Glad you are enjoying their products!

I picked up their Aleppo Pepper, not realizing that it is crushed, not ground. That stuff is awesome! I'm tossing the pizza-style crushed peppers and using Aleppo instead.

Didja get their $5 coupon on the latest catalog? I'm heading over today at lunch time to restock. I'm this close to being completely out of garlic powder! The horror! LOL

beachlily - I'm looking for a replacement for crushed red pepper. The stuff you buy in the store is all seeds it seems. There was a spice place in Philly that I got some great crushed pepper at last year, but when I was there again this year, what they had was pretty much the same as in the regular stores. I was so disappointed!! So Penzey's Aleppo pepper is similar to the crushed? Is the heat level about the same? I do have some dried peppers I grew myself and can crush, but not enough to last me any great length of time.

Lisa

Beachlily, I LOVE Penzey's aleppo pepper, too! The nearest Penzey's is about 60 miles from us (in St Louis) so I buy it a pound at a time when we go. I mentioned to one of the gals that work there that I really like the stuff, and she went on about how she uses it in so many different dishes for a little extra oomph and really loves it.

I use it in many, many dishes. I love the little bit of tang it has and the milder intensity of heat. If I want more heat, I just add something else along with it.

Judi

Vicki, Elery just loves that mural of flavor, we can't buy a big enough container to keep it for very long.

Their dried chipotle powder is very nice too...

May, I got that $5 coupon too, now I'm going to have to use it next time I get to Grand Rapids. Oh darn.

Annie

Annie, have you tried the vanilla extract? I was amazed--it comes with a piece of a vanilla bean in it. Love the taste! I'm going to use that $5 coupon too--more aleppo and probably more vanilla. At this rate, I may try making my own. I'm baking and going through a lot of it.

Another fan of the Aleppo pepper here!
And purely by mistake.......DH tossed in the basket when he went with me in October "to try" and I love it.

Not too hot for a wimp like me, but awesome flavor.

Deanna

This is great news because I am out of minced garlic but since it's the only thing I need I spice wise, I am waiting to make an order. I'm thinking now the aleppo pepper and maybe some of the fancy cinnamon, and curry.

Does anyone have a favorite Penzey's curry? I cannot abide by the curry powder I bought in the grocery store. I think I do not like fenugreek. I also do not much care for cloves and I definately don't like anise in anything other than straight sweet stuff. I don't do 5-spice powder for that reason. That's why I stay away from Penzey's Bangkok Blend. I also can't do hot curry, so when I make a spicy curry I make it mild and then just add as much cayenne pepper as I can stand, which isn't very much.

Oh now I'm thinking I might not need the pepper, as I have hot paprika that I need to use up. I hope I can do salsa this year. Last year I didn't make any and I am really suffering with the store bought "stuff."

Another huge fan of aleppo! Lisa - I'd say the taste leans heavily towards paprika, plus heat. If you don't like paprika I'd stay away.

I like Mural of Flavor but was expecting something more special consider the hype - and the relative cost.

Ok, so much for the $5 coupon! My bill still came to $30. But ok, I came out of there with a lot of spices! I also had my two coupons for the free cajun spice (one goes to Nathan). And I bought the large refill package of garlic powder (some of that goes to Nathan).

I bought a few new (to me) things. (where o where will I put them?? but I couldn't resist!) A friend of mine recommended the dried jalepeno so I grabbed a jar of that. And since vicki mentioned the toasted onion, I grabbed that as well. I've never bought the minced garlic before but I've seen it mentioned on other threads... so I bought that too.

Let's see, and Sandwich Sprinkle and Tsardust Memories for Nathan (I'll deliver this later this month on my trip to NY), and spanish paprika for me....

That's a lot o' spices for thirty bucks. I love Penzey's.

lowspark, my daughter is sitting next to me, and when she saw Nathan's name, she knew just who you are!

I have a new list going now. LOL Thanks for all the additions. I love that place. Probably a good thing I don't have a store close. Off to shop. I didn't get a catalog...if I did, I was too excited about the spices to see it.

Gellchom, I just GOTTA meet you and your daughter one of these days!

I'm lucky enough to have a store in my town. Going to have to try the aleppo pepper after all these recommendations. I bought the Mural of Flavor last time I was there. So far I've only tried it on baked talapia but it was very good.

I need to "standardize" my chili powder so I don't have a big surprise like this last batch of vegetarian chili.

Has anyone used Penzey's chili powder? I see they have "chili 3000" and "chili 9000" but didn't see any "chili powder" on their website.

I have been using 3 1/2 tablespoons of Adams brand which is kind of cheap but my recipe was consistently good. Then I switched to the Whole Foods bulk spice bin and didn't like that at all. I want good quality so I'm hesitant to use the cheap McCormick or Adams but hate to risk having another bad batch if Penzey's doesn't work out. Anyone used this for chili?

elphaba, yes they do have regular chili powder. They have several different kinds. I have some of the regular at home.

I've linked to that below. But if you click on the magnifying glass icon (search) and type in chili powder, a whole list comes up.

Here is a link that might be useful: chili powder

I'm in love with Chili 9000, elphaba. I use it both as a rub and in chili. It's like chili powder and all the spices from a good mole' got together and had a delicious little baby. The chili 3000 is a better version of a more standard chili powder, but after trying 9000, I can't think of why I'd ever use a standard chili powder blend ever again.

You guys are really mean! LOL
I usually try to skip all the Penzey, Whole foods and Trader Joe posts, but sometimes I click, anyway.
:)

Lisa

Just a question for ya'll - if you had to make just one order, would you go Penzey's or Spice House?

Beth

jazmynsmom, I also like the Chili 9000, it's a very complex blend of flavors that I like. Elery doesn't care for it so much, though, he likes a TON of cumin in stuff and less other flavors.

Beth, I've never been to a Spice House but I know Beantheredunthat loves them and it's a sister of the Penzey family that runs Spice House. I think if you are close to either, you can't go wrong.

If you are ordering by mail, you're going to get some mixed reactions. Some of us like one, some like the other, some of us only have experience with one.

Annie

Thanks Annie. I don't think either of them is near me so I would be ordering online. Spice House has Tomato Powder, which Penzey's doesn't and I'm itching to try it.

Shipping costs make me crazy so I'm sticking to one place - for now!

Beth