So I read that you don't need to boil the solution if you're fine waiting overnight, so I chopped up a red onion, threw it in a mason jar, put a couple garlic cloves in there too, filled the jar about 3/4 with white vinegar, topped with water, and tossed it in the fridge. That was yesterday. Today I opened it up and the vinegar seems to be doing its job with extracting the purple color and distributing it. Onions tasted good and still had a nice crunchy texture, but were a little slimy. I added some salt (maybe 1.5 tbsp) and sugar (0.5 tbsp), and sliced up a jalapeño and threw it in there for kicks. Added a splash more water to make sure everything was submerged, shook up the jar, and put it back in the fridge. How bad am I screwing this up, or is it all good with quick pickling because the vinegar is the only real necessity?

Hey everyone!

I’ve recently gotten into pickling and I’m excited to try pickling habanero chilies for a hot sauce I’m working on. I’ve done some research, but I’m still a bit unclear on a few things and would love some advice from the community:

1. What’s the optimal ratio for pickling chilies by weight? Most of the recipes I’ve found use volume measurements, but I prefer working by weight for better accuracy (less air between salt granules, etc.). Any recommendations?
2. How essential is a pickling lid for ensuring an airtight seal? I’ve read that it helps prevent oxygen exposure, which could bolster the growth of unwanted organisms. Is it possible to just heat-seal the jar using hot water instead?
3. When I’ve made vinegar-pickled onions in the past, I’ve boiled the jar and lid and disinfected my cutting board with surface cleaner. Would that method work for saltwater pickling too, or is there something else I should be doing to ensure everything stays safe?

I’d really appreciate any tips or suggestions! Looking forward to being a part of this community and learning more :)

I used just salt and honey for the brine and these pickles have been sitting for 10 days. Is it mould ?

I pickled eggs with onions in the jar 3 weeks ago and they've been in the fridge the whole time. 3:1 vinegar:water solution. pH strips read 4.0 but the box says they work best in a buffered solution and I removed some pickling juice with a spoon a tested from that, so I'm not sure how accurate the reading is. The eggs taste fine. What is the black discoloration on the onions? It looks like it's in the onion and not on the surface.

I’m new to pickling. I’ve been trying to pickle whole cucumbers, to make dill pickles. However I’m having to problems.

• The inside of the cucumbers remains white when you bite into them. I does not acquire the green/brownish color on the inside that store pickles have.
• Also some of my pickles shrivel and loos their crunch.

Could anybody advise me on how I can fix these problems?

I always add more cucumbers to my store bought pickles, but I'm wondering if it's ok with homemade refrigerator pickles? Will it be any good?

Hey all, I just found out my roommate will be hosting some kind of pickling workshop at our house. As a gag/joke, I'm making him try one batch in Gatorade, any chance this actually produces something?

I found several different posts on here with some decent info, but those posts were all several years old. I hope it's OK I ask a few questions. Apologies if I use any incorrect wording.

I have some fresh jalapeños and serranos pickling in some brine right now. It's around a 60/40 mix, with vinegar being 60 and water being 40. I made them by pouring hot brine over freshly sliced chiles. They're super crunchy. I'm a big fan and my buddies want to try them.

I understand to make shelf stable, I'd need to do a hot water bath, but once my buddies get them, they'll go straight into their fridge for them to enjoy over the next week or so.

-Is using a hot water bath the only way to ship them?

-Can I include a small cold pack to keep them cold for a few days while they get delivered?

-Or do they even need a cold pack as shipping mid winter (plus a 60/40 vinegar/water ratio) for a couple of days isnt a big deal?

If they like them and want more in the future, going forward I can do the water bath to make them self stable and not need a cold pack to be included with packaging. But right now I just wanna ship a few small containers of the chiles pickling in my fridge now.

I really appreciate any advice or help anyone could give. If I'm not making much sense, ask me questions and I'll do my best to answer. I'm pretty sick and it's really late where I'm at so it's totally possible something I said doesn't make sense.

Thank you.

I have recently started making batches of fridge pickles/quick pickles and love them! I'm using the 1 cup water:1 cup vinegar:1 tbsp kosher salt ratio. My only concern is once I start eating them the brine level significantly drops to where a third of the pickles are exposed to air and not covered by the brine.

Is this a non issue because the pickles by this point have absorbed the brine and will still last a month or so as I've heard or should I try finish the jar quickly. Sometimes I'm a pickle fiend and will eat like half the jar in a day or two, but then may go several days before reaching for the jar again. Maybe I could just make and add more brine, but if this is a non issue then I would rather just shake/flip the jar every so often.

Any advice/experience appreciated!

I live in the UK and find it hard to come across good pickles. The best one's I've come across, are Polish. Every pickle I've tried is basically just flavoured water with a small amount of dill and mustard seeds.

What I'm really asking is; how should an authentic American pickle be? It might be a broad question, but I'm curious. I love pickled anything, especially onions and eggs as they seem to have strong distilled vinegary flavours to them. Gherkins are just watery here with a minor dill taste to them.

I'm looking to make my own but want something good and authentic to satisfy my cravings.

I think I've only come across one brand in the past that had garlic in them.

Any recipes are appreciated.

This has no business being that tasty.

Indian style, packed with flavour and probiotics!

https://preview.redd.it/e7y6jpx07uee1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=160765d5fbcc91e5f7751052cb362d0a9f7b97e5

I just noticed these white sections on the bottom of my bag I was pickling cucumbers and ginger in after already eating some. The pickles are three days old as of today. I've exclusively kept them in the fridge. The recipe was 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup rice vinegar, sesame oil, and 4 tbsp sugar.

I have lots of champignon mushroom and I'm wondering if I can pickle them, if yes then how?? I never know how to deal with mushrooms 🫣

Hi everyone, stumbled upon this forum. What’s the difference between this forum and the other pickling forum? I made cucumbers at home myself using vinegar and water . Why are my pickles never crunchy?

Made pickled eggs with mustard seeds, asparagus with red onions, cucumber pickles!

All of them veryyyy good so far! Making pickled carrots and mushrooms (separately). Accepting suggestions!!

I never pickled before this last fall. But I had a bunch of Jalapeños and ghost peppers left over from my final harvest of my garden and wasn't sure how to save them. So I youtube a bunch of pickling / canning videos. So I combined peppers with veggies and poured the boiling vinegar brine in the cans and then let them cool and put them in the fridge. One jar I have opened, the other two I have not opened yet. Are they still good / safe to eat? How can I tell if not?

Jar date: 09 November 2024

First jar opened: 15 December 2024

I have a large jar perfect for lacto-pickles, but too big for the fridge or water-bath canning. Can I just keep it at room temp? Is it safe? If safe, is there any point at which the flavor is compromised (made inedible rather than just changed)?

I bought pickles from the store and they have zero crunch

Decided to try pickling some cucumbers following a recipe in a cook book I got for Christmas but the instructions never mentioned sterilising the jar (Im using a glass mason jar with rubber seal and latch)

Saw online about sterilising jars when looking at getting some more jars and it sounds pretty important. Currently my pickled cucumbers have been sat in a cupboard at room temp for about 3 weeks maturing, so was wondering if theyd be safe to try or if its best to just bin them?

If its important - The cucumbers were soaked in salt for a few hours, rinsed and then jarred up with a sugar + distilled malt vinegar solution that had been boiled a cooled

hello picklers! i recently made my first ever batch of pickled red onions, SUPERRR yummy!! however, i've heard many different perspectives on shelf life. now to my understanding, i made quick pickles and i heard those generally last a week or two, but over the past week i've seen they last for 5-7 days only and another person claiming they can last months? i'm just confused and wondering what the shelf life is on my onions. thank you ^-^

I bought some pickled garlic at the store but I'm not loving the flavor. Do you think I can re-pickle them with my own brine and spices?

Salt brine of unknown ratio, used filtered water, pickling carrots and cauliflower chunks. Table salt used. Opened for the first time after coming home from 3 weeks away. Have another identical jar made at same time but it didn't have the white stuff. Is it still ok to eat?

I bought Unico Pickles Vegetables (cauliflower, cucumber, peppers etc in one jar) thinking they'd be delicious. However, they're just vegetables in straight vinegar basically. I was wondering if there was anything I could add to the brine to make it more flavourful?