Pickled Red Onion

Just a quick post to give you the recipe that I was thought delish from Heather. It's a great jar of Pickled Red Onion which she said goes great with a fresh loaf of bread and a fantastic cheese. I think this would be great on burgers, bratwurst, and even a grilled cheese sandwich!

Thank you so much Heather for the recipe and picture to share with the site. Enjoy!

Pickled Red Onions

3 cups white vinegar
1 cup white sugar
3 T pickling salt
4 pounds of red onions, thinly sliced
2 t whole allspice
2 t mustard seeds
8 bay leaves
8 sprigs of thyme

Preparation: Prepare 7-8 half pint jars, lids, and rings. Sterilize the jars and keep them in the hot water till its time for processing. Make sure to fill your water bath canner and get the water to a simmer. Thinly slice the onions and set aside. 

Cooking: In a large stainless steel combine vinegar, sugar and salt and bring to a boil, simmer until sugar and salt are dissolved. Add sliced onions to mixture and reduce heat, simmer uncovered, for 5 minutes. Do not let onions get to soft.  Remove from heat.

Filling the jars:  On a dishtowel place your hot jars and using your funnel in each jar using a ladle then fill each jar with:1/4 t allspice berries, 1/4 t mustard seed, 1 bay leaf and 1 sprig of thyme. Transfer onions into each jar and top with the hot vinegar liquid allowing 1/2" head space.  Remove air bubbles and refill to the proper headspace with the mixture if necessary. Taking a clean papertowel wet it with warm water and wipe the rims of the jars removing any food particles that would interfere with a good seal. Using your magic wand extract the lids from the hot water and place them on the now cleaned rims. Add your rings to the tops of each of the jars and turn to seal just "finger tight". 

Processing: Make sure your rack is on the bottom of the canner and place the jars in the water bath making sure that the water covers each of the jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add hot water to the canner if it doesn't measure up. Cover the pot and turn up the heat under the canner and wait for the water to start boiling. Once the water has come to a boil start your timer for 15 minutes. When complete turn off the heat and remove the cover and let the jars sit for another few minutes. Remove the jars and place them back on the dishtowel in a place that they will sit overnight to cool. Do not touch or move them till the next morning.

Sealing: Some time in the next hour your jars will be making a "pinging" or "popping" noise. That is the glass cooling and the reaction of the lids being sucked into the jar for proper sealing. Some recipes may take overnight to seal. Check your lids and reprocess any jars that did not seal.

Labeling: Make sure to label your jars after they have cooled with the name of the recipe and the date canned. If you want to use the shrink labels in the picture you can order them Here!