Farrah's Mexican Range - Hickory BBQ Spice Mix product reviews

Farrah's hickory Bbq spice mix is sure to be a winner for your family dinners if you like our family love the sticky sweet yet salty taste of hickory bbq. This spice mix has that authentic hickory smoke and subtly sweet tang you would expect from a good bbq spice. We really love it and would happily add this spice mix to our regularly shopping list. The whole family love it as it is mild and has a great flavour. I love that it is easy to have in the pantry to create a quick and easy dinner.

We used it as a rub for some steak that we then sliced and had with some salad greens inside a Farrah's tortilla wrap. Such a quick and easy meal and the spice mix really packed a lot of flavour into the steak. We had some leftover meat the next day which we used to make pizza. My husband loves a bbq meat pizza so I knew he would love this bbq steak on a pizza and the meat had really taken on even more of that hickory bbq flavour after sitting in the fridge overnight. Usually he would expect bbq sauce on a pizza but the meat had so much flavour that it really wasn't necessary.

These sachets are a great price so great to stock up on to have in the pantry to use whenever the occasion arrives. It is such a versatile spice blend that you could pretty much use it with any meat we loved it with beef but it would be just as amazing with chicken or pork.

One of my favourite flavoured sauces to have on pizzas, in burgers, with BBQ, or even just with potato fries, is a smokey hickory sauce. While browsing the KIWIreviews site I noticed that there were some new spice mixes added to request from Farrah's, the one that caught my eye first was the Hickory BBQ Spice Mix. When I saw I had received a packet, the ideas on how to use the product started rushing through my mind.

The packaging of the product is bold and beautiful, this would definitely stand out on a shelf, and make you take notice. The flavour type is in capital letters in purple, against a white background. The packet is 40g in size and I wondered how far it would go, this is a mild spice apparently. This Hickory BBQ Spice Mix is gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan friendly, and contains no artificial colours or flavours, included on the reverse of the packet is a recipe for tacos using this product.

I had several ideas going through my mind on the day I chose to use the product, I was so indecisive, and in the end decided to use the spice mix in a completely different way. I opened the packet and was met with a strong aroma, the mix colour is between an orange and a rusty red colour, and like in the picture on the packet there are visible spices and herbs throughout. I took a bowl load of potato fries and lathered them up with cooking oil, then piled on the spice mix and made sure to thoroughly spread the mix over, I placed them in the air fryer and cooked. The smell while cooking was literally mouth-watering, the potato fries came out a nice crunchy, golden colour. I took a bite and to my delight the spice mix really took the flavour sky high. I could certainly taste paprika and the ancho chilli the strongest, there is also an aftertaste, which I want to say is a tad smokey.

I found that this spice mix had me craving more by the time I had finished, the packet contents is a tad tiny in my opinion, I would love to see this available in a larger packet or jar. I look forward to using this product again, and have an idea for some yummy pulled pork wraps to highlight the hickory flavour.

I have recently started watching this American lady on u-tube and she makes some amazing meals for really cheap prices that apparently doesn't skip on taste. Seriously, she has a whole video on meals less than $5 (in NZ terms that would be more like $30-$100). I love how she just throws everything in to the slow cooker and it looks beyond easy, dishes I would never think of. So I have recently started taking her lead and successfully been making some great meals. One thing she uses a lot of is Taco or Burrito seasoning - she has a massive container full of them and I had no idea you could buy anything remotely like it here.

When I saw the Hickory BBQ Spice Mix come up for review my taste buds went into overload as the dish I really enjoy making, although it is nice it is just not as packed full of flavour like I would like. So this morning before work I threw my two chuck steaks into the slow cooker and covered them with the spice mix, then turned them over and done the same thing. Added some onions, garlic, soy sauce, worcester sauce and some water and put on low. When I got home I shredded the steak and then added some mushrooms and gave a good stir and left it to cook away.

Not thinking, I brought little buns instead of the garlic chunky ones I should of - but I made do. Cutting in half I added the mixture (usually I would grill the cheese but this bun was too small) added lettuce, tomato, avocado and cheese and added it to the home made cooked chips.

Calling everyone up for dinner they all commented on what smells so good, yum it smells delicious, oh I like that smell. So knew I had done something right straight away. Now I should disclose I only used half the packet, when in retrospect I should of just used the whole thing. Where as you could tell in the background there was something there it just did not punch it like I wanted to - but again that was my error. You could smell it and there was definitely the tang of the hickory but I am guessing if I had just used the whole packet it would of given me the flavour I was searching for. But, even though it was not as strong in flavour as I was hoping for everyone enjoyed.

I will definitely be keeping my eye out at the supermarket for these packets and I am keen to try the rest of the varieties as well. Like I commented above I will be using the whole packet in the future for any of the slow cooker creations I have planned for the future.

There was a delicious smoky-sweet aroma coming from the spice packet when I opened it; it reminded me of home cured bacon I was served years ago in Canada, bringing back all those wonderful memories of impromptu meals which could be prepared in minutes and still end up tasting as though somebody had spent hours slaving over them in a hot kitchen. The work is taken out of meals like these when you use a prepared mix and leave the meat to marinate for a few hours while you are out doing something else.

Since this was a strong flavour, I used it with half a kilo of chicken pieces and opted to serve it with very plain accompaniments - some French fries and a green salad. That meant the flavour would be fully appreciated by all of us. I stirred the mix into a small amount of schmaltz, and heated it for a couple of minutes before adding the meat and half a cup of water. The pan was then left to simmer with just an occasional stir till the juices were all absorbed. By then it was smelling wonderful, and my dinner guests (two teenage boys and their mother) were getting impatient. The boys were despatched to wash some lettuce and organise the plates in the hope that they would be occupied with that rather than hovering over the pan.

I had tasted the spice mix earlier while it was still in the packet and found it spicy but not too hot; I thought it would be fine for the boys. Mr 13 will eat anything so I had no qualms about serving it to him, but Mr 14 had a mouth ulcer so I suggested he put a dollop of yoghurt on top of his meat before trying it. That suggestion was firmly rejected; he said he knew he would like it because it smelled so good. His decision; I had offered! They insisted on dishing up as they had already put the salad on individual plates so I stood aside and let them carry on.

The first mouthful was great. Just the right amount of spice without being too overbearing, and Mr 14 said it was not hurting his mouth (although I wonder if there was a little machismo involved there). Everyone commented on the sweet aftertaste; when we checked the ingredients list, we found molasses and sugar were both mentioned so that does make sense. The coriander was quite strong too, lessening the sweet effect somewhat and adding a full-bodied flavour to the meat. Chicken on its own is not particularly interesting, but that makes it a good candidate for added spices because there is no clash involved; the chicken absorbs whatever flavours you choose to add. And why wouldn't you? The process is so easy, making it ideal for busy people.