AllOutdoor Review: Fire & Smoke Society – Holy Garlic! Spice Blend

Sam.S 01.23.23

Here at AllOutdoor, we focus on…well…the outdoors. This includes every possible facet that any outdoorsman or outdoorswoman may find themselves taking part in. One common feature of the site is hunting stories, hunting gear, and the results of the two. This means that between a lot of us AllOutdoor employees, we harvest a good and plenty of wild game. I am sure that each of us has our favorite recipes or spices for each type of game we bring home to our family and table. When Fire & Smoke Society reached out to us we were excited and pleased by the opportunity. I know that Editor Adam Scepaniak and I are huge foodies so this was a pleasant surprise. The company has a neat story of like-minded folks who enjoy the art of grilling and cooking in general that wanted to lend a variety of spices and recipes to the world at large. I was craving burgers and apparently, according to Fire & Smoke Society’s recipe page, this works just fine for them. Let’s dive into my review of one of their Fire & Smoke Society Holy Garlic! All-Purpose Spice Blend!

Cooking Coverage on AllOutdoor

Specifications: Fire & Smoke Society Holy Garlic! All-Purpose Spice Blend

Fire & Smoke Society catalog a wide variety of spices, seasonings, and rubs (something like 26 and counting). They also have a very good blog for lack of a better term that houses a whole host of different recipes that utilize their spices, seasonings, and rubs. They also sell spice bundles for certain types of situations such as holiday gift-giving bundles, bbq bundles, and their best seller bundle. As far as this article is concerned they offer four different “all-purpose blends” of spices and we are focusing on the very intriguing Holy Garlic!

Container Size: 8.7 oz
Ingredients: Salt, spices (including black pepper, chili pepper and oregano), brown sugar, paprika, dehydrated garlic, activated charcoal (derived from coconut) and not more than 2% tricalcium phosphate added to prevent caking. MSG Free, Gluten Free, Non-GMO
Flavor Profile: A hauntingly dark (thanks to activated charcoal), sexy spin on your standard garlic salt, with a pleasing kick of pure ground chiles, black pepper, and touch of brown sugar.
Geared Towards: Absolutely everything (calling all garlic lovers!)

The MSRP of the Fire & Smoke Society Holy Garlic! All-Purpose Spice Blend sits at $9.99 (currently as of writing this on sale at $7.99). The Fire & Smoke Society Holy Garlic! All-Purpose Spice Blend comes in an 8.7 oz which I would call a medium-large bottle. If you are a garlic lover like me, I am sure that in itself justifies the price of this specialty all-purpose spice blend.

“This all-purpose spice blend is officially approved by Garlic Lovers to kick up absolutely everything.
The Perfect Blend: Garlic, Activated Charcoal, Pure Ground Chiles, Salt, Black Pepper & Brown Sugar
TASTES GREAT ON
Absolutely everything (calling all garlic lovers!)
FLAVOR PROFILE
A hauntingly dark (thanks to activated charcoal), sexy spin on your standard garlic salt, with a pleasing kick of pure ground chiles, black pepper, and touch of brown sugar.
INGREDIENTS
Salt, spices (including black pepper, chili pepper and oregano), brown sugar, paprika, dehydrated garlic, activated charcoal (derived from coconut) and not more than 2% tricalcium phosphate added to prevent caking. MSG Free, Gluten Free, Non-GMO
Favorite Uses:
Dry-Aged Steaks
Burgers
Pork Tenderloins
Roasted Chestnuts
In Dry Brines for Turkey
Sunday Pot Roast
Wild Mushrooms
In Gravy and Sauces
Roast Chicken
Fresh Tuna, Salmon, and Swordfish”

First Impressions: Fire & Smoke Society Holy Garlic! All-Purpose Spice Blend

I had known of Fire & Smoke Society but just that: known. I had never seen their offerings in person nor had I ever tasted or knowingly tried them. Starting with the Holy Garlic! All-Purpose Spice Blend’s label, I found it to be rather gothic in a sense. Whether it was intended or not I find the irony fitting and satisfying since Dracula or vampires (and their aversion to garlic), in general, are often associated with gothic tales. Beyond its potential horror-influenced roots the label has simplicity on its side. There is no bull or chicken in the background. It just has a plain gray tone and letters in bold. I think the minimalist nature fits it well since it is categorized as an “all-purpose spice blend”. The side of the label repeats the “tastes great on” and “flavor profile” bullet points. The back of the bottle has an easy-to-read nutrition and ingredients list. The bottle and cap themselves seem to be of quality construction. It is weirdly softer to the touch in comparison to the other items I have worked with so far. It will easily cave in with the outside press of a finger but spring back to shape without kinking or staying dented. The cap itself is a flip-open type with only one option for “serving size” for lack of a better description. No smaller or wider holes, just regular-sized ones.

Cooking: Fire & Smoke Society Holy Garlic! All-Purpose Spice Blend

I waited for the longest to try out the Fire & Smoke Society Holy Garlic! All-Purpose Spice Blend since it really is meant to be all-purpose. I was really counting on getting a deer during deer hunting last November but unfortunately, the increasing wolf population put a stop to that. This left me with no venison on hand to try out the Holy Garlic! spice blend. To be fair, I am fairly certain that the gaminess of the venison would have challenged the seasoning. Luckily Fire & Smoke Society had my back with their recipe list. I decided to draw some inspiration from this one right here, the Holy Garlic Burger.

I did not follow their recipe specifically aside from the tasty aioli (I recommend a few dashes of hot sauce rather than one) and the tomato and lettuce. The rest was a bit of me since I myself am a bit of a burger snob or at least when I am the one making them. I love a good smash burger so I decided to go that route. I formed several half-pound balls of ground beef. I used some 85-15 ground beef since I was cooking inside on a griddle and did not want to make a whole bunch of smoke (I normally recommend 80-20 for most burger making). With the burger balls made, I did a light go of the Holy Garlic! and sprinkled it over one side of the balls. I would go on to sprinkle more on the opposite side when the burgers would be flipped.

With the burgers ready to be cooked I had an overzealous amount of onions already being cooked on the griddle. I would take three balls at a time, lay them on top of a bed of opinions, and smash them down into patties, making sure to get the edges nice, thin, and lacey. I would put a small dimple on top of the raw side of the patty and as my father taught me long ago, I would wait until a transparent pinkish fluid began to seep from that dimple before flipping to the other side. With the burgers flipped and cooking I would place a piece of some sharp cheddar on the hot side. I do not mind if I have a bit of pink in my burger so cooking times really do vary and I was not concerned with precision.

All the while I had some pretzel burger buns toasted, tomatoes sliced, and chopped lettuce (from a bag, I am lazy. Sorry) at the ready. In the end, I slid the burger onto the bottom bun, the aioli already covering the bottom bun, and put on leftover fried onions from the griddle. On top of that, I had ut the rest of the toppings. I normally go without tomatoes but I wanted to stay true to at least some small parts of the recipe. At the very least I knew it would make good for some delicious pictures.

Taste & Final Thoughts: Fire & Smoke Society Holy Garlic! All-Purpose Spice Blend

I wanted to end on the whole tasting notes portion to give it its proper due. Right off the bottle and on the nose the Fire & Smoke Society Holy Garlic! All-Purpose Spice Blend has a…well… garlicky scent. If I sit and sniff I can detect the salt but it is faint. Besides the dominant garlic note, there is a bitter sort of pepper note. The charcoal is an interesting touch but I could not find it off of just smell. Diving into tasting just the since blend It has a strong garlic salt taste (weird, right?) but if you let that melt away slowly the brown sugar pops in to say hello before being snuffed out by both the garlic and the pepper. It genuinely is a cool taste evolution and I can see it would be wonderful on a lot of things, especially if you are a garlic lover which I am.

One big downside for me is I am not a fan of garlic anything on my burgers. As I mentioned I am a burger snob so this part is on me. It really stole the show in a loud way. It tasted good and no one in my family had complaints. it was just me, the cook, that felt things could have been tweaked. I wish I either went lighter on this very garlic-dominant spice blend or somehow worked it into the burger sauce instead. Regardless I think that Holy Garlic! is a wonderful all-around spice blend and I can see it performing very well on a prime rib, on chicken, or even in a brine or marinade. Funny that I mentioned the prime rib bit. My father enjoyed it so much on the burgers that he did in fact use it on his Christmas Eve prime rib and it was fantastic. The whole family recommends giving Holy Garlic! a shot!

Parting Note: Fire & Smoke Society has a whole book’s worth of recipes for their spices, seasonings, and rubs. A link to their recipe page is right here.

In closing, I want to say thank you to Fire & Smoke Society for allowing AllOutdoor and myself the opportunity to try out their Holy garlic! All-Purpose Spice Blend. That is greatly appreciated. Also, we would like to know what all of you guys and gals think. Do you believe that this all-purpose spice blend is worth spending your money on? Would you take this to the grill? Would this be your go-to spice blend on the shelf? Let us know all of your thoughts in the Comments below! We always appreciate your feedback.

Sam.S

Writer | TheFirearmBlog Writer | AllOutdoor.com Instagram | sfsgunsmith Old soul, certified gunsmith, published author, avid firearm history learner, and appreciator of old and unique guns.