Pickled Eggs

Pickled eggs are one of those things that I really like for about 2 weeks at a time. Then I go on a break of 6 - 12 months where I don't think about them at all.

I just finished the last egg from a store bought jar that was too vinegar-y and was thinking that I should make my own pickling juice for the next batch of eggs. Anyone have any recipes they are willing to share?

I havent a recipe, but your intermittent craving reminds me of my love affair for braunschwieger. Every now and then I just gotta have it. Must be the German blood.

You came to the right place. I pickle eggs about once a year. When I make them I develope a physical dependance on them and consume them at a most dangerous rate.

Pickled Eggs Icedog Style

What you'll need:

4 doz large eggs
4 cups white vinegar
4 cups cider vinegar
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 jar pickling spices
3 jalepeno or serrano chiles sliced into thin rings, seeds and all
2 large, sweet onions peeled and sliced thinly(Vidalias are just about to arrive and they are the best!)
1 cup fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced very thin
8 whole cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed with the side of a broad knife
A gallon jar with a resealable lid or equivilent ( I used to have a gallon jar but I lost it somehow so now I use a tall "tupperware" type container that is large enough to hold all the eggs I want to pickle. A gallon sealable pitcher works nicely too.)


Cooking the eggs:

I make four dozen eggs at a time. I leave the eggs out of the refrigerator for twenty four hours when I bring them home from the store (this makes them very easy to peel). I put them in my biggest pot so they are as close to a single layer in the pot as possible and add cold water until they are all at least an inch underwater. I put the pot (covered) over high heat and once the water boils I start a timer for eight minutes. Once the eggs have boiled for eight minutes I shut off the heat but leave the eggs in the water covered on the stove for another minute or two. Then the pot goes in the sink and cold water runs into it for about ten minutes to cool the eggs and stop the cooking. Once cold, the eggs should peel easily and the yolks should be nicely cooked through but creamy, not too hard and crumbly (in my opinion, most cookbooks and people cook their eggs too long).

The Brine:

Put four cups of white vinegar, four cups of cider vinegar and two cups water in a stainless steel saucepan on high heat. Stir in a cup of sugar and a jar of pickling spices(one of those four inch tall jars of McCormick they sell at Stop and Shop) and bring it to a boil. Although it may smell very interesting, don't be tempted to stick your nose over the pot and take a whiff. The fumes from boiling vinegar can ruin your day. Once it boils, shut off the heat.

Packing the jar:

Layers, layers, layers! Start with some onion on the bottom. Drop in a clove of garlic, a few slices of ginger and some of the sliced pepper. Place in a layer of eggs. Cover with onion, garlic, ginger and pepper. Another layer of eggs then cover with onion, ginger, garlic and pepper. Keep this up until you run out of eggs or the jar is filled to the top. The top layer of eggs should be covered with a layer of onion, ginger, garlic and pepper. You want to judge how much of the stuff will be between each layer of eggs so it will be evenly distributed through the jar.

Pickling the eggs:

Place the packed jar in the sink and carefully pour your brine in until full to the rim. Dump the remainder of the brine down the drain but save the pickling spices and put in the jar. Put the lid tightly on the full jar and clean the outside of the jar. Dry the jar and stick in the refrigerator ( in the very back so you can't see them is best. Otherwise the eggs will talk to you every time you open the fridge asking you to eat them). Whether they talk to you or not, ignore the eggs for five days before testing.

Testing for pickledness:
Once five days has lapsed, remove the jar from the fridge. Open the jar and using a fork, tongs or some other suitable implement (it is only allowable to use your clean fingers if you are home alone), remove one egg from the jar. Eat the egg. If you like it, rejoice for you have 47 more to eat and they will get better each day. If you don't like it, you apparently don't like pickled eggs and you must figure out why you made so much of something you don't want.

Keep them refrigerated. I have no idea how long they'll keep in the fridge because I don't keep them long enough to find out.

I not only eat them just the way they come out the jar. I put various seasonings on them, like celery salt, black pepper, chipoltle chili powder, Tabasco Sauce, soy sauce, ponzu, curry powder, adobo, etc. Have fun!

Do you have a non sweetened recipe? I never did like any type of pickle that was sweet.
I suppose I could leave out the sugar and follow the rest of your recipe but I have no experience in pickling eggs so I have no basis to know what the flavor will be like without the sugar

I added the sugar because Scarlett was griping about the eggs being too tart. She still complained. I added a can of sliced beets and their juice and she was okay. I'd say the sugar doesn't make the eggs sweet. However, you can omit the sugar and it will be fine. If you want them still more tart, leave out the water and go with straight vinegars.

It is interesting to research this topic online. The recipes are all very similar but the time required for the pickling to occur is oddly inconsistent. Here's one that is only overnight: Cooks.com - Recipe - Pickled Eggs And Onions

Here's one that makes you wait a full month!

Pickled eggs with ginger


Ingredients

• 16 hard-boiled eggs (see our section on how to boil an egg)
• 2 pints (1.1 l) of vinegar (malt or cider)
• ½ oz (15g) of ginger
• ½ oz (15g) of black pepper
• ½ oz (15g) of allspice

Method

1. Whilst the cooked boiled eggs are cooling, prepare the pickling liquid.
2. Place all of the ingredients into a medium sized [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]saucepan[/COLOR][/COLOR], stir them together and heat to boiling.
3. Once the liquid reaches boiling point, reduce the heat and let the liquid simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Remove from the heat and leave to cool to room temperature.
5. Meanwhile, place the peeled hard-boiled eggs into a very clean large jar.
6. Once the pickling solution has cooled, pour it over the eggs in the jar and seal the jar tightly with the lid.
7. Store the jar in a cool and dark cupboard for at least a month. The eggs will be ready to eat after this time.

The simplest way is to put your boiled eggs into a pickle jar that has had dill pickles. Just fill it up with eggs. My recipe that I use is an excellent one.

12 boiled eggs
1/2 White vinegar & 1/2 Water
1 Tablespoon of "Mrs Wages Kosher Dill Pickle Spice"
1 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
4 Cloves Garlic Chopped

Put in a quart jar and put in the refrigerator for at least one week. Two weeks are better for the vegetables.

"Mrs Wages" comes in an envelope type package and usually found in the canning section of your grocery store. This recipe is also good for other things such as fresh Green Beans, Small Baby Corn, Asparagus and other vegetables. The small Baby corn comes in a normal size can. Just drain the water and dump the corn in the jar. The Red Pepper Flakes are for the heat and optional. This recipe is also good for canning cucumbers to make dill pickles but you have to do the canning procedure with the boiling etc.

bj

There used to be a really good recipe on an old .edu site that I can't find now, all the edu ones that are turning up on google aren't it. Anyway, I can give you a list of ingredients and some general info I use when I make them. I haven't made them in a year or so, but I just kind of put stuff together and they turn out pretty well. I like spicy food, so these are spicy. If you don't like spicy then just cut back or don't use the stuff like cayenne... though I have no idea how they would turn out if you cut out all the spicy stuff.

White vinegar and cider vinegar, use 50% vinegar or less and 50% or more water. Too much vinegar and the eggs get rubbery. Cider has more flavor, but it can be too strong.

cayenne
garlic powder
onion powder
paprika
onions
garlic
salt
jalapenos or other fresh peppers
bottled jalapenos
if you're really, really brave, a habanero
chipolte powder
a little red curry powder
fresh crushed black pepper
bay leaves
maybe a little soy and Worcestershire

You just dump all the stuff in the vinegar and boil it for an hour or two. You'll want to do it in a ventilated kitchen. As far as the amounts go, I just play it by ear, I'd guess a couple tea spoons of the spices for a gallon of liquid. You don't have to have all that stuff, or you can sub other spices (like pepper flakes for cayenne-though they're more heat and less flavor) I usually boil about half the peppers, and put the other half in there without boiling. I also do something similar with the garlic and onion. I added an habanero once to a batch, the eggs were pretty hot. I think I was the only one that could eat them. After boiling you put the mixture in the jar over the eggs and add the water, let it sit for a couple weeks. You can add cauliflower too, it pickles pretty well, and only takes a day or two to get the flavors. You can actually use the cauliflower to judge if its too hot, if the cauliflower is too hot for you after pickling a couple days then dump out some of the liquid and add water.

Ok, I found the site, its not as good as I remember, but it'll give you an idea of quantities to use

Alumni Relations, Pickled Egg Recipes

Ha! I just finished a jar of homemade pickled eggs and actually thought about posting about pickled eggs last week!

I'm more of an add a little of this and a little of that kind of cook. I'm going to try Brad's recipe. Thanks Brad.

For that last batch, I hard boiled about 10 and boiled some white vinegar, water, a generous amount of Tabasco Habenero sauce, some crushed red pepper, whole peppercorns, 3 bay leaves and some shallot salt. I would have put a ton of whole peeled garlic cloves in as well but was too lazy this time. Mmmmm.....crunchy whole pickled garlic cloves. I added too much vinegar on this batch. Don't get me wrong, I finished the whole jar and enjoyed it, but a bit too tart. My wife hates the smell when I crack open the jar. Imagine that. She doesn't like the smell of roadkill skunk either which I think is pleasant so go figure.

Chris L

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ChrisL

I'm more of an add a little of this and a little of that kind of cook. I'm going to try Brad's recipe. Thanks Brad.
Chris L

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Chris,

You are very welcome!

Brad

Quote:

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Originally Posted by icedog

Keep them refrigerated. I have no idea how long they'll keep in the fridge because I don't keep them long enough to find out.

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They can last at almost a year.
My Mom makes me a gallon of eggs every year for Christmas (She loves me).
I hoard them jealously (the kids can look but not touch). Usually I finish the last one by the first week in December so I can give the empty (subtle hint) jar back.
I will try some of these recipes soon.
This is a Great thread! THANK YOU!!