What to order from Penzey's
barb_roselover_in
11 years ago
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arley_gw
11 years agograinlady_ks
11 years agoRelated Discussions
Favorite Penzeys Spice?
Comments (34)I use the granulated garlic for soups and stews and dried beans. It is super easy and had a good fresh garlic taste that holds up to long cooking in the crockpot. I use fresh for stir frys and pasta and quick cooking stews. I also like the granulated garlic for salad dressing--it is basically dried garlic granules so they rehydrate in the dressing if you store it for a while. But you can also grind it for a powder. I also keep it on hand for times when I am out of fresh. I like that it comes in a small container so I use it up before it looses all its punch. I also keep dried onions around for the same reason, not better than fresh but they add their own layer of flavor when you're out of fresh or are cooking something for a long time. Another thing I get from Penzeys is vanilla sugar, which I love in Chai but I'll bet would be good in coffee if you like that kind of thing. It makes a good gift for a chai lover or sweet coffee drink lover. You can make your own, but I rarely have time to just fix dinner let alone do much homeade gift making anymore. I buy vanilla beans in bulk from Penzeys when I need them, but that is rarely anymore these days. I used to make my own homeade chai but not anymore. The only other thing I would use the whole beans for is vanilla bean marmelade, which I don't think I will have time to make this year, but is great if you're into gourmet marmelades. I also like the sandwich sprinkle, although I hardly ever sprinkle it on a sandwich. It is just a good all around seasoned salt, I use it in soups and salads when they need to be punched up a bit. I got a seasoning gift pack from my good friends, boy was that nice. The two that I use all the time are the Mural of Flavor and the Tuscan Sunset. I have to say I really don't like the Sunny Spain, it tastes oddly acrid to me. Also I don't use the Bavarian very much but that's because I am a vegetarian and I do mostly Mediterannean cooking. I may give it to my mom next time I'm home because she does pork chops a lot cause my dad loves them. It might be good in some kinds of bean soups, but again, when I do a bean dish it is mostly a Mediterannean style one, so I haven't used up the Bavarian seasoning very fast, even though it is good. Another unusual item they sell thru Penzeys is dried Cilantro. It is no way as good as fresh, or even frozen, which is how I do cilantro these days, but if you're out and are in a pinch, (which is me most of the time) it is at least something to add for some amount of flavor. I bought a bunch of pumpkin pie spice and apple pie spice for a chai mix experiment and I still have a lot, but when I finally use it up I'm going to try Penzeys. Same with the cinnamon. I also second their chili powders, they have an amazing array. They have a lot of curry powders too, but I am not that much of a curry fan so can't speak to them. When I do make curry I usually do my own spice blends....See MorePenzey's stands behind their Shallot Salt.
Comments (26)Jessy - I have no idea who Pam might be, but Patty Erd is Bill Sr's oldest child. In other words, she and Jr. are family, but very much competitors in business. Let me clarify -- I think Penzey's is head and shoulders above McCormick or the other commercial brands what the grocery carries. I'm not saying Penzye's is not good. I'm saying that IMO they have slipped from what they were. That said, I think The Spice House has maintained higher overall quality, but if I had a Penzey's within a few minutes of the house, I'd probably buy at least some things there. Since I have neither nearby, I prefer to order from The Spice House. Why I switched: I started noticing about 4-5 years ago that the blend ingredients have shifted so that there are more of the "cheaper" ingredients (including salt and sugar) and a lower percentage of the more expensive ingredients. Also the cinnamons and ground chiles don't seem as fresh to me as they used to be. DH noticed the slide, too, and it became more obvious when MIL, not knowing we'd switched, sent us Penzy spices as a gift that included duplicates of some spices I'd just purchased from TSH. Patty is still very hands-on, very dedicated to doing things the way she learned in the original store. Twice when I ordered large quantities, I called in the order and spoke with her directly. Both times she mentioned that she would be grinding or blending something on my order that day and so would package and ship the next morning rather than that afternoon. Coincidence? Maybe. But we got into a conversation about small batch coffee roasting once and she indicated that she firmly believed in small batch grinding and blending being just as important to spices as small batch roasting was to coffee. (So, obvisouly, I had a bias born then. LOL!) "Their" -- I took it to read "(Tom and Patty Erd"s) business was founded by...." In other words, little brother wasn't the first in the spice game....See MorePenzey's order
Comments (1)Salt is the second ingredient, so may be rather high. Salt is often a filler in spice mixes as salt is cheap. Penzey does have a salt-free section on their site. Or just look at the ingredients and use the spices and make your own. I'm not a big fan of Penzey's. My MIL was sending us mixes for x-mas gifts and we just don't like the salt. I like to make my own. If salt is an issue, i bet the fats in sour cream and mayo might be a problem. Substitute greek non fat yogurt for all mayo and cream...so good and 'good for you'. From their site... "Horseradish Dip Blend with 2/3 Cup sour cream and 1/3 Cup mayonnaise. For spicy sandwich spread, thin with a bit of white, balsamic or red wine vinegar. Great on roast beef, turkey, ham or pastrami. Hand-mixed from: - ground horseradish, salt, dextrose, onion powder, lemon peel, dill weed, black pepper and chives."...See MorePenzeys - another thank-you
Comments (5)After all the glowing mentions on Penzy's I've read here I HAD to go check it out. I ended up ordering a bunch of stuff: Four Peppercorn Blend Saffron Coupe Spanish Vindaloo Seasoning Tandoori Seasoning Fajita Seasoning Breakfast/Pork Sausage Seasoning 1 lb. bag Italian Sausage Seasoning 1 lb. bag I have a whole bunch of pork shoulder in the freezer and am going to break out the meat grinder and stuffer attachments for my KA and make sausage!...See MoreBumblebeez SC Zone 7
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