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Pickling Spices – Contest

by jughandle

Every year we get pickles from our relatives to enjoy through the winter.  And brother, we do enjoy them.  Inspired by these ambitious people I thought I’d like to make a “signature” pickle of my own.  If you give me the winning combination of spices for my pickles I’ll name them after you.

Now, I do enjoy my mother-in-law, Ella Ween’s, bread and butter pickles and brother-in-law, Brent’s, dill pickles and they are always generous with their offerings.  But I want to “give back” to the family and come up with a pickle that is radically different, but good.  My research finds that my task may be more difficult than I thought.  I don’t know what spices my in-laws use, but I’m smart enough to know the spice is what makes the pickle what it is.  I’m avoiding store bought premixes and I’m trying my own mixes.  I found some suggestions on the net below:

Spice Recipe #1

6 T mustard seed
3 T whole allspice
6 t coriander seed
6 whole cloves
3 tsp ground ginger
3 tsp red pepper flakes
3 bay leaves
3 cinnamon sticks

Spice Recipe #2

1 cinnamon stick
5 bay leaves
2 T mustard seed
1 T ground ginger
1 T dill seeds
2 tsp cardamon seeds
2 tsp hot pepper flakes
1 tsp whole cloves

Spice Recipe #3

2 cinnamon sticks, broken
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon whole allspice
1 teaspoon juniper berries
1 teaspoon crumbled whole mace
1 teaspoon dill seeds
4 dried bay leaves
1 small piece dried ginger

Spice Recipe #4

4 cinnamon sticks (each about 3 inches long)
1 piece dried gingerroot (1 inch long)
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
2 teaspoon whole allspice berries
2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
2 teaspoons whole cloves
2 teaspoons dill seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons whole mace, crumbled medium fine
8 bay leaves, crumbled medium fine
1 small dried hot red pepper (1 1/2 inches long), chopped or crumbled medium fine, seeds and all

Spice Recipe #5

yellow mustard seed
brown mustard seed
allspice
cinnamon
crushed bay leaves
dill seed
cloves
ginger
black peppercorns,
star anise
coriander
juniper berries
mace
cardamom
crushed red peppers
whole hot peppers

There are obviously common ingredients in each recipe and the amount of each ingredient would be a factor,  but the following are the compete range of choices:

yellow mustard seed
brown mustard seed
allspice
cinnamon
crushed bay leaves
dill seed
cloves
ginger
black peppercorns,
star anise
coriander
juniper berries
mace
cardamom seeds
crushed red peppers
whole hot peppers

What else could I add to make mine unique without messing it up:

Celery seed?

caraway seed?

Cilantro? (I know, coriander is the seed of the Cilantro plant)

garlic?

onion?

lemon zest?

lime zest?

How about spices like?:

Thyme

oregano

rosemary

sage

basil

lemon grass

Tarragon

Turmeric

 

Please help me decide.  I’ll post a followup when I get my final mix.  If you give me the winning pickling spice recipe I’ll name my pickles after you.- Jughandle

 

 

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14 comments

Mittie Wooden August 28, 2011 - 9:08 am

I would definitely go with some garlic cloves. That is a must! I might try a little tumeric, too. A little carraway seed might be interesting…..

jughandle August 29, 2011 - 5:52 am

Great, thanks for the post Mittie. Let me get this right. Garlic, Cloves, Tumeric, Caraway.

Any Dill?

I’ll give that a shot, sounds good. – jughandle

Tony Garonzik August 29, 2011 - 6:51 am

the 1st time i had kimchee was in the early 80’s while visiting hawaii, even though this is a korean dish. it is a very healthy dish, and i have recently been buying fresh made kimchee at the buford hwy korean market.

jughandle August 29, 2011 - 7:21 am

Thanks for the comment Tony. I haven’t had Kimchee at the Korean market, but I can imagine that it would be great. I thought I’d try just once to make my own if only to say I did and to understand the process better.

Walt Wooden August 29, 2011 - 11:00 pm

How about scotch or balsamic?

Walt Wooden August 29, 2011 - 11:10 pm

I know scotch and balsamic aren’t spices but it will give it a unique flavor and you could put a couple of pieces of fresh oak wood to give it that barrel taste.

jughandle August 30, 2011 - 6:46 am

Interesting thought Walt. Thanks for the input, I’ll give it a try. – jughandle

Beverly August 30, 2011 - 6:58 pm

For our dill pickles, we always use canning salt, bottled water, not tap water & always use alum to have the crispy pickles.
The other spices we use are garlic, dill, hot peppers, sometimes mustard seeds. 2 vinegar to 1 water ratio.

jughandle August 31, 2011 - 7:02 pm

Great information Beverly, thanks for posting. I didn’t know about the alum. – jug

Diane Eldridge September 1, 2011 - 4:54 pm

use wattermelon insteed of cukes add onion powder,garlic powder,sugar,dried mixed bell peppers,dried horseradish,celery leaves, and a dash of liquid smoke let sit in fridge several days are soooooooooooooooooooo good…….

jughandle September 2, 2011 - 5:23 am

Fantastic! Thanks Diane, I assume that you cut the rine off, but maybe not. Thanks for the recipe, I’ll try it this weekend. – jughandle

Diane Eldridge September 1, 2011 - 4:56 pm

use wattermelon insteed of cukes add onion powder,garlic powder,sugar,dried mixed bell peppers,dried horseradish,celery leaves, and a dash of liquid smoke let sit in fridge several days are so good..

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