Brown pickled cauli?

[piskieinboots]

In Feb I pickled a load of caulis, they were really good condition, tight and lovely and white - but they have gone brown and softish.

Any ideas how I can improve so they stay crunchy and white?

[zazen999]

I pickled some shallots and they went all weird, with spots on the surface. Quite disheartened as I followed the destructions on t'internet.

[piskieinboots]

I'm about to do shallots tomorrow and marrow and achocha

[zazen999]

I hate wasting hard grown shallots, so won't be doing that again.

[SarzWix]

Did you salt it overnight before pickling?

[zazen999]

Mine were, what about Boots over there?

[SarzWix]

I know if you don't salt things enough/long enough it doesn't draw enough moisture out, the excess moisture dilutes the acidity of the vinegar and affects the keeping qualities.

The other thing is having the vinegar right up to the top of the jar, even if the contents don't fill the jar. I'm not sure why that makes any difference but it seems to

And some pickled things don't last as long as others anyway. I'm sure one of my books says something about it, but I've been through 4 so far and still haven't found it...

[piskieinboots]

boots did, indeed, salt overnight

Not sure if you remember me wailing about all this white crusty stuff on the outside of my pickled cauli jars? These are they/those.

Would that have anything to do with it?

[SarzWix]

I had something similar with one of my jars of beetroot, and I'm still not too sure what went wrong... The white stuff was on the inside of the jar though.

I'll keep looking for the book with the decent pickling info

[Snadger]

Don't pickles that are pickled in clear vinegar keep their colour better if kept away from sunlight i.e. in a dark cupboard or fridge?

[piskieinboots]

my cauli has been kept in a cupboard, there is deffo no sun in there - well, not when I open the cupboard anyway

[Hilary B]

Was it proper pickling vinegar?
If you added the pickling spice yourself, did you heat it?
Did you rinse off the salt QUICKLY and DRY the ingredient before adding to vinegar?
'Table' vinegar is sometimes only 3% acid. Pickling vinegar should be 6%.
If you heat it, the acid boils away more readily than the water (there is a particular strength of vinegar which will remain the same when boiled, but I suspect this is less acid than ideal for pickling).
If you wash the salt off too slowly, the vegetable may absorb back some of the water the salt removed.
Any of these could cause the vinegar to be too weak for keeping.

[Snadger]

So do we have an answer to this............how to keep the vinegar clear and the pickles naturally coloured?

[SarzWix]

Errrr.... No, not yet I don't think Snadge

According to Nick Sadler/Johnny Acton in the Preserved book, you don't rinse onions after salting them, just drain the liquid off and stick them in the vinegar with some added sugar...

[piskieinboots]

*jumps to attention

Was it proper pickling vinegar?
Sir yes Sir
If you added the pickling spice yourself, did you heat it?
No spice used Sir
Did you rinse off the salt QUICKLY and DRY the ingredient before adding to vinegar?
I can't remember how fast the water was running Sir

'Table' vinegar is sometimes only 3% acid. Pickling vinegar should be 6%.
If you heat it, the acid boils away more readily than the water (there is a particular strength of vinegar which will remain the same when boiled, but I suspect this is less acid than ideal for pickling).
If you wash the salt off too slowly, the vegetable may absorb back some of the water the salt removed.
Any of these could cause the vinegar to be too weak for keeping.

seriously tho, thanks Hilary