Forgot @retrospek, love P’s Bavarian Blend as well as Ozark, very good. Some other salt free ones too. H likes BBQ of the America’s and BBQ 3000, along with the 4 S seasoning salt blend for his dry rubs. All Penzey’s.
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We have Montreal Steak Spice/rub here, which DH depends upon for his grilling. Thing is… he won’t use the “salmon rub” which we received as a gift, on anything other than the namesake. Seriously, it’s sugar, paprika, salt, pepper and, something smoky; i.e., perfect in a burger 
But here we are.
Some blends are useful… herbs en Provence; a blend of Italian herbs; salt w/ mushrooms… and so we purchase regularly. Garam Masala, Chinese 5-Spice, teriyaki sauce… I buy those too, because sometimes I’m in a hurry, and don’t feel like mixing.
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On the fence here – agree with all the others on the pros and cons of spice mixes. If I already have most/all of the ingredients that go into a spice mix, I will gladly mix my own. However, if I need a certain mix for a dish, I am also loathe to buy another 3-5 jars of spices that will sit in my already overflowing spice cabinet for months, while I figure out how to use it up.
There’s not a lot of mixes I can think of that I’ve ever used. I used to have chili seasoning when I was in college, until I realized that it was mainly a mix of pepper spices that I liked a lot better (and was more potent) as standalones. Now I mix my own concoction of spices when I make chili. I have some herbs de provence, but not my favorite herb/spice mix anyway so it’s kind of languished in my cabinet. I have something labeled ‘pickling spices’ that I bought for a corned beef recipe that I’m not even sure what’s in it. Have never touched this thing again.
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Btw, this is a fun kid project. Setup a few required whole spices and teach the kids how to mix, grind and bottle spices. Works like a charm.
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Always a packet of Schwartz in my cupboard for the annual pickled onion making session. And assorted chutneys. Ingredients are coriander seed, yellow mustard seed, dried chilli, allspice, ginger, black peppercorns & bay leaves.
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We use a few commercially packaged spice mixes (Tajin and Tony Chachere’s are the key ones) and some that we get from international markets (ras el hanout, mombassa, za’atar, Jamaican curry, hawaij, amba, harissa, etc.). But we also have two 48-jar racks of individual spices 
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@kobuta, I use pickling spices for a few things, with my number one usage being stifado, which is a Greek stew with beef or game. They’re also good for simmering beets in, as well as shrimp, to serve cold, or in cocktails. Hope you’re able to find some uses for yours…
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Do tell. I bought a jar of pickling spice and it has cloves in it (gack), so I don’t want to use it for pickles.
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I love stifado. Always a dish I eat whenever we visit Cyprus. Another Cypriot dish that might be worth trying your pickling spices in is afelia - a pork braise. Usually the only spices are coriander and cumin. Lots of internet recipes such as this one - https://www.kopiaste.org/2007/12/afelia-marinated-pork-in-red-wine/
Oh sorry @small_h, didn’t mean to get you excited about their use in cocktails, I meant as in shrimp cocktails, due to giving the shrimp a lot of flavor. Meant to add earlier, in most cases, for stifado most especially, and seafood, put the pickling spice in cheesecloth tied with string, or use a spice bag. Would be easy enough to rinse off whole or half beet pieces for instance. I used it once in pickled green beans, and even picked all cloves out first, but still…yuck. Do think It would work in some veg pickle preps though.
I’ve more spice mixes than I’d like to admit: French 4 spice, Chinese 5 spice, Japanese 7 spice (Shichimi Togarashi), Old Bay, hal el hanout, furikake… I’ve tried to mix my hal el hanout, I find the proportion wasn’t quite right when compared to the bought ones. I’ve much more “single” spice that I can mix and match. I don’t like dry herbs a lot unless they are out of season and necessary.
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When my father would make kosher-style dills, he used a pickling spice mix but always picked out all the cloves. Definitely “gack”!
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Keep thinking of other spice mixes I use, as mentioned by posters up thread. Yes to Herbes de Provence, Togarishi, Fines Herbes, 5 spice, some curry (Madras) and Old Bay. Would never even attempt to mix my own Old Bay; besides how can you improve sheer perfection??
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I have a spice rack that holds about 20 jars and it’s not full, because so many of my spices don’t fit on it. (I could fill smaller jars from the ones that don’t fit, but that’s a lot of extra bother.)
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Since Old Bay has come up a few times and it comes from my neck of the woods I thought I’d share some history. In the old days, crabs were so cheap that bars would give them away like nuts or popcorn are today. Old Bay was developed based on a huge amount of salt with taste covered up with other spices in order to make people buy more beer.
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Knew where it came from, but thanks for the history! Much of our luxury seafood items were in fact throw a way foods back in the old days. Have also heard that many heavy spices were used to cover up the taste of less than fresh foods. And of course bars serve salty and spicy snacks gratis for a good reason…
Do you think over the years Old Bay has lightened up their recipe in terms of salt? I use it with a light hand, but love it in chowders, for boils, and of course crab cakes. I’m always aware of salting, in that we like far less than most people do. I’m especially sensitive to what I refer to as industrial salt. Basically meaning salt that’s been quite processed, with sometimes iodine added. It actually causes a burning sensation in my mouth, and can usually tell when it’s been used. All other salts are in fact sea salt when you get right down to it.
Not as far as I can tell, although I haven’t measured. McCormick now owns Old Bay and they say:
Ingredients: Celery Salt (Salt, Celery Seed), Spices (Including Red Pepper and Black Pepper), and Paprika.
So mostly salt. The color comes from red pepper and paprika. I guess you could send it to a lab for testing, or just do the freezing test.
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Didn’t respond to this first time through. Agreed. Crab, oysters, lobster, crawfish, shrimp, tilapia were all considered trash.
Crabs are for eating salt. Oysters are for eating horseradish. Lobster is for eating butter. Crawfish are for eating onion, garlic, and chilies. I’m not entirely sure what shrimp or tilapia are for. Garlic maybe for shrimp.
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Yes totally correct in that celery salt is listed as the first ingredient. A picture of my can, with lots of good stuff listed.
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That’s quite an interesting list of ingredients. So who wants to go first trying to replicate/perfect the recipe?
But thanks for the reminder. I’m out and need to buy a new can.
