From Our Kitchen to the General Store: Why We Started Making Seasonings

I truly enjoy cooking.

I'm not much for measuring. I would much rather dig around in the spice cabinet, decide what sounds good, and start sprinkling. There is something satisfying about standing over a pot or skillet and figuring out what it needs.

So when I started thinking about making seasonings for Silo Springs Ranch, I wasn't initially thinking about building a seasoning line.

I wanted to make gravy packets.

That turned out to be a little more complicated than I expected.

It Started With Bouillon

If I wanted to make a good gravy mix, I needed to start with the savory base. That led me to bouillon. I started with a white bouillon and a brown bouillon, then began taste testing and modifying them. A little more of this. Less of that. Taste it again.

That process eventually became our Golden Broth and Hearty Bouillon.

And that's really where our seasoning line began.

Our broth and bouillon powders are vegetarian. That's not because I have suddenly become passionate about vegetarian cooking. It's because I am not sure I can legally make a beef powder from our own beef. I didn’t want someone else’s beef in our seasoning. I think a vegetarian broth or bouillon works just fine when you're using it with our beef. And I especially like the idea of using it with our marrow bones to make a rich broth.

I'm also still working on the original idea that started all of this: gravy.

The next piece we're researching is finding a good-quality organic thickener that fits with what we're trying to make. I don't want to add something simply because it's conventional or convenient. I want the finished product to make sense for Silo Springs Ranch.

We Didn't Grow the Spices

One thing I wanted to be very straightforward about from the beginning is that we don't grow these ingredients. We source our herbs and spices from organic and ethical producers and, whenever possible, from domestic sources. Since these ingredients aren't coming from our own fields, I felt like we needed to do the research and be particular about what we were buying (like always).

We selected organic spices and herbs without fillers.

That includes avoiding anti-caking agents.

To me, an anti-caking agent is a filler. They're often synthetic ingredients added to solve a problem that I don't think we actually need to solve with another ingredient.

There is a tradeoff.

Without an anti-caking agent, powdered seasonings can cake if you use them over a steaming pot. That's simply what happens when you're dealing with real powdered ingredients without something added to keep them free-flowing.

Instead of adding a synthetic ingredient to prevent that, we chose a different solution: small batches and smaller jars.

Our jars are sized so you can actually use the seasoning before it has been sitting in your cabinet for months and months.

It's a little less convenient than a product engineered to sit on a shelf indefinitely.

But it makes more sense to us.

The Burger Blend Was Made for Arlin

Some of our seasonings came directly from the way we already cook at home. When I make burgers for Arlin, he loves when I add onion powder and paprika. So when we started developing a burger seasoning, there wasn't much question about who I was making it for.

The Burger Blend was absolutely made for Arlin.

We tested it, adjusted it, and kept working with it until we had something we liked. That's been the fun part of developing this line. These aren't recipes that appeared fully formed on paper. They've been tasted, changed and tasted again.

That's how I cook anyway.

It seemed appropriate that our seasonings would develop the same way.

Italian Seasoning, With a Little Extra Work

Our Italian seasoning is another example of why we decided to make these ourselves. We source organic herbs that have been cut and sifted, then we blend them and chop the finished mixture by hand.

Why?

Because we want the herbs to actually fit through the sprinkle cap on our glass jars.

The chopping also makes the seasoning a good bit punchier.

And Italian seasoning isn't just for pasta.

I use it on scrambled eggs. I use it in meatballs. It's great on meat, vegetables and plenty of things that have nothing to do with spaghetti.

Sometimes a seasoning becomes more useful when you stop thinking of it according to the name on the jar.

More of Our Kitchen in the Store

Our new seasoning line includes Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Golden Broth, Hearty Bouillon, Italian Seasoning, Burger Blend, and All Purpose.

They're blended in small batches by hand and packaged in glass jars.

And I'm excited about that part: getting more of our kitchen into the Silo Springs Ranch General Store.

The beef is still the heart of what we do. But the store has become a place for more and more of the things we actually use, cook with and enjoy.

I have plenty more ideas I'd like to bottle.

But before I turn every idea in my kitchen into another product, I want to see which parts of my kitchen you enjoy too.

So this is the beginning.

We'll see what you cook with them.