Bob Hobden wrote:
Tony wrote

Jeanne Stockdale wrote:
Our shallots are ready for lifting - I will be pickling them. Should I
leave
them to dry out first or not?

Jeanne Stockdale
I usually dry the mon a slatted table outside if the weather is good or
on a bench ( on newspaper) in my garage if the weather is wet.One to
two weeks is about right.
However drying is not absolutely essential. If the weather is good put
on the marigolds and start peeling. I strongly advocate salting the
shallots for twenty four hours before washing and adding the vinegar
although there was some discussion about this last year.

I've asked this question before but never got a proper answer...Why do you
salt them and then wash them? ( i.e. add the dreaded salt and then wash most
of it off with chlorinated tapwater)
We do neither and even two year old pickled shallots are still crisp, so
that's not the reason.
So why do you do this, what's the theory behind it?

I suspect the commercial firms do it to quicken the pickling process but
that's not a valid reason for us to do it, we can simply wait and get
uncontaminated food.

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London
I salt them to keep them crisp when pickled.
If it works for you without salting, fine. I am not prepared to take
the chance of losing about twenty to thirty pounds of pickled shallots.
In any case if you wash off the salt how can it hurt you?
As it happens I eat a lot of salt and my blood pressure is normal,
although if it were high from another cause, I would probably have to
moderate my intake.
As for chlorine it is a gas which damages the lungs and dissipates from
tap water fairly rapidly.I would rather have chlorine than cholera or
typhoid. Everything in moderation is my motto as many things we eat and
dring are bad for us when taken in excess.
I would rather h