Not 100% sure but my mother in law used to do a lot of picklimg based on...
boil to sterilise (once) then add vinegar herbs spices etc to preserve.She
always said the preserve bit was important.
I am sure sombody more knowledgeable will give more info on this.



"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

"David W.E. Roberts" wrote
gherkin crop is going O.K. so I thought I would look up pickling.

http://www.astray.com/recipes/?search=Pickles has three variants of the
same
recipe and they all take four days of boiling, draining, boiling,
draining
etc.

Is all pickling like this?

I thought you just boiled them up to sterilise them then shoved them in
pickling vinegar!


Some say that about pickling shallots, boil the vinegar etc, why? Just top
and tail, peel and drop into a sterilised jar with spices to taste topping
up with good quality Malt Vinegar, seal and store in a cool dark place
(under the stairs).
Just finished some from two years ago, still good and crisp.
Actually that's a job for the first bad weather day as the shallots are
dry
now.

--
Regards
Bob
in Runnymede, 17miles west of London, UK