Pickled eggs

After you pickled your eggs did you seal them? I didn’t know you could do that, could you please share that info, how long etc.? I use a pressure cooker, but I could also do a bath if I had to.

Cheryl Haven
Ketchikan, Alaska

Yes, I processed them in a boiling water bath canner for 25 minutes. Some recipes call for only 10 minutes, but most I have call for 25 minutes, so that’s what I use. You don’t need a pressure canner for pickled eggs. — Jackie

My family really likes pickled eggs, but I have never seen any info on the loss or not of the food value of the egg itself. Have you ever run across info on the effect of vinegar on the food value? I know with regular “pickles” one has to watch the salt intake.

Linda Leach
Billings, Montana

I don’t know for certain, but I’d suspect there is no loss of food value in pickled eggs. The reason one has to watch salt in some pickles is that some have salt as an ingredient and others are soaked overnight in a salt brine to draw off excess juice and crisp up the pickles. If you want to make pickled eggs with no salt, you can certainly do that; the salt does nothing to preserve the eggs. It’s only a flavor enhancer. — Jackie

Onions from seeds and pickled egg recipe

Oh, your plants look wonderful. Do you start onions from seed? I get them going then some of them die. Is it because I put them in too cool an area? Do I need to fertilize them? To me they look a little pale since I tried them in the outdoor greenhouse. They now live back with us in the house since the weather changed. I too have a stand like you do. Best $15 I ever spent lately.

I also would like to know your recipe for the pickled eggs? I have eggs coming out of my ears right now and not a lot of people need them right now so I have to do something with them!

Cindy Hills
Wild Rose, Wisconsin

Yes, we start onions from seed. I’ve got a double batch of Copra seedlings right now. What are you using for seed starting? I used Miracle Gro several years back and had extremely poor luck; yellow plants, poor germination, etc. Now I’m using Pro-Mix which I get from our local greenhouse and it’s really worth the money! Of course, good old black garden soil is just as good if you sterilize it by heating it in your oven to kill weed seeds and bacteria. Too cool a growing area will make onion seedlings kind of stand still. Be sure they’re getting plenty of light. That’s the most common cause for pale, spindly seedlings of all kinds.

My recipe for pickling eggs (also found in my book, Growing and Canning your Own Food, is as follows:
18 whole, hardboiled, peeled eggs
1½ quarts white vinegar
2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. whole allspice
1 Tbsp. mixed pickling spices

Mix vinegar with spices and salt. Bring to a boil. Pack whole, peeled, hardboiled eggs into hot, sterilized jar, leaving ½ inch of headspace. Ladle boiling pickling solution over eggs, leaving ½ inch of headspace. Be sure to cover eggs. Remove air bubbles. Process for 25 minutes in a boiling water bath canner. Never let unsealed pickled eggs sit out at room temperature. You risk danger from botulism and other bacterial diseases.

This year, I’ve also added about 2 Tbsp. spiced vinegar from my hot pepper rings to give the pickled eggs a little “punch,” just using the juice from an open, refrigerated jar of pickled hot pepper rings.

I use these pickled eggs for deviled eggs and egg salad, especially during the winter when eggs are a little scarce. — Jackie