McCormick Grill Mates Smokehouse Maple Seasoning, 15.5 oz

This stuff is ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!! It has completely elevated my recipes like totally! From chicken to ribbed to beef—this seasoning takes everything I cook to the next level. The sweet, smoky maple flavor adds such depth and richness, and the aroma—like, OH MY WOWSERS!!!! M O U T H W A T E R I N G !!! I’m so glad I happened upon this and decisded to give it a try. Now, it’s a staple in my spice cabinet, and I don’t plan on running out anytime soon. I highly, highly recommend it for anyone who loves bold, flavorful food!

I really like this seasoning, it adds a sweet smoky flavor to a variety of foods and dishes like vegetables, chicken or fish. Very nice!

For Salmon fillets, after they have been marinated, I rub them with honey and then the Smokehouse Maple seasoning. I put them on the smoker for some slow cooking and they turn out great. When the wild run Copper River salmon are available, with their dark orange coloring, it is a real treat...steak from the sea. For the chicken I usually do two whole chickens at a time. I rub them well with olive oil then the seasoning and cook them on the smoker or grill on "beer can" stands. The skin turns out crispy and maple flavored. Both the fish and chicken are summertime favorites, but we cook them in the oven, just as described, when it's raining in Washington (October thru July). The spice has a taste that is aptly described by its name. It's smokey and maple flavored, but not too salty or sweet. It comes in smaller sized containers that I have seen at Wally Mart's grocery section if you don't want to commit to 15.5 ounces. I've never tried putting this on something after I have cooked it...I think it would be too strong and overpowering. The combination of heat, smoke and oils from the cooking meat seem to mellow it out into a perfect flavor. Additionally it is very coarse so I think it would be objectionable in your mouth if not allowed to sort of melt into whatever you were cooking. Also, I can't imagine any other fish that would taste good with this other than salmon.

This is our EVERYTHING Seasoning! Seriously. We use this on just about everything. We buy it by the case and we even have accessories for it. I like it on my corn, but the big, beautiful, hard, chunky pieces are tough to eat with corn on the cob because of the huge texture discrepancy. So I bought this spice grinder from Amazon exclusively for making powder out of the larger pieces: https://www.amazon.com/Rechargeable-Electric-Dry-Herb-Grinder/dp/B07YWXS5SJ You’ll recognize me because I also talked about the importance of this seasoning in our lives in my review there. Oh, and try it on these microwaveable pork rinds, found on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Lowreys-Bacon-Microwave-Chicharrones-Original/dp/B000UPFWW6 You won’t need to grind the big pieces when you use it to rub meats before grilling, as the moisture from the meat will solve that problem for you. If you aren’t using it as a pre-grill or pre-smoke rub, you can always dump it in a bowl and add a little water. Now – and I want to make sure I am abundantly clear: I love the big, beautiful, hard, chunky pieces (which I believe to be maple-soaked garlic) and they magically settle to the bottom of the large container, making it easy for me to continually collect them and put them in my established Smokehouse Maple BIG PIECES container, which sits right next to our regular open Smokehouse Maple container. And then I spill the big pieces out on my plate and dip my crunchy pizza crusts in them. UH HUH.

We first purchased this product in small sizes at the grocery store. Using our grill and smoker year-round we’re always looking for new seasonings and rubs. This seasoning has a BIG flavor level and is spot on in it’s rich smoky/maple taste. We now buy it in the larger sizes offered by Amazon. Primary uses are for pork roasts and chops and chicken and we want to try it on baby back ribs next. We get great compliments on the taste of meats prepared with this item. It’s fair to mention though that the product has a fairly high salt content.

I first bought this seasoning at Sam's club and it took me several months to use it all. Unfortunately they didn't have anymore for sale when I went back and I cannot find it at any of the other local grocers. I had a feeling I'd find it through Amazon. This goes well on Steak, pork, chicken and buffalo. I haven't tried it on anything else yet. The seasoning has a significant savory flavor on Steak and Buffalo, it tastes more sweet on Chicken and seems slightly spicy (not hot spicy) on pork. If I don't have time to marinade I generally like to put this onto the meat I am cooking as it flavors the meat well with little effort. It smells incredible while in the oven or on the grill and smells even better on the meat. This is best all around rub I've found as it appears to work on everything. I've also used it on corn on the cob that I've grilled on the BBQ which turned out excellent.

Ok, so I may seem over the top here, but this has become my favorite seasoning. I use it if I'm grilling pork chops, and most definitely use it on my steak, weather I'm grilling or making kabobs in the air fryer. Heck I even use it on the peppers and onions. It's delicious. I started by buying the small bottles at the local grocery store. Used it so much that I'm actually on my third big bottle that I bought off of Amazon. Can't find the big bottles in the local stores. As a matter of fact I use it when I make home made potatoe chips in the air fryer. Kind of a sweet BBQ flavor. I just love it, thats all there is too it.

I wanted something different with rubs. I'm not very fond of the highly spiced tex-mex rubs, or the barbeque rubs that are so popular. This was much less expensive than the small jars that my grocery store carried, so I decided to experiment! WOW!! wash the meat with cold water, dry with paper towels, salt and pepper it, thickly coat it with the rub, and tightly wrap in plastic for a couple hours. When you are ready to roast it, I throw a tablespoon of flour inside the Reynolds oven bag, very carefully baste the meat with 2 or 3 tablespoons of mample syrup, throw it in the bag in a 325* oven for whatever time the Oven Bag's chart calls for, and it has a magnificent brown surface with little crunchy crispies on the surface, and it is delicious. I baked a 3 1/2 # slab of baby back ribs for my son and myself - assuming we'd have dinner, and then I'd have half the ribs to munch on for a few days lunches -- only to find after chatting over lunch, there were only 2 ribs left, and my son is smiling from ear to ear about the great rack of ribs!! Needless to say, I'm delighted with my new recipes added to my cookbook.