Why do you need to soak onions in salt water before pickling.
Do you need to do this at all.

Yes it is necessary. It allows the brine to penetrate the onions and remove some of their moisture. Something to do with osmosis in the cell and part of the preserving process.

I have a large garden, what are the best variety of onions to grow for pickling?

Paris Silverskin and Brown Pickling SY 300 are the general ones for pickling. We find that all shallots pickle well. Have a look at this link http://www.allotment.org.uk/vegetable/onion-shallot/grow-onion-seed.php

hi is there a method or receipe for making the pickling spice for onions as i would like to make my own but dont know how. many thanks.

Go to the recipe for Quick Spiced Vinegar http://www.allotment.org.uk/recipe/157/quick-spiced-vinegar-recipe/
It's easy to make.

Hi Val,
Does it matter what vinegar is used for the pickling… could I use malt or has it got to be white vinegar?

You can use either but make sure that it is over 5% acetic content.

THANK YOU FOR A SIMPLE RECIPE FOR PICKLED ONIONS CANNOT WAIT TO TRY
THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN
ELAINE

thank you for pickled onion recipe

karen

great recipe will give to my friends

I have boiled my water and salt to make the brine, but the salt does not seem to have all dissolved and as the water cools the salt is forming a crust on the top. Is this ok.

Yes its fine.

thanks for your very easy recipe very pleased with results

instead of making a brine mix. just pack the onions into jars when peeled,and smother with table salt,leave for 24hrs,rinse under running cold water, dry,put 2 chopped chillis in each jar with a good portion of whole black peppercorns,fill jars with malt vinegar and leave in a dark cupboard for a min 3 weeks.they will be fantastic.give it a go.

I have pickled shallots twice and never soak them in salt water first, to be honest cant be bothered, but they always come out lovely.

Great website – I googled pickled onion recipe and found your site, then, miraculously the recipe appeared before me. Other searches do not achieve such instant results. Thanks.

I used to pickle my own years ago, I'm just wondering, have i left it too late to have them ready for Christmas?

Oh I just realised I didnt put todays date. 28th november

It's best to leave them for a couple of months but you could try it.

I couldn't wait after making 4 jars, I opened one within two weeks and tasted ok but a bit more onion than pickled onion, still ate the lot. I opened one jar one month in and to be honest if I couldn't wait again this is the minimum that I would wait. As for the last couple of jars, they were both opened and eaten over the Christmas – New year and were fantastic. I would have liked to have made them with 3 months to pickle instead of the 2 months. So…..here I go again at making another new batch into 2010 for spring.

Thanks I ended up buying already made but I'll makesure as soon as i seen them in the shops next year I'll do my own.

Hi Val. I would like to thank you Sooooooooo Much for your help in this matter of pickling onions, I grow all my own veg and this year I put in Total 5 rows that amounts to almost a kilometer of them. I started out thinking I knew what I was doing and have done 27 jars when I stumbled on your link, I did not know anything about it at all. So I am just waiting for the brine to cool and I will get back to you in a few weeks. Thanks again Regards Les. R. C. 18/2/2010

I live in Menorca and to buy malt or pickling vinegar is difficult, if not impossible. Could you use wine vinegar?

I can't see why not. You could add spices to taste. White would be better than red though.