Topic: Pickling shallots

[Hyacinth]

Which method of prep. gives the crunchiest shallot do you think....wet or dry?

[valmarg]

I've only ever used the wet brine method.  One pint of water to 2 oz salt to one pound of onions, left overnight.  Drained and rinsed next day.  Packed into jars, with malt vinegar, topped with spiced vinegar.  For extra spicieness, add a couple of small dried chillies.

They have stayed crunchy for several years.

valmarg

[jennym]

One refinement of valmarg's method is to chill the brine. Not sure that it makes a huge difference though. I think the best results can be down to the shallots themselves - they really do need to be "cured" before using. I think thats the right term but to explain, they need to be nicely dry, and very firm to start with, I'd say that, like when preparing for storage, they need to be laid out in a dry airy place for at least 3 weeks, longer if possible, before you start to work on pickling them.