OLD BAY Seasoning, 6 oz

I grew up in Maryland, so of course I'm biased, but I love Old Bay seasoning. I had been pining for the Eastern Shore and Ocean City, specifically, which in turn got me into an Old Bay state of mind. I ordered some from Amazon and now I'm finding that I'm putting Old Bay into EVERYTHING from sauces to soups to sprinkling it on potatoes and stir fries and basically everything you can imagine: Old Bay makes it better. What I really appreciate, too, is that it doesn't contain any junk, like anti-caking ingredients or anything, per the fine print on the ingredients label, which I'm the type of consumer who not only reads but scrutinizes that. I does have salt but, if you are concerned about consuming a lot of salt, simply compensate by not adding as much additional salt as you otherwise would (I use sea salt myself, liberally, and am not concerned on that front, but if you are one to watch your sodium, think of the Old Bay as part of the total amount of sodium you are adding, and just don't add much or any other salt). Old Bay is very special, really unique--there's no other spice combo exactly like it. It takes me right back to some of the best memories of my childhood, on Maryland's Eastern Shore, with the fragrance of steamed blue crabs and Old Bay seasoning infusing the sea air. Wonderful.

The reason why I bought this is because I came across a recipe for “mock crab cakes” that uses zucchini. Since this is the time of the year when everyone has zucchini coming out of their ears, I thought I’d give the recipe a try. (It is just your basic crab cake recipe, except you substitute zucchini for the crab meat. And, of course, for authentic crab cake seasoning, you’d only use Old Bay.) On the East coast, all the supermarkets sell this, but then you go 2000 miles inland, and nobody seems to know what it is!! Sheesh. I went to all the local supermarkets in these parts, and NOBODY carried this. There was a store-brand version of it in one supermarket but the ingredients didn’t look very good. I didn’t want some inferior knock-off; I wanted the authentic spice mix that’s been around for over 70 years. As usual, Amazon shall provide…and it’s a good thing that this metal can is a bit bigger than I thought it would be. This stuff is addictive, and I keep on sprinkling it on different foods to experiment. Even though celery seed is the first ingredient, it is not overwhelming in the same way that celery salt is. The paprika in this spice mix comes out front and center, which is a good thing since it’s a lot easier on the digestive system than cayenne. I can see how if you made up a batch of the mock crab cakes with robust Old Bay seasoning and then grilled them to perfection on a barbecue, people might be fighting over them….they’d never even miss the crabmeat. And that would be a great way to get rid of 10 pounds or more of zucchini at a time. I am about to try this on popcorn and see if I like it better than the Italian seasoning mix that I usually use. Even though this seasoning mix was designed for seafood, it lends itself well to meat, veggies, eggs…the possibilities are endless…

Old Bay is the best seasoning mix for all forms of meat: chicken, beef, fish, etc. It is well balanced with a spicy edge that is well within most people's tolerance. Nothing else compares.

If you live in Maryland or ever lived in Maryland you know about Old Bay and even if you'd move to the moon you'd NEED to have some in your moon base kitchen. It's a really deliciousand versatile spice blend. I have to have it to use in crabcakes. I also use it in tuna cakes. You need it for steamed crabs and steamed shrimp. Maryland Red Crab Soup wouldn't be the same without it. It's good on French fries and popcorn too. Sprinkle some in a Bloody Mary or in your tomato juice to spice it up. Elevate your deviled eggs by topping each egg half with a steamed shrimp and sprinkle with Old Bay instead of paprika. I could go on and on touting the virtues of Old Bay and offering suggestions on how to use it but I'll stop now and just say buy some Old Bay NOW especially if you've never tried it. You'll find all sorts of ways to use it and be glad that you have.

Tastes amazing - held up nicely over time.

Very good for seafood and salad 🥗

The product was very good""

Old Bay is the best seasoning mix for all forms of meat: chicken, beef, fish, etc. It is well balanced with a spicy edge that is well within most people's tolerance. Nothing else compares.