Some pickling recipes will call for the addition of mixed pickling spice along with the other spices. While grocery stores and even specialty spice shops sell pre-made blends, I think it is better to make it yourself so that you can customize it and use really, really fresh spices. My mix consisted of:
4" broken cinnamon stick, 6 Turkish bay leaves torn, 6 dried chile de arbol torn, 1/4 tablespoon sichuan peppercorns and 3/4 tablespoon tellicherry peppercorns, 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, 2 teaspoons allspice berries, 1 teaspoon whole cloves, 2 teaspoons coriander seeds, 1/2 teaspoon blade mace, 1/2 teaspoon cassia buds, and 1 tablespoon dill seeds.
One can add spices to this general mix as you please when actually canning the pickles or you could use only the mix pickling spice. Either one...depends on your tastes (and what you have around the pantry, of course)!
