Old Bay + Butter + Chicken

(Bob M) #1

My wife has been spatchcocking the chickens we get from the local farm, melting butter and putting that on the skin, then sprinkling on Old Bay seasoning.

This turns out great!

If you’re not familiar with Old Bay, this is it:

Old Bay Seasoning

(Jane) #2

We use Old Bay a lot in chicken and seafood. I used some in the deviled eggs I made this weekend and was good.

(Bob M) #3

Interesting. I think Old Bay was originally for seafood. What do you use it on?

My wife got the idea from a local place that offered Old Bay chicken wings.

(Jane) #4

Back when I used to fry fish I would make my own tartar sauce with Old Bay or add it to chowders.

Whenever I cook fish now I use some on it. I loved the sous vide shrimp I made the other day using your link so I think I will try it again this week with different seasonings and definitely there will be some Old Bay in there. I always use it with seafood and sometimes in chicken casseroles.

(Bob M) #5

Sounds good. I’ll have to use this spice more often.

After trying the sous vide shrimp, this is basically the only way I make shrimp anymore. I even do it from frozen, adding the salt and baking soda, partitioning the frozen shrimp into our reusable sous vide bags, and cooking.

(Jane) #6

Do you cook it longer if it is still frozen?

(Bob M) #7

I cook it until it looks “done”, but I set the initial time for the maximum time in the article (1 hour?). If it does not look done, I add some time.

The bags I use sometimes also don’t provide flow everywhere, so sometimes 2 of the 3 bags will be good, and I’ll ice them. The other bag, I have to leave in for a while longer.

I ice them because I usually eat them cold.

#8

Like Jane, I’ve been using Old Bay for many years. And in all sorts of things, not just seafood, which is where I think most start using it. I put it on Chicken, Pork, (Fish, Shrimp, Crabs, of course) but also in my Deviled Eggs, Scrambled Eggs, Soups, Sandwiches, etc., etc. … It’s really limitless if one likes the flavor. And it doesn’t always dominate the taste, unless you over-use it, which can happen.

But it’s one of the spices we keep around most times.

(Laurie) #9

Interesting thread. I never encountered Old Bay in Canada. When I lived in West Virginia, it seemed to be a staple. But it tasted weird to me, and I never figured out what it was for.

(Doug) #10

Old Bay is good on a lot of things. Salt, pepper, celery seed, paprika, ginger, cinnamon, and maybe more “secret ingredients” (it doesn’t say ginger and cinnamon on U.S. packages, to begin with).

One can make their own blend that gets really close. I keep a handy mix of salt, pepper and garlic in a “big salt shaker” for similar convenience.

#11

Old Bay for me is only a tad on seafood. I just personally don’t like it with any land meats.

but when I spatchcock I ‘score into the meat of the chicken’ and add pats of butter into the score. I do this on just plain ol’ chicken breasts when I fry them ‘med’ fast and I don’t go hot heck bent on cooking to keep rare like I would my steaks.

meat is way juicier than just a baste or a ‘top add’ on the finished meat.