Did you read the descriptions that say what's in them? IME, Spice House are a similar quality to Penzey's, if not a bit better, and not as wet. I haven't tried the blends you mentioned.

Also, IME, salt-free blends are great for when you want a pre-made blend and don't want salt in it. I use things like garlic pepper and lemon pepper from Spice Hunter (from the grocery store) for shortcut cooking. In a proper dish, I'll measure individually, but for a fried egg or similar, if the blend has what I want to use anyway, I'll go with that. I also have Simply Organic garlic pepper (with salt) for when I prefer that. I also have a few Penzey's blends, mostly free samples. Traditional ones, such as adobo, are good, but I'm not fond of most of their originals that I've tried. They're not well balanced.

Do you have the components of the Spice House ones in your pantry? Maybe do some sprinkles of them all on a swatch of parchment, and pick it up on a crumb of not very flavory bread and unsalted butter? Butter is a good way to taste flavors.

The Florida Pepper and Savory sound like they might be the closest to bringing a salt sensation without salt. The Summer sounds like a lot of what I might cook, but not particularly interesting. If your BIL and his wife aren't big cooks it could be very useful. If they do cook well, it might be redundant.

Of course, all of this is speculation, which I offer just as a sounding board to help you with your decision process.

No matter what, it's a nice gift and I'm sure they'll appreciate your thinking of them.

Thanks, plllog. Between you and me, SIL isn’t much of a cook. She doesn’t want to cook and doesn’t do it well.

Spice House and Penzey’s are the same family. SH is owned by the sister. Penzey’s by the brother. I prefer to support the woman-owned business.

I have taken the Summer Garden Blend out of my cart after re-reading the ingredients. It used to be called Ratatouille Blend. I think that may be a flavor profile they wouldn’t use. On the other hand, I LOVE RATATOUILLE! I could eat it for every meal.

I do not have the components to “test drive.”

The bottom line is that BIL/SIL are accustomed to using tons of salt to give their food flavor. It is going to be an uphill climb, but I want to do what little bit I can.

SO really dislikes salt. I just leave it out completely when I cook for us. I don't use blends but just overseason with individual herbs and spices. A lot of blends tend to have vile things like fennel that I hate and so I skip them and just use individual seasonings. Then I salt mine after i serve it up. I will say though that after a while cooking without salt I have become more sensitive to salt and don't use nearly as much on my food as I used to. It will take time but they will get used to it.

I think it's a very thoughtful gift to them.

Mrs. Dash is salt free and is everywhere,with lots of varieties.

It's a shame that your SIL doesn't like to cook. It makes dietary restrictions even more of a chore than usual. My poor sister loves to cook. Her husband suddenly developed a severe allergy to beef,pork,dairy,nuts and shellfish. Plus she has 6 kids to feed as well. Even though she loves to cook, I can imagine how frustrating it can be, either cooking two separate meals every meal or trying to rack ones brain for a dish everyone can eat and will like.

Oh, amylou, I don’t know who to feel sorrier for, you sister or your BIL. How awful to have such a restricted diet! How equally awful to try to cook for someone with such a restricted diet. I can imagine that eating out for him has all but ceased.

I've purchased salt-free blends from both The Spice House and Penzeys. As stated above, because of their history, many of their spice blends are similar. I pretty much alternate between the two companies. But only The Spice House has the Cajun salt-free blend, and I use that a lot. For baked/roasted chicken, fish, tuna salad -- just about anything that could use a dash of flavor.

Their chili blends are good, (I usually buy chili con carne & mild regualr chili) as is the adobo. It's another flavor profile that is great with chicken and pork chops. I've been using the Parisian Shallot blend in tuna and chicken salad this summer and quite like it.

I think if you use your best judgement, you'll be OK. It's a very thoughtful gesture. It'll probably be difficult for them to make the transition at first. But there are so many low sodium products available now, that it's not as daunting as when we started 14 years ago.

I had to quit salt about 20 years ago, cause a severe sore throat fried my taste buds and made everything taste salty for a year!

After that, we just kept a no-salt lifestyle.

I use my own herbs and make a blend, but if we're out of town or run out our go-to is Mrs Dash. We've tried others, but MD is our favorite.

I know some spice places such as Savory Spice can make some lovely blends, and make them to your taste, but since they aren't much on cooking I would send some Mrs Dash or maybe some simple, generic blends from a spice store. They are very good at what they do! (at least at the Savory Spice store where we are) Nancy

Look for the zestier spices in the blends. Citrus peel powders like lemon or lime. Onion, garlic, tomato, beet root, ginger powders. Horseradish and mustards, mild peppers, give a zip kick. Flaked veggies. Some good aromatic herbs not too floral or overpowering are summer savory, thyme, chives...

I use all of the above in many of my blends. Any of the curry or Asian blends will give off earthy or strange-to-them flavors. Salt replacements really just need some simple tangy flavors.

You may want to check out Bittersweet Herb Farm. They have eleven salt-free blends.

https://bittersweetherbfarm.com/collections/seasonings

Thanks all. I’ve purchased the Florida Citrus Pepper Salt-free Blend and the Savory Herb & Vegetable Salt-free Blend.

The Florida Citrus Pepper blend is described as “Tellicherry coarse grind black pepper, minced lemon and orange peel, citric acid, garlic and onion powders.”

The Savory Herb & Vegetable Blend description is a bit longer: Blended from granulated carrots, tomatoes, celery, cabbage, onions, spinach, bell peppers, parsley, black pepper, thyme, rosemary, basil, oregano, marjoram, savory, citric acid, cumin, mustard powder, garlic, lemon and orange peels.

Cindy_7, I had already ordered when I saw your post. Bittersweet Herb Farm has some very interesting blends! Thanks for the link.

You made good choices. A nice gift! (Bittersweet Farm has a good list!.)

I would make sure they are honest and straightforward about likes and dislikes. It may just open their eyes about 'flavor' even if on less than desirable foods. Processed food has so much salt already but replacing the extra salt they use is a good thing.

Not everyone enjoys taking it further and making your own blends but such great holiday gifts. I've made my own blends for a dozen or so years and do not bake so I make them for bake/charity sales all the time. (Naming, packaging and labeling is the fun part)...for me anyway

Remember 3-4oz little spice jar blends purchased can be 4-6 dollars. One pound of whole spice 5-7$...that is 16ounces. I can make a 5-6oz freshly toasted ground spice blend for about a dollar or two. (including the jar and label).

My spice grinder was 15 bucks at HomeGoods and still kicking strong. Gets a weekly beating.

I think they'll enjoy the blends you purchased, especially the Florida Citrus blend. I've found that the addition of citric acid adds that "punch" that is often missing from some salt-free spice blends.

My favorite is the Spike brand 'Vegit' by Gaylord Hauser. Really yummy on roasted potatoes & roasted veggies. Can be hard to find so I order from Amazon.

Spice grinder at HomeGoods! Thanks! Whenever I tried to look up herb grinder I got pot sites!