I think the idea in the recipe for the pickles is to give a slight cinnamon flavor, hence the recipe calling for the cinnamon stick and not ground cinnamon. A half cup of cinnamon is a massive amount (unless you're making a couple hundred jars of pickles) and I would use considerably less...maybe start with a tablespoon or two and go up from there. These are watermelon rind pickles, not cinnamon pickles.
Hi Diane-- That was a conversion for mass, after I said that the mass of ground cinnamon should probably be less than the mass of stick cinnamon it's replacing. Sorry if unclear! Was meant to be starting point, since it's still not clear to me why to sub in ground cinnamon if it's going to give the same amount of cinnamon flavor as stick form.
Ah, ok. Well, I can think of two things to consider offhand: 1) when you use ground spices in something like that, you obviously won't get as clear a pickling liquid and will also end up eating some of the spice residue, and 2) since the ground spice has a lot more surface area and you do end up eating some of it, the mass of ground cinnamon should probably be less than the mass of stick cinnamon it's replacing. I personally don't like to use ground spices when I pickle; crushing with the broad side of a knife or a mallet -- a rough chop, even, for cinammon -- still gives enough flavor usually. Sorry I don't have the exact conversion! Sounds like around half a cup but that's just quick in my head. Hope it goes well!
Hi Sherry-- What's the recipe? Ground cinnamon doesn't always substitute successfully for stick cinnamon, and that is a relatively large conversion to be considering. Would help to know how it's being used.
8 Comments
Voted the Best Reply!