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Old Bay vs Zatarans

The_Kapn

The_Kapn

Moderator Emeritus

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Joined
Apr 8, 2004
Location
Marianna, FL
Name or Nickame
Tim
We love Shrimp Boil and have used Zatarans for many years.
Lately it seems that the heat is gone.
Thought about adding Cayanne, but Mrs Kapn suggested we try Old Bay.

Any thought on Old Bay--in particular the heat level?

Thanks,

TIM
 
Had to edit. I misread you post

To me Old Bay isn't very spicy and more of a Northern, steamed seafood flavor.
Not something I'm use to growing up in Louisiana. ..
 
{Louisiana Bias Alert}

I am not an Old Bay fan. It has too much celery seed for me.

How are you boiling your shrimp?

I always use Zararains powder, Zatarain's liquid boil, a Zatrarain's "Tea Bag", and additional cayenne.

I'll get measurements if you are interested.
 
I have taken to using Old Bay with added cayenne. However, regardless of which boil I use, I have found adding more cayenne is needed, and I have a mild palate. I think they've made both products less spicy.
 
As a Yankee I like Old Bay, especially on fries with a little cayenne added. I have been using Zataran's mixed with Old Bay starting with our New years steamed shrimp, and I really like it, especially that i can set my own heat preference.

A little chili oil in the pot also add some zing when it sticks to the seafood.
 
Old Bay is good but pretty much zero heat. Louisiana brand is better and more spicy than Zatarains. They sell it everywhere around here but I buy mine from Academy.

 
I was raised in New Orleans and have lived in SE Texas for the past 20 years. If you're looking for heat Old Bay will disappoint. It's a nice change of change of pace from a flavor profile perspective but you will definitely need to add your own heat.
 
I'm not fond of Old Bay for a crawdad or shrimp boil. (It's good for other dishes though) The seasonings just aren't the same. I like Zatarain's with additional cayenne to taste.
The Louisiana crawfish boil that Cheez posted is good too.
Lately I've been using Swamp Dust...
http://www.cajunwholesale.com/store/Swamp-Dust.html
suggested by Brethren WickedCajun and CajunTy. It's a bit spicy, so I cut back on it. I season the pot with a small amount, give the water a taste, then season more if needed.

2bba6081-0395-423c-a74f-1198f91974b7_zps765811b1.jpg



Good luck with it Tim, I know what ever you come up with will be great!
 
I've always thought there must be better seasoning mixes local to Louisiana that we just don't get out here.

Also, I find that a bunch of Showboat hot links cut in half add great seasoning to any boil
 
cowgirl said:
I'm not fond of Old Bay for a crawdad or shrimp boil. (It's good for other dishes though) The seasonings just aren't the same. I like Zatarain's with additional cayenne to taste.
The Louisiana crawfish boil that Cheez posted is good too.
Lately I've been using Swamp Dust...
http://www.cajunwholesale.com/store/Swamp-Dust.html
suggested by Brethren WickedCajun and CajunTy. It's a bit spicy, so I cut back on it. I season the pot with a small amount, give the water a taste, then season more if needed.

2bba6081-0395-423c-a74f-1198f91974b7_zps765811b1.jpg



Good luck with it Tim, I know what ever you come up with will be great!
Click to expand...

Swamp Dust is what you want. Do a test run first, may want to follow Cowgirls advice.
 
Lots of good information guys and gals. 8)

I think we will "kick up" the last helping of regular Zatarans we have with some cayenne and/or some liquid Zatarans.

Poking around on the WWW I found that Zatarans has an "extra spicy" version we may try since we like the base flavor a lot.

Thanks a Million y'all.

TIM
 
The_Kapn said:
We love Shrimp Boil and have used Zatarans for many years.
Lately it seems that the heat is gone.
Thought about adding Cayanne, but Mrs Kapn suggested we try Old Bay.

Any thought on Old Bay--in particular the heat level?

Thanks,

TIM
Click to expand...

Old Bay is a Yankee mix. I use it in the kitchen, but that's about it. If you want to increase the heat when using the Louisiana or Zatarain's bags/canister, add additional cayenne pepper. Don't forget to also add bag seasoning along with liquid boil. If you can locate Frog Bone, I would give it a try. Good luck.
 

Attachments

The_Kapn said:
Poking around on the WWW I found that Zatarans has an "extra spicy" version we may try since we like the base flavor a lot.
Click to expand...

We do crawfish and shrimp boils regularly. Zatartains has the regulars, an "extra spicy" and a "pro boil". You can find all three on Amazon. For a typical 32-35 pound sack of crawfish we use a mix of the extra spicy and the pro.
 
I went to Tulane, so we always used Zatarains in the industrial size bags.

That said, we would use more than what the bag called for, and add (for a large boil):
a handful of Italian seasoning
extra thyme
lots of lemons
a couple of heads of garlic
extra bay leaves
extra peppercorns
at least as much salt as the bag called for
Zatarins liquid boil
a lot of added cayenne

IMHO the base flavor Zatarins gives is way better than Old Bay for boils, but unless you have a super mild palate it is not adequate by itself. I never saw anyone in LA use it without adding at least extra cayenne--and often a lot more.
 
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