Pickling Spice

  Posted on March 22, 2012  by Leslie Blythe  No comments

It seems like all I do is go to supermarkets looking for ingredients. There are certain stores that profess to have everything thing you are looking for in exotic, hard to find ingredients. This particular market NEVER has what I am looking for! I can’t tell you how irritated I get. On a typical day, I go to 5 stores.  I used to be able to easily find pickling spice to make my Refrigerator Pickles.  The store is now out of business.  I have had a bag of pickling cucumbers on my counter for a week tormenting my family.  “Mom, make the pickles!”  Here is a recipe to make your own pickling spice.

Pickling Spice

4 cinnamon sticks, each about 3 inches long
1 piece dried ginger root, 1 inch long
2 Tbs mustard seed
2 tsp whole allspice
2 tsp whole black peppercorns
2 tsp whole cloves
2 tsp dill seed
2 tsp whole coriander seed
2 tsp whole mace, crumbled
8 bay leaves, crumbled
1 whole dried red pepper, 1 1/2 inches long, chopped

Wrap cinnamon sticks and ginger root in clean cloth.

Pound with mallet or hammer until finely crumbled; discard stringy parts of ginger. Add to remaining ingredients and stir well.

Store in airtight jars.

Use for pickling cucumbers.