Identifying A Spice Mixture

[freeztar]

I was thinking about the upcoming grill out my roomate is having and my mouth started watering while thinking about my favorite burger mix which includes fresh garlic and "Chef Paul Prudhomme's Magic Seasoning Blends: Blackened Steak Magic" spice mix.

 

Since this spice mix is so expensive, I was contemplating how I could make it myself.

It seems that I could shake up the spice very well (mixture containing more or less equal proportions of constituents per arbitrary volume) and create a small sample group. I would start by separating the larger grains (salt, pepper, etc.) which seems easy enough with a microscope or potentially my 10x loupe. The trickier part would be separating the fine grains. Is there a DIY way to separate fine particles? Maybe some form of a centrifugal sifter or a chemical that might react with some but not all of the spices?

 

In anticipation of questions regarding taste, I'd like to point out that I have a hard time picking out individual spices in this mix. I am not afraid to experiment a bit if I can get close enough to warrant the experimentation (ie narrow down the possibilities enough to allow my taste buds to be effective).

 

What size sample should I use? Of course I would like to keep it as small as possible to prevent excessive eye strain, but not so small that it is not very accurate.

 

I'm going to need some special tools for this if I'm going to go through with it. B)

[InfiniteNow]

First, let me preface by saying that if all of your efforts fail, you can just buy some ranch dressing mix (about 1/2 a pack), chop some garlic and some olives, mix those with your meat, let 'em sit 30 minutes and botta boom. Open a beer and you're done. Just add cheese.

 

However, if you truly want to recreate Chef Pauls mix, you should understand that it's almost all salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. He also uses paprika. Those are your heavy hitters.

 

I've found two sites with listed ingredients, each a little different, but you can tell a lot about the main components from their lists:

 

First here:

Ingredients: Salt, Herbs and Spices, Dehydrated Garlic, Dehydrated Onion and Paprika.

 

Then, here:

Ingredients: Spices, Salt, Ground Chilis, Granulated Garlic, Granulated Onion.

 

With most ingredient lists, they are sorted in order of decreasing amount. So, the ingredient making up the greatest percent of the overall product is listed first, and the ingredient comprising the smallest percent is listed last.

 

With the lists above, we can see that there are also "ground chilis" in there, and I'd say there's a 95% chance that this is going to be Cayenne... since this is cajun cooking. That leaves us with the mysterious "herbs and spices" bit. That's where it's somewhat challenging, but not if you understand what blackening seasonings are.

 

In common blackening seasonings, in addition to all of the ingredients we've already discussed, you also have oregano (sometimes basil, but much less common) and thyme. That's everything. Not hard at all actually. The trick now is in finding right proportions for the mixture.

 

So, you get some small bathroom sized dixie cups, a scale, a pen and a notepad. You label each cup with a letter/number, and have a corresponding letter/number on your notepad. You come up with a basic plan of proportion, start measuring (using weight makes this super easy... 5g salt, 5g pepper, 5g garlic powder, 2g oregeno...), write down the weight of each ingredient you add, and you start filling cups. You will only need enough to get a good spread of the mix on your tongue, so not much.

 

Then, to the side, you have your master cup with Chef Pauls mix as the control, and you start tasting. Take notes on your notepad beside the weights you've written down. First impressions are most important. Also, jot down ideas as they arise.

 

Be sure to cleanse your palette between each taste with a bland saltine cracker and perhaps some acidic liquid or fresh grapes. Get some friends to help you out, and make sure they have an explicit understanding that you are trying to MATCH the store bought mix.

 

 

The truth to all of this, however, is that you can't go wrong. Use what tastes good to you as your decision point, and the blackened steak magic just as the template and inspiration.

 

 

Or, you could get all fancy and bust out one of these:

CD Background and Application

Ion Chromatography

B)

 

 

Happy grilling. B)

 

 

(and if you have the ability to distinguish between oregano and basil based on a tiny green flake seen under a microscope, I'll buy your beer for you)

[freeztar]

First, let me preface by saying that if all of your efforts fail, you can just buy some ranch dressing mix (about 1/2 a pack), chop some garlic and some olives, mix those with your meat, let 'em sit 30 minutes and botta boom. Open a beer and you're done. Just add cheese.

 

I'm not a fan of ranch dressing, but I like the olive idea. Which type would you recommend?

 

...it's almost all salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. He also uses paprika. Those are your heavy hitters.

 

...there are also "ground chilis" in there, and I'd say there's a 95% chance that this is going to be Cayenne... since this is cajun cooking...

 

...in addition to all of the ingredients we've already discussed, you also have oregano (sometimes basil, but much less common) and thyme...The trick now is in finding right proportions for the mixture.

 

Thanks for the lists! The proportions are definitely the focus of study.

So, you get some small bathroom sized dixie cups, a scale, a pen and a notepad. You label each cup with a letter/number, and have a corresponding letter/number on your notepad. You come up with a basic plan of proportion, start measuring (using weight makes this super easy... 5g salt, 5g pepper, 5g garlic powder, 2g oregeno...), write down the weight of each ingredient you add, and you start filling cups. You will only need enough to get a good spread of the mix on your tongue, so not much.

 

Then, to the side, you have your master cup with Chef Pauls mix as the control, and you start tasting. Take notes on your notepad beside the weights you've written down. First impressions are most important. Also, jot down ideas as they arise.

 

Be sure to cleanse your palette between each taste with a bland saltine cracker and perhaps some acidic liquid or fresh grapes. Get some friends to help you out, and make sure they have an explicit understanding that you are trying to MATCH the store bought mix.

 

I'll give this a try, but I really wanted to have some fun trying to come close without tasting, or using my taste buds only for confirmation.

This approach is probably more realistic though.

The truth to all of this, however, is that you can't go wrong. Use what tastes good to you as your decision point, and the blackened steak magic just as the template and inspiration.

 

The proportions in that blackened steak magix mix are perfect to my taste buds. I couldn't imagine trying to tune the flavor. I see what you are saying though, if I come close enough, then it is...well...close enough. B)

Or, you could get all fancy and bust out one of these:

CD Background and Application

Ion Chromatography

B)

 

B)

At home chromatography, eh? Why didn't I think of that!? B)

B)

Happy grilling. B)

 

Cheers! It's such a nice day here that I would love to grill out TODAY! But alas the official grillout is not until June 2.

(but I'm going to a bluegrass festival in a few hours and hopefully they will have some nice grill items, but I digress...)

(and if you have the ability to distinguish between oregano and basil based on a tiny green flake seen under a microscope, I'll buy your beer for you)

 

If I had a microscope, I'd take you up on the challenge.

The idea of using the microscope (or loupe) is to generalize mainly. If I can separate the salt crystals from the pepper flakes from the red powder from the granulations from the green stuff, then I could weigh these (or perhaps use volume instead) separately and have a much better idea of the proportions before starting my tasting experiment.

[Boerseun]

Hey, cool! Reverse engineered foodstuffs!

 

Who's next on your list? Colonel Sander's secret recipe? :hyper:

 

Sweeeeet....

 

In any case. Back to business. If you really, really, want to seperate the ingredients, make sure to get your sample as dry as possible beforehand. I'm not too sure how you'll achieve this, maybe spread it in an oven pan and put the oven on its lowest setting for a few hours. That should be pretty dry. Problem is, of course, when you want to seperate, it will pick up atmospheric moisture again, making all the constituent bits stick together.

 

...and then, once again, once you have all the bits seperated and you're looking under your microscope, how would you know what you're looking at? A grain of one thing might look very much like a grain of something else.

 

Don't they have a list of ingredients printed on the label? All you'll have to do then is to play with quantities.

 

...which makes me think - according to law, food manufacturers must list the ingredients on the packaging. So how does the good Colonel get away with his 'secret recipe'?

[InfiniteNow]

I'm not a fan of ranch dressing, but I like the olive idea. Which type would you recommend?

Really, any of the powdered salad dressing mixes will do. In fact, I also recommend garlic herb http://www.amazon.com/Good-Seasons-Dressing-0-75-Ounce-Packets/dp/B000E1FZCI/ref=pd_sim_gro_3_img/104-0334920-1674331 or garlic parmeson. Just add half the packet... the whole thing would be overpowering.

 

Per the olives, you cannot really go wrong there, but I say keep it simple. Get some chopped spanish salad olives. They're cheap, but tasty. The trick, really, is to add a small amount of the brine (like a tequila shot's worth) to the meat. That's what does it.

 

You already mentioned fresh garlic in your first post, so I have zero concerns about your ability to pull together a tasty burger. :bbq:

 

 

Don't they have a list of ingredients printed on the label? All you'll have to do then is to play with quantities.

 

...which makes me think - according to law, food manufacturers must list the ingredients on the packaging. So how does the good Colonel get away with his 'secret recipe'?

 

You see, it's all about a nice little gray area in the law. The challenge for the person who is trying to replicate the product is when the manufacturers state things like "Herbs and Spices" as an ingredient. Since much of the information is proprietary, the law allows some groupings of ingredients to be listed under a single vague label so others cannot simply reproduce it on their own (at least, not quite as easily).

 

By the way, the Colonel uses something called Pressure Frying. Much like a pressure cooker, but the container has hot oil in it before it gets sealed and pressurized.

 

Pressure Cooker - KFC.com

 

 

Contains other Natural Flavors and Ingredients... :hyper:

[InfiniteNow]

Since this spice mix is so expensive, I was contemplating how I could make it myself.

So, what did you wind up doing for the cookout?

 

I would start by separating the larger grains (salt, pepper, etc.) which seems easy enough with a microscope or potentially my 10x loupe. The trickier part would be separating the fine grains. Is there a DIY way to separate fine particles? Maybe some form of a centrifugal sifter or a chemical that might react with some but not all of the spices?

So, besides my flippant comment about ion chromotography, nobody really ever addressed Freeztar's question on this. Is there a way?

[freeztar]

So, what did you wind up doing for the cookout?

 

It's today actually!

My roomate got a keg of miller lite and 10lbs. of hamburger meat, plus hot dogs and all the normal fixins. It starts at 6 and we expect around 20 people at any given time. I'm supplying the charcoal of course. :)

I'm heading to the store shortly to gather some last minute items and one of those is the PP meat magic/steak magic spice mix. I'm going to set aside a portion for the experiment. :evil:

I'm going to try your suggestion about the olives. I think I'm going to get a small can of minced black olives and throw that in with the spices and garlic. I might try the ranch idea on a few just to see. :)

 

Anyone is welcome to come! :D

 

I know, I know...short notice... :hihi:

 

More on the experiment to follow...

[DougF]

Hope you didn't get rained out!:D

[freeztar]

What is this "rain" that you speak of?

[DougF]

T. S. Barry it rained all day Saturday (in Florida) just hoping you got the cookout in before the rain slid up the coast.