Home > Categories > Food > Herbs and Spices > SpiceCraft Original Salt Rocks review
Use on absolutely everything, If its food the chances are it will benefit from a generous dose of our original salt. If you only have one Spicecraft seasoning - make it this one, it really is that good.
Smoked Marlborough sea salt, garlic, tarragon, coriander and a touch of chili.
WARNING - This is addictive.
Product reviews...
I think this product is amazing, we have been adding it to nearly every meal we have eaten this week, and the flavour it has produced has been sublime. I went to the website to see what it works best with, and the answer is everything, there is almost no meal that won't benefit from the flavour that original salt rocks offers.
I was impressed by the look of the product, being sold in a grinder you can see the mix of smoked sea salt, garlic, mustard seeds, black, pink and white peppercorns, chilli, tarragon, and various herbs. The mixture is colourful, and the scent is a mixture of garlic and mustard with a smoky essence. The grinder is reusable and you can purchase either a refill when it's running low, (you will want to refill this after you try it).
I found I could add a shake to chicken, mince, and beef and it enhanced the flavour enough that I didn't need to add anything else. We tried it on roasted vegetables and it was delicious, it seems to be one of the most versatile spices available. Not content to finish our research (not simply because this was really delicious) we made a pizza and grinded a few twists of the original salt rocks onto the tomato paste, and it was delicious.
When I visited the website for my original research, I found the options for buying on line. The fact that this is not readily available in the supermarket is a negative, but it wouldn't stop me from purchasing it. Within the website I found you can use this and others in the range for fundraising, I downloaded a pack and this would be a great way to fundraise with a product that is high quality, made in New Zealand and tastes deliciousI I think one of the key questions is would you buy this product again? and the answer is yes, I think it's wonderful and great value for money, I have already recommended it to several people.
I like a good salt with bits, plain salt hasn't been bought in this house for years once I discovered garlic salt, so I was pleased to get this Spice Craft original salt rocks to test out. The ingredients boast having smoked sea salt (not sure what difference that adds to the salt), garlic, mustard seeds, black, pink and white peppercorns (pink???!), chilli, tarragon, chives, herbs and spices. Some of these were very easy to see and they were all nice sizes, couldn't see any overpowering the others. Opening it up I could smell the hint of smoked flavour and looked forward to trying this out.
The grinder on this is fab, just don't let it get wet as then you've got problems... Lol. I used this on my dinner for a few nights and enjoyed the flavour this added to the meals, which ranged from mashed potatoes, to pizza, soup, pasta and rice, I tried it on everything and enjoyed it all. My eleven year old didn't like it at all, but my nine year old thought the salt was delicious, my seven year old wasn't too sure about it though. My favourite dish for this was to butter a couple of wraps, one I added Parmesan to and I then put some of this salt over each and then folded them in half. A few minutes in the oven and I then split them between my nine and seven year olds and myself. It was a resounding success and they all asked for more.
This was a delish salt, full of flavour and has lasted well, I can see me buying more of this when it runs out.
I have been lucky enough to try a couple of the SpiceCraft products in a previous review parcel, and was even luckier to receive two more in this parcel including this original salt rocks. Seasoning can make such a difference to a meal - after all, the big judges always remind people to season on the big cooking competition shows right?! It is something I have learnt in previous times as I am not a big fan of salt but have learnt that once you learn how to put it on well it can certainly lift a meal and finish it off perfectly. I do like that this salt features other bits and pieces in it too - pepper, garlic, coriander, tarragon and chilli alongside smoked sea salt. I also like that the container is clear and you can see the big chunky pieces of everything and that they are very evenly spread throughout the whole jar. This means that when you grind the jar you should get a big mix of everything.
Trying to think of some way to use this salt I happened to be making homemade tortilla chips with another review product and decided that it would also be a perfect way to try out this salt. My partner cut up the tortillas and placed them on an oven tray. We lightly coated them in oil and then liberally ground some of this original salt rocks on top. It didn't take long in the oven for them to be cooked and when it was time to try one the salt certainly went well. It gave them a nice, salty flavour, but it wasn't too strong. It was certainly the perfect seasoning for my chips.
Opening up the jar I took a big sniff of the smells coming out. How amazing does this product smell?! I'm not even sure I could name just one thing that I could smell as there seemed to be a bit of everything that came out, which to me says they have the amounts of everything just right. This is certainly a salt that will be a regular on my shelf as it will be perfect to bring up many different meals - from a simple roast potato or homemade chips, to meats such as steak, chicken or fish, and it could also incorporate well into meals such as spaghetti bolognese, cottage pie - anything that needs a little bit of salt added to make it amazing!
Absolutely your go to one stop shop for salt, added flavour or something different. I think I have tried this Salt rocks goes with everything in almost everything and I have to say I love it. When you take of the lid and are hit with the yummy smell you straight away want to twist the lid and get some salt rocks on to your food. They are no wrong when they say it goes with every thing as I have tried this rock salt with savory muffins, steak, chicken, venison, fish, salads, creamy mushrooms, stir fry and the list goes on and it goes so good with all of those foods.
It is so simple to use but yet so effective and I found I got many uses from the 80g bottle, I still have 2/3rds of the bottle yet and I feel like I have used it so much already and not just one or two grinds, I was very generous with my grinds and put plenty into my baking or meals. Well worth the price you pay, as the price would be a lot more then I would normally pay for a 80g grinder of salt but it is worth it. It just amazes me with how well it does actually go with every thing.
I have no faults for the rock salt and I look forward to trying it in many more dishes to come and also recommended it to friends. The bottle and labeling speaks for its self and you would not be disappointed using it. It would be great for when we head camping and we only need to take this one bottle of salt rocks with us instead if needing several different herbs and spices this one bottle will cover us for all our cooking needs for any meat we use.
Adding a sprinkling of herbs, spices or different salts can make such a difference to any meal you cook, often taking the meal from quite bland and boring to exploding with delicious flavors that send your taste buds wild. I have had a salt mix in my pantry for the last few months and it had just run out so I was very excited when I got the opportunity to replace it with the Original Salt Rocks ... which really do go with everything!
The first thing that really caught my attention when I received my salt grinder of the Original Salt Rocks was the beautiful array of colors which could be seen through the clear plastic grinder, there were bits of white, red, black, green, yellow and various different tones of brown, it certainly was a very colorful mix, Miss 5 compared it to that of a stony rainbow. The salt rocks seemed to grind beautifully and I love how the canister is actually refillable as it appears you can get pouches of refillable salt rocks for this brand which is a great idea and helps save the environment from to much more rubbish.
When I first opened the salt rocks I was hit with a beautiful smell, which to be honest I couldn't quite work out what it was, though by reading the ingredient list I was pleased to see that there is nothing but natural ingredients in the mix - smoked sea salt, garlic, mustard seeds, black, white and pink peppercorns, chilli, tarragon, chives and of course herbs and spices. I was making roast potatoes for dinner on this particular night and so I decided that these would be a perfect dish for testing the salt rocks out on. After boiling my potatoes and mushing up the edges of them, I shook them a little olive oil and then added a very generous sprinkling of the Original Salt Rocks before placing them in the oven to cook. Once they were crisp and golden brown I removed them from the oven and sprinkled a bit more of the salt over top, they looked, smelt and tasted absolutely divine, the family commented that the potatoes tasted extremely good and even better than usual, I had to agree.
Over the next week it seemed that I continuously added Original Salt Rocks to almost every dish I made, they truly proved to be such a versatile ingredient that added a great hit of flavor, they were amazing in scrambled eggs, and were perfect mixed into mince prior to shaping as meatballs, they went great over chicken and were delicious in mashed potatoes. I honestly can't recommend this product enough if you need something to add a yummy touch to your meals this is the product to try, I can't wait to test out more products in the range myself.
I adore Salt Rocks - there is nothing quite so satisfying as grinding your own salt and feeling like a master chef. As soon as I received this I thought yay I have a new best friend that I will be using in basically everything. The contents looked nice and vibrant and I could not wait to use it. I felt just like Rick Stein.
The first night I decided to use it I was making Roast Pork with all the trimmings and as I was in a hurry and had a million things happening at once I was not thinking straight. I cut the crackle rubbed it with oil and then grabbed the container and started to grind and then I realized that nothing was coming out. It took me a while to realize that you had to undo the lid and remove the tab underneath. The problem lay with the fact my hand were wet and slippery so ripping the tab was not as easy as it should of been and took way more time than I was expecting.
I quickly put the lid on and tipped it upside down and out poured half of the container as it turns out the top was not secure. Really upset about this stage I tried to salvage my meal and scrape off as much salt as I possibly could (meal, especially the gravy was still extremely salty) and sulked as half the container had literally been thrown away. The next time I went to use this I double checked the lid was secure and have had no issues from then on and have basically used it on everything. This is more than evident as I have less than a quarter of the jar left - which I guess in hind side is not a bad thing as the container does say to use within three months of opening, in this case it has been two weeks.
The great thing about this item is you really do not need to use a lot to taste the flavouring. Usually one turn is enough and as it falls on to the food you can actually see the granules so you know that it has worked. My favourite dish so far has been with fried eggs it is the perfect combination of ingredients to add flavour to the dish. I have put my normal salt dish to the side and now instead reach for this. Besides the small hiccup at the beginning of our relationship we have become very firm friends and I am sure I will be buying again in the future.
SpiceCraft's Original Salt Rocks comes in a clear, hard plastic refillable grinder and it's great that you can see all the ingredients that are about to get grinded! The label is fun and says it 'goes with everything' so I thought it best I put it to the test!
First up was kumara and potato wedges. I usually season with regular sea salt but this seasoning was a million times better! The benefit of this seasoning is that you can see exactly how much you are adding so I didn't over season which I can occasionally do! Everyone commented on how flavoursome the wedges were and even my girls, who don't like chilli, mustard or pepper, gobbled them down saying they were 'yummy'. Next up were plain french fries and I put the grinder on the table and let everyone use as much or as little as they wanted. I turned the grinder once and my daughter was able to just shake the grinder to get an adequate serving. My hubby sniffed the grinder and his exact words were 'WOW, this smells amazing!' I hadn't given it the sniff test until then but after a good sniff, I had to agree. The combination works really well and had a lovely smoky smell! The Salt Rocks completely transformed my fries into tasty morsels and my husband was saying that they would be great on cheese on toast and garlic bread. I'm going to try it with mashed potato and I've got plans to mix it with panko breadcrumbs and coat some fish. The options are endless.......
In fact, I have to 100% agree with SpiceCraft, as this Salt Rocks does indeed go with everything! I don't think I will be able to use plain, boring, rock salt ever again and I really like the fact that you can buy refills for it.
The instructions said to use it on absolutely everything ... so I did! After several days of experimenting, I was fast using up the product to the extent that I was wishing it came in a large economy size. I tried it on all the usual foods in place of regular salt and found that, as well as using less than I would with a plain salt, there was the bonus of added interest from the other ingredients. I like salt but too much of it does not like me, so this is a great way to compromise.
I was especially impressed by the way it jazzed up plain foods like mashed potato, plain boiled rice, and plain noodles. I tried it on popcorn with melted butter and in a chicken and avocado sandwich, where it enhanced the avocado in a new and interesting way. I can see I will be trying it with this combination again once avocados come properly into season with the accompanying price drop. It is versatile too insofar as it can be used during the cooking process or sprinkled on to a meal at the table.
Having tried out all the conventional stuff, I decided to try a dessert I had always enjoyed when I was younger. We used to buy salted dried plums and either eat them straight from the packet like confectionery or stew them to reconstitute for serving with milk puddings or ice-cream. This was long before the days when salted caramel became popular. I could not find any dried plums in the local supermarkets, and there was no specialty Asian supermarket nearby where I might have been able to find them, so I just bought a packet of ordinary dried prunes and a tub of butterscotch custard.
To prepare the prunes, I added a teaspoon of the salt to a handful and mixed it well in. The mixture was then left overnight in a cool place (not a fridge!) to let the salt melt. Any liquid produced was drained off and I was left with a result very similar to the originals I used to purchase. I tasted one - it was a bit softer than the commercially produced variety, but the taste was almost exactly the same. Like the original dried plums, my version had the coriander and tarragon with just a hint of chilli. I don't think the original had garlic or pepper included, but that was a minor difference, and none of the added herbs and spices was too strong anyway.
My family and I were having a very conventional first course - sausages with mashed potato, greens, and a little gravy - so we all added a liberal twist of Salt Rocks to liven it up. Smiles all round; everyone liked it, even the children. Then came dessert. I had given each person a serving of butterscotch custard and topped it with a few of the salted prunes. It was an unqualified success - butterscotch is very similar to caramel, of course - and the saltiness of the prunes quickly permeated it to produce a flavour combination that was almost familiar. They just could not work out what the secret ingredient was! When I explained that the flavour came from the same enhanced salt that they had just eaten with their mains, they were highly impressed. Another product to be used again!
Random listing from 'Food'...
• Great as a BBQ marinade, baste (mop) or table sauce and is a must with Baked Beans, ribs & mussels.
• Essential on brisket, stews & casserols and as a marinade on lamb shanks. It is a garlic lovers dream!
• No fat, animal products, fish products or nuts.
• Low Gluten - made with Malt ... more...
All trademarks, images and copyrights on this site are owned by their respective companies.
KIWIreviews is an independent entity, part of the Knock Out News Group. This is a free public forum presenting user opinions on selected products, and as such the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of kiwireviews.nz and are protected under New Zealand law by the "Honest Opinion" clause of the Defamation Act of 1992. KIWIreviews accepts no liability for statements made on this site, on the premise that they have been submitted as the true and honest opinions of the individual posters. In most cases, prices and dates stated are approximate and should be considered as only guidelines.
"If the temperature is zero outside today and it's going to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold will it be?"
unattributed