Pickling Spice Recipe

This is a versatile spice mix with just about every seed on the spice rack thrown in. It is used for making pickles of all sorts, from cucumber pickles to Colorful Pickled Eggs Recipe, corned beef, even pickled pigs feet.

Foods are often simmered in pickling spices and water, such as pork chops, sauerbraten, and homemade corned beef and cabbage. You can use more or less of these ingredients to your taste.

Since there is no salt in this recipe, (click here to read why our rub recipes do not have salt), salting the meat first is a must. This process is called dry brining. Salt will penetrate deep into meat so you should get it on in advance, perhaps overnight. The rest of the spices and herbs cannot penetrate very deep, so the rub can go on anytime, even just before you start cooking. The general rule of thumb is 1/2 teaspoon Morton Coarse Kosher Salt per pound (453.6 grams) of meat (don’t include bone, and ribs are about half bone).

Pickling Spice Recipe

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This versatile spice mix has a variety of seeds from your spice rack. It is often used for pickling.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Course: Sauces and Condiments

Cuisine: American

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
• 3 inches cinnamon sticks, total length
• 2 tablespoon dill seeds
• 1 tablespoon hot red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon mustard seeds, any color
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon celery seeds
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons whole allspice berries
• 1 teaspoon whole cloves

Optional Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon mace powder
• ½ teaspoon cardamom seeds
• 1 tablespoon juniper berries
• 2 star anise pods

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Method

 

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1. Put the cinnamon sticks and peppercorns (and the juniper berries and star anise pods, if you're using those options) in a plastic bag and smash them with a meat tenderizer or a hammer. Crumble the bay leaves into flakes about ⅛ inch (6.4 mm) in size. Mix all the ingredients together and store in a tight jar.

Notes

About the salt. Remember, Morton’s coarse kosher salt is half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works.

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