Pickled onions

Hello

I made some pickled onions today, but think I might have done it wrong! I'd appreciate some help from anyone who's done it before.

I went by this recipe: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A655535

And it said to soak the onions in brine for 'at least 24 hours'. I left them for 48 hours as I thought that this wouldn't do them any harm (they didn't give an upper limit!). But when I picked them out of the brine today to put them in the jars, they'd gone soft and squishy. They didn't look very good but I've poured my spiced vinegar on them anyway and put them in the cupboard.

Can anyone tell me - did I soak them in brine for too long? Have I ruined them? Will they be inedible? I'd be absolutely gutted if this was the case because I grew these onions from seed (Paris Silverskin) and they were beautiful when they came out of the ground. :(

I'm guessing that it's not normal for onions to be soft when they come out of the brine - I thought that brining was supposed to make them more crispy.

Any advice welcome!

Paddy

 

I'd say the onions went soft because the brine is used to draw the moisture out of the onions (moisture which is re-absorbed when they go into the vinegar of course) and thus, you've drawn all the moisture out leaving them without a sufficient water content to support the cell structure, so they've collapsed.

They probably won't be totally inedible but they may be softer than would otherwise have been the case and, depending on how spiced your vinegar (and how much of it they re-absorb), they may be hot enough to blow your head off!

Normally you'd want to leave them a couple of months to 'mature' (again re-absorbing liquid) before eating, but in this case I'd give them a month or so and open one jar to see how they're getting on.

It's of no help now I know - but since I don't like really hot, spicy onions I don't leave mine in the brine for more than about 12 hours and rinse them really well when I take them out - brine solution on the outside forms an invisible 'crust' and stops the onions absorbing the vinegar.

 

Hi

We sprinkle salt over the onions and give them a little stir now and again and leave for 24 hours then bottle and add vinegar they have allways turned out nice and crispy.

 

I have just been looking for a recipe and spotted a James Martin recipe for pickled onions, he give 2 methods hot/cold the hot suggests cooking them for a time, the cold says soak in brine for 3 days , he swears they are the best pickled onions of his grans recipe