Help with pickled onions please

suzanna

Hi

I have just been to tesco and they have small onions for pickling on BOGOF so i had a great idea to do some pickled onions but when i got home i realised i am not sure how to do them (please dont laugh i'm sure its simple) i have the following ingredients;

4 bags about 500g each of onions
3 large jars of Sarsons white vinegar (already spiced)
1 large jar of sarsons brown vinegar (already spiced)
3 packets of mixed chillies
4 garlic bulbs
Peppercornes

I would like to make some hot and spicy ones but am not sure how much of what you are ment to put in, what the process is also if it makes a difference if i use white or brown vinegar and how long they take to mature???

Some tips and instructions would be most appreciated.

Suzanna

GreenFingers_2

Hello Suzanna,

Amazing co-incidence, I bought the same Tesco BOGOFF small onions (2 packs) a few days ago for making another batch of Pickled Onions. The packet of Pickling Spices has chilli in it so they pickle quite spicily. I tend to keep my recipe fairly simple as follows :-

1. Peel and wash the onions and pop into the big jar
2. Put the bottle of White vinegar into a saucepan
3. Add a small packet of pickling spices
4. Simmer for 5 –10 minutes
5. Take a deep breath of the simmering vinegar – hee hee.. :rotfl:
6. When the vinegar is cold, pour over the onions and seal the jar and label
7. Swish the jar every other day to get the spices moving about
8. Try an onion in about a months time to see how they are doing

Easy Peasy....

suzanna

Someone told be i had to put salt on them??? Also do i have to get a packet of pickling spices if the vinegar says already spiced??

Thanks

henhog

I have consulted my pickle bible - Marguerite Patten's book and she says the onions should be placed in a brine (salt dissolved in water) before you pickle. She recommends two oz of salt to 1 pint of water. They should be left in the brine for 36 to 48 hours, unless you want them very crisp, then it is just 24 hours! Drain and rinse thoroughly before packing into sterilized jars and then cover with the vinegar.
HTH, Henhog!

Curry_Queen

Greenfingers, her vinegar is already spiced!

Suzanna - you need to peel the onions and put them in a bowl/bucket of brine (salted water) for at least 24 hours. Rinse them well and dry off on a clean tea-towel, then put in jars and add the vinegar and leave them for a minimum of 2 weeks, preferably 2 mths.

You can add dried chillis to make them more spicy, as I did with mine, but I found 2 whole chilli's per jar, split in half were plenty on top of the ready-spiced vinegar.

I think you've probably bought too much vinegar but no problem as it will keep, or you can buy more onions or pickle some veggies. I've pickled about 4kg onions and bought 3 jars of Sarson's spiced pickling vinegar and still have about 3/4 of a jar of vinegar left over

GreenFingers_2

Hello again Suzanne,

I’ve never prepared the onions using salt, (I may do so next time) however the recipe at this link does so :-

http://www.cookitsimply.com/homemade-preserves/pickling-recipes/pickled-onions-0010-03238t.html

The site looks quite good and has quite a few other pickling recipes....

GreenFingers_2

Have I done the pickled onion link wrong? It does'nt look right on my screen thingy...

suzanna

Sorry to be a pain but the chillies that i have brought are fresh ones can i still put these in cut in half and do i take the seeds out or leave them in? Also would it taste alright if i add some cloves of garlic also fresh??

I'm off to put them in brine now

Thanks

Suzanna

Debt_Free_Chick

GreenFingers wrote:

Have I done the pickled onion link wrong? It does'nt look right on my screen thingy...

Try this

:mad: stuff here to make the message fit the Board Police's requirements!

viv0147

Hi, I'm thinking is this the right time to make my own pickled onions? I believe they can be made using either onions or shallots, if so where would be the best place to buy them and what quantity would I need to fill five coffee jars. Also where would be the best place to buy the vinegar and again what quantity would you advise. Thanks in advance

WillowMuse

Hi, You can make picked onions with either pickling onions or shallots, personally I prefer shallots as I like the crunch.
I do not do mine till about october time though and leave them stored for 6 weeks so they are ready for christmas:) Asda are selling shallots at the moment in small bags not sure of the price though, for 5 jars I should think approx 3-4 bags of them. Pickling vinegar ( you can use ordinary Malt Vinegar, if you don't like the added spices in pickling vinegar) is usually sold in supermarkets too, a couple of bottles should be enough, depending on size of jars. Not much help I'm afraid because I buy mine from a green grocer as I said before about october.
Good Luck thoug HM ones are delish:D