry, it will last for six months up to 1 year. If the bottle is opened, it will last for two months if it’s in the pantry. If you put it in the fridge, it will last up to 6 months.
Luckily, tahini has a longer life depending on how well you have stored it and can last past the sell-by date. Unfortunately, if it overstays, you will have to dispose of it since it will lose quality. Don’t throw away your tahini if you buy it in a creamy form only for the oil to go to the surface after some time while the solid sits on the bottom. All you need to do is to stir it well before using it.
If you compare organic tahini with the processed one containing preservatives and stabilizers, the organic tahini lifespan is shorter. Note that tahini is sensitive to the change of temperature. So if your tahini is homemade, you need to put it in a cold place. With no preservatives, it is likely to go bad quickly if not stored well.
Uses of Tahini
1. Spread it on toast: If you are looking for a balanced breakfast, look no further. You only require a whole wheat bread with some honey or agave syrup. Add some tahini and enjoy breakfast.
2. Make Tarator sauce: It’s a much-loved multi-purpose sauce that you can make at home. The taste that you get when you dip a grilled chicken or even steamed vegetables is beyond imagination. If you want to make it at home, you require four cloves minced garlic, a half cup of lemon juice, a quarter cup of parsley, and half cup tahini. Mix all the ingredients then purse them in a food processor to ensure that they combine correctly.
3. Salad-dressing: Are you bored by balsamic dressing, you need to give the tahini-based salad a trial. You require tahini and olive oil ½ a cup each. You also require lemon juice, grated ginger apple cider vinegar two spoonfuls each. After mixing the ingredients, drizzle over your greens, and then enjoy your sumptuous meal.
4. A double seasoned burger: You can decide to use tahini alone on your burger. If you choose to enhance it, add a little lemon juice together with smoked paprika. Spread the mixture on your burger and enjoy it.
5. Stir it in soup: Maybe you are used to peanut butter. The consistency of the peanut butter and that of tahini is similar. Have you ever tried to use tahini as an alternative? You should, and your soup will be thicker and sweeter.
6. Homemade ice cream: Maybe you are wondering, tahini in desserts? Absolutely. You can make creamy ice cream by combining tahini with frozen bananas and cocao. You will enjoy its sweetness.
Conclusion
Tahini requires to be put in a cool and dry place. You can place it in a refrigerator if the climate is hot. But if it’s freezing, you can just put it on the kitchen shelf. You need to ensure that it doesn’t get exposed to heat. If it does, it’s likely to get rancid quickly. There are various ways you can use tahini; you can use it in salad dressing, homemade ice cream, you can stir it in soup among many other uses.
John DiBella is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, a cooking enthuthiast and a writer. When he’s not writing blogs about home kitchenware, he enjoys hiking, camping, sailing and cooking.