Old Bay Ripoff Recipe

[CosmicMiami]

Pardon me if this is the wrong forum.

I love Old Bay Seasoning. My problem is that it is WAY too salty for my taste.

I'm looking for a good ripoff recipe without so much salt. I have searched for some ripoff recipes. There are many and they vary.

Wondering if anybody has their favorite and if so, please post. Thanks.

[Willy]

Try this link: https://www.thespruceeats.com/old-ba...ing-mix-480917

Note that the salt content can be reduced by replacing some of the celery salt with celery seed.

[CosmicMiami]

I made a small jar using this recipe. I used only ground celery seed and omitted the celery salt. Added just a tablespoon of kosher salt at the end. The taste is good. Old Bay may have more paprika and/or red pepper in it. Haven't used it in any recipes yet. Gotta find some fresh crabs and shrimp.

If you use this recipe, double it. The yield isn't that much.

Buen Provecho ya'll

[Huskee]

I agree with you that Old Bay is too salty and (to me) a bit too harsh. I've never made my own, but I asked Heaven Made Products if they could create their own version with their own proprietary "flavor base", and they delivered. I am not sure when they will actually get around to designing a label and releasing it for sale on their site but I am excited for everyone to try it when they do, it's amazing. Here's some more info on Heaven Made Products and why I love them, plus a discount. No, I don't get paid to say that I just love their stuff.

[Steve B]

Heaven Made Seasonings are great. I have 6-7 different ones and love them all.

[Huskee]

Steve B Same! I keep urging my contact there to get the new take on Old Bay for sale soon. It is amazing on pork chops, chicken, burgers you name it, not just seafood & shrimp.

[CaptainMike]

It might be fun to reverse engineer one. There's not a lot of ingredients in it, but you'd have to figure out what other spices in addition to ones listed. Who knows, you might stumble into something you like better.

[Donw]

McCormick does make a lower sodium version of Old Bay. https://www.mccormick.com/old-bay/pr...dium-seasoning Just thought I would pass it on.

[Huskee]

I don't mean to hijack this topic, but here's a link if any one is interested in a new version of Old Bay from Heaven Made Products called Nu Bay. (It's awesome if you ask me) https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...071#post989071

[holehogg]

Highwayman

[CosmicMiami]

Thanks for all the replies. Great stuff. I always say you can add salt but you can't take it away. Wifey loves the flavor of Old Bay. I do too. Neither of us like that it is so freaking salty.

[Huskee]

Yep, it's cheaper for the makers to add more salt. Costs more to buy the same volume/weight container with less salt and expensive spices in its place.

[Donw]

Just thought I would tell you about J.O. Spice which also has a lower sodium version. If you are eating at many East Coast crab and seafood houses you are actually tasting J.O. instead of Old Bay.
Here is a magazine article about them: https://chesapeakebaymagazine.com/the-other-spice/
Here is a link to the company’s products: https://www.jospices.com/jo_spice_re...hrimp_fish.php

[Skinsfan1311]

Just thought I would tell you about J.O. Spice which also has a lower sodium version. If you are eating at many East Coast crab and seafood houses you are actually tasting J.O. instead of Old Bay.
Here is a magazine article about them: https://chesapeakebaymagazine.com/the-other-spice/
Here is a link to the company’s products: https://www.jospices.com/jo_spice_re...hrimp_fish.php

Marylander here and this is spot-on. We steam our own crabs and only use J.O. in the steamer. When we're picking crabs, we dump little piles of Old Bay on the paper, and dip the meat in them. We also use Old Bay in recipes but never steam them in Old Bay. Always J.O. It has a better texture, because of the rock salt.