Pickling Spice Tips

I have a few favorite tips for using and getting the most from your pickling spices. At the end of my post I include a link to pickling spice recipes. Hopefully these tips will save you time, trouble and money.

Problem: You want to flavor your brine, but you don't want to have whole cloves, mustard seeds, bits of bay leaves, star anise, cardamom pods, peppercorns or other seasonings floating around in your jars of pickles.

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Pork (tender)Loin + Brine H2o x 24-36 hours + Smoke x 2-3 hours = Canadian Bacon

 Pork tenderloins in the brining solution -- brown sugar gave it the amber color

I started school today. Pre-requisite English & math classes at the community college so that I can be put on the wait list for the Specialty Desserts & Breads Program at Seattle Culinary Academy. In other words, I want to become a Pastry Chef; I think it will tie in nicely with what I am already doing.

I took placement tests before enrolling in school. I scored high on my readin' & writin'. Don't ask what I got on my 'rithmatic. The title of this blog post is about as complicated as I care to get in the mathematics department!

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Creating the Best Corned Beef ever. It's so easy an 8 year old could do it.

 This month's Charcutepalooza challenge called for brining beef brisket to make corned beef, and that makes me very happy. You see, I happen to have some experience in the Corned Beef Department, and I'm going to show you how simple it is to do it yourself.

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NYC-style Sour Dill Pickles - the fermentation is finished!

The real title for this post should be:

"Good things come to those who wait!"

Yes, these DO taste as good as they look. Maybe better!

I started talking about fermenting cucumbers and making NYC-style Sour Dill Pickles in my last blog post, but you know what? These pickles deserve their very own article, not just being  the caboose of my last post.

I am going to keep this as simple as possible, so here are the 5 basic steps:

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Yesterday was my birthday...

....so that means two things:

1.) It means -- I'm a Virgo -- so I like things neat & tidy. Maybe that's why I enjoy making Dilly Green Beans so much. Fitting all those precisely-cut green beans into the pint-size jar "just so" is just so much fun. 

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