SpiceCraft Chicken Salt Rocks product reviews

I have been lucky enough to try some of the other SpiceCraft seasonings in recent KIWIreviews parcels, and when requesting products this round I just had to put in a request for the chicken salt rocks as it was one I hadn't tried. As soon as I opened my parcel inside I was planning on ways to use it (to be honest, I had had my fingers and toes crossed and been thinking about it since I put the request in!).

I love the jars that the SpiceCraft seasonings come it, they make it so easy to use and store the product without having to have anything else on hand. You simply take the little cap off the end, hold the shaker with the top facing down over the food, and twist away - much like a cracker pepper shaker. Looking through the clear parts of the jar (not covered by the label) it is easy to see that there are a number of different ingredients in this mix, and they appear to be mixed well so with each turn of the shaker you should get a bit of everything.

Opening the lid of this particular product I was met with the most amazing smell. At first I was met with a spicy, possibly chilli smell, then a herb and garlic type smell hit me (can you tell I'm not the best at naming ingredients in products by smell?!) Whatever all the spices and herbs were, I was excited to try this. The SpiceCraft labels have the ingredients listed in an ingredients list, but they are also as part of the label along with things you could use it for. Tonight it was going to go on some chicken. I live by myself and often have chicken and salad for dinner as it's quick and easy, especially if I've worked a late shift. I have been trying to find different seasonings to put with it so that I don't get bored with it and look forward to my chicken and salad as sometimes I end up having it 2 or 3 times a week. I cut my chicken up into slices and put them into a heated frying pan with a small dribble of oil. I used the shaker to put some of the seasoning on top, and once they had cooked on the first side I turned them over and put some more seasoning on the other side. It smelt absolutely divine and I couldn't wait to eat it.

Once it was cooked I served the chicken up alongside a simple salad of lettuce, spinach, red capsicum, red onion, carrot and a little grated cheese. The smell was just amazing and I couldn't even wait until I had sat down to have the first try. The flavours were totally amazing. The chilli gave it enough heat to be exciting, but not too hot at all (I eat reasonably mild in terms of spice). The herbs and garlic were amazing, and the wee hint of pepper just finished it off. This product will be a regular in my pantry as it has been one of my favourites so far. I will definitely be recommending it to others too! Using it in this way barely used any so I have plenty more meals with the chicken salt rocks ahead of me to enjoy.

It is the height of Summer, Christmas has been, and that can only mean one thing- itâ ™s barbecue season. But, when you are cooking almost continuously outside, it is so easy to get stuck into whacking food on the barbie quickly, and missing out on extra flavour afforded by decent seasoning. I was so excited to try out this Chikcken Salt Rocks by SpiceCraft as it sounded like the perfect fast solution to my seasoning conundrum.

The salt is packaged up in a really handy grinder- this means that you can either use it whole (by taking the lid off the grinder) or ground up for an instant seasoning. I was intrigued that the pack suggested a number of uses for the salt, including chips, pork and veggies, as well as chicken. I firstly decided to try it on my barbecue chicken legs and kebabs. I ground the mix straight on to the oiled chicken, and massaged the rub in. On the barbecue, the chicken had a much more savoury smell, and the taste was taken to the next level. For such a quick seasoning, it was such a great change in taste. The combination of basil, oregano and garlic added a slightly mediterranean feel, and the chilli alongside the smoked sea salt added that really umami and savoury flavour.

I then decided to branch out and try the salt on wedges, some pork chops and even in some pumpkin soup. On each occasion the salt added a slightly different flavour- the different herbs and spices being picked up in different ways. In each case though, the addition was perfect- not too much to overwhelm, and just enhancing the natural flavours. I also tried the salt in its whole form on the top of a foccaccia bread which was a winning recipe with our whole family.

This Chicken Salt Rocks is a perfect storecupboard staple, with so many uses at a great price. It is an easy addition to make boing food magical, and, with a little more thought, can make some truly divine dishes. This is one which will not be missing from my pantry from now on!

Although I have seen spice craft products before I had never tried them, but when I saw these chicken salt rocks available for review I knew it was time I needed to change that and add some spice craft to my kitchen supplies. I do so love chicken salt but had never heard of it as a salt rock, and I love adding things like this to my home cooking to enhance flavour so it was all a bit exciting thinking of the things I could use it in. Reading the ingredients list on the packaging I figured this was no ordinary chicken salt with ingredients like basil, garlic, and chilli making it even more enticing.

I know my son is a huge fan of chicken salt on hot chips so being an evening I wasn't doing anything flash for dinner I made oven chips and seasoned them with the chicken salt rocks. For me personally I couldn't really notice a heat from the chilli but he did letting me know the seasoning was spicy. Obviously not too spicy as it didn't stop him from enjoying the rest of his bowl of chips. Amazing that the chicken salt rocks can make even simple hot chips a bit more interesting as the salt rocks added so much flavour.

On another occasion I was making roasted chicken breasts so decided rubbing the chicken salt into the breasts before cooking them was a great way of adding flavour as they cooked and I wasn't wrong. The outside of the chicken had a great taste from the seasonings and herbs and made them look much more prettier than if they had been plain also. With such a simple addition grinding some salt over the top we turned ordinary chicken into delicious tasting chicken that really didn't need anything else added to it for flavour.

I must admit the chicken salt rocks have just sat beside my oven rather than getting put away with the other herbs and spices because I have been adding it to just about everything to add some great flavours, even a simple avocado on toast, or eggs for breakfast. I am going to have to track down my next grinder ready to go as I am not going to know what to do with myself when this one runs out it has just been such a versatile ingredient in my day to day cooking, absolutely love it.

The one thing I do find problematic with these grinders are they are too big for my spice rack so I now have to place them on top of the Microwave (I know first world problems) the second issue is I absolutely hate the tab you have to pull off as silly me had wet hands and it just would not come off. After drying them with no sign of dampness at all the tab finally budged after fighting it for some time. I then screwed the lid back on as I have learnt from another item from SpiceCraft that you need to make sure you put the lid on properly before you use it.

Right grumbles out of the way now on to the good stuff. I love the label and find it very clever how they include all of the ingredients in quite bold writing. There is also some examples on how to use the product which is great but in this case not really required as Chicken Salt can really go with anything. I adore chicken salt but I have never had Chicken Salt Rocks before so was quite keen on how to use it. The grinder works perfectly and what comes out is the perfect size it was just some trial and error on how much to use on what products.

My first play was with fried egg and it worked perfectly, just that right taste of something more. The next time I added it to some mashed potato but I could not really taste anything, but when looking back I also did not use a lot. I learnt from these two plays that you need to use a bit if you want to have some real taste so tonight I made a meal with chips and I sprinkled all over the bowl. I thought I had put a lot on the chips and when I handed out the dinner plates I told them all to take note of the chips and the special salt that I had used.

My youngest started coughing and said it was spicy - we laughed at her and told her she was crazy as she ran to the kitchen to get a glass of water. My eldest daughter said it was perfect and she loved it. My husband said it was tasteless so I brought the grinder over and sprinkled more on his plate and he then changed his tune and said yummy. I thought since my plate was the last to get the chips I had better sprinkle some more also, next minute I was coughing as all I could taste was pepper and I also ran to the kitchen to get some water. I was actually shocked no hint of chicken could be tasted but heaps of pepper.

Its funny because in all the other dishes I have used it in I have not had an issue but tonight it was like I had a spoon of black pepper. I read the back of the jar and it says Smoked Sea Salt, Basil, Chilli, Garlic, Oregano, Black and White Sesame Seeds, Thyme, Sumac, Herbs and Spices and WHITE Pepper. I have never had a reaction with white pepper before so unsure. It is a product I am going to still play around with to try and get the portions correct. Taking a smell of it there is a faint hint of garlic and chicken so unsure why was so peppery tonight. Will be using again but not so heavy handed.

The addition of seasoning plain food can turn something ordinary into something fantastic and I am glad that SpiceCraft Chicken Salt rocks manages to do this very well. This product consists of Sea salt, Basil, Oregano, garlic, chilli, pepper, thyme, sumac and sesame seeds all in an easy to use grinder. I Chopped up some potatoes and kumara into Fries and wedge-shaped pieces and placed them into a tray and ground the Chicken Salt Rock mix over the lot. The grinder isn't adjustable but the consistency it ground down comes out pretty close to how I prefer it anyway.

After the chips had cooked I served them out to all the kids and myself and found that everyone loved the flavour and there were no moans of it being spicy. The blend of the Spices and herbs used bode very well together and complement each over in the taste. The blend is very versatile and can be used with so much and seems to always pair very well. I have had this salt now on casseroles, soups, roasts and salads because it goes well with almost anything. It is gluten free, dairy free, contains no msg and is made here locally in New Zealand. When you look into the grinder you can see the rock salt is the dominating component but the other Spices and herbs look very even and mixed in very well.

This is a product I can see myself using over and over and when it runs out I will be looking at getting a refill or new grinder because there are so many more dishes that I would love to use this on. I recommend this to anyone who likes trying new flavours or experimenting with their meals.

I do so love a tasty seasoning thrown over a range of dishes, and looking at the ingredient list I figured this one was going to be pretty tasty to me, and I was right! Supplied in an easy to use grinder, you get a generous portion of the mix and it's very versatile. I would have liked the grinder to be one of the designs that allow you to adjust the size of the ground granules - you can get grinders that have settings for 2 or 3 from ultra-fine, fine, medium and course - but I will gladly agree that the results were as visually appealing as they were tasty.

I tried this salt on tomato sandwiches and was highly impressed by how it enhanced the flavour - I could taste the garlic and basil easily, could feel the chilli's slight heat and the salt amplified all the other flavours. I also loved the way it looked, providing a beautiful visual texture... at least until I slapped the bread on top. If you were taking a plate to a BBQ or something, you would get positive reactions from something even as simple as crackers topped with tomato and cheese and a good grind of this.

As an experiment, during one of the colder nights recently, I put a generous grind of this on top of a bowl of spicy pumpkin soup - one I know the normal flavour of anyway, and often use as a benchmark to test seasonings - and found that it lifted the soup to a new level of tastiness. If I had the room, I could have easily gone for a second helping.

Today, after being inspired to use up some leftover mince and a can of beans that I found at the back of the pantry, I made some chilli con carne which I served over oven-baked fries. Topped with a generous grind of this seasoning, it was a true delight to eat and again I found myself craving a second helping, despite feeling full. It was beautifully washed down by a bottle of feijoa and lime flavoured cider, which added a nice semi-sweet, semi-tart note to the meal which complemented the chilli and garlic aspects of the salt.

Overall, this is a flavour combo that really, really works. It can be used in so many ways, I am sure, and I think I shall have to keep it in mind next time I am attending a food show - because the idea of getting a good deal on a bulk buy of refill packs makes me very happy. The price is actually quite good for what you are getting, but it's going to put off the casual buyer... until they try it of course.

Chicken salt rocks sounded very appealing to me when looking through the review items, and so I requested to try them and delightfully found them in my review box when I opened it.

It was close to lunchtime, so I decided to strike while the iron was hot and try the salt rocks on my lunch, which that day was avocado on corn thins. Usually I would just have salt and pepper so thought this sounded a lot more appealing and yum!

The container itself is simply labelled, and it came with a little sheet showing some more of the products and also what dishes/ flavours are most suited to which variety of salt rocks or seasoning by SpiceCraft. I was happy to see it has no MSG and is dairy and gluten free. Another plus is that it is refillable with a wee pouch when you run out - which I find great, as every less bit of plastic in the landfill is great. Worth a big mention is that it is NZ made - a HUGE plus in my book. The ingredients are also listed on the back side of the container and its shelf life - in this case about 2 years.

You can clearly see the contents in the container, and noticing that the chilli was the first noted ingredient, I was a little worried as to how hot is was going to be.... but I need not of worried -the chilli adds a little pizazz to the taste, but is not overpowering - my taste buds totally approve. I liberally spread avocado on my corn thin crackers and ground a little bit of the chicken salt rocks over the top. I liked the look of it topping my avocado as well as the taste! You can see flashes of colour from the chillis, as well as a good mix of herbs and salt. It was a wonderful addition and was absolutely delicious. It made avo on corn thins go from yum to YUM!.

As there are a few mixes like this on the market, I have to say I was delighted to find one that is on the less expensive side, but still packs a good amount of flavour, it certainly does not taste like a cheaper one!

I really think that these chicken salt rocks are very versatile - I used them topping avocado or tomato, added it to scrambled eggs, put it over cubed fried potatoes and on a chargrilled chicken fillet. I also don't think it would stop there - and I am definitely going to be trying it out, and searching out the other flavours to try !!

Spice is a very individual matter - that is why this chicken salt can be used either as part of a marinade or as a condiment used in place of regular salt at the table. Or both! I tried it out myself to decide how well it worked as a seasoning mix before introducing it to our niece and her family. After using it shaken over a purchased packet of fish and chips (having specified that I did not want any salt added when I ordered it), and then using it in a cold roast beef and capsicum sandwich, I had worked out that it reminded me of a good home-made stuffing mix with the added bonus of the slight sting from the chilli.

Our niece has two boys (aged five and six), both of whom are growing fast and love their food, so it seemed a good idea to try it out on them. We had some chicken and an assortment of vegetables, so we started by sprinkling a good tablespoon of the salt on to the surface of the chicken fillets before wrapping them round halved asparagus sticks. While the chicken and asparagus were poaching, we prepared some carrots, snap peas, and baby beetroot, and mashed some potatoes.

The aroma from the oven was quick to fill the kitchen, prompting the boys to tell us every couple of minutes how hungry they were! Even the grown-ups were more than ready to eat when the meat was finally cooked. It did not take long at all, but of course it always seems longer when you are waiting, and two starving little people are demanding their dinner RIGHT NOW! Once the food was dished up, the children settled to theirs and peace ruled while the rest of us attacked ours.

Reactions were certainly positive. Mr Five objected when he encountered a piece of chilli which had got itself separated from the chicken, but Mr Six told him only babies thought chilli was too hot and he should just get over himself! Mr Five had no intention of being considered to be a baby, so he stuffed his mouth with potato and carried on! Meanwhile, Mr Six had eaten his share at top speed and was asking if there was any more before the rest of us were even half way through our own portions.

As I had expected, the adults added a sprinkling to their dinner once it was on their plates. It proved a very popular addition to the mashed potato, not only making it tastier, but also ensuring that it looked more attractive. The occasional piece of chilli did not bother anyone, although my niece said she would have preferred less of it and more of the garlic and Italian herbs as she felt it masked the other flavours.

I intend to try it next time with a chicken supreme, adding mashed potato with kumara or garlic breadcrumbs on top before browning the dish in the oven. My niece said she would like to have it with steamed fish as that can be rather bland, so I will leave the container with her for a few days so she can try it. As for the children, they both liked it and Mr Five was very proud of himself - he announced that he was a big boy now because he could eat chilli!