Anyone know anything about pickling???

[Needcoffeecoffeecoffee]

Slighy random post but amongst the coronavirus threads this is what mumsnet was all about!

My friend's birthday is coming up and she has mentioned she would like to do some pickling in the future as she has a vegetable garden since a house move.

I have no idea about any of it
What could I get as a birthday present to start her off?
Presumably jars??
Any tips or must haves much appareciated!

Kilner jars would be an excellent present for this.

The ones with the rubber seal are good for pickled items.

Yes, Kilmer jars. Maybe some seasonings or some herb plants she can use as flavourings, woody herbs like thyme or rosemary.

What a lovely gift idea!

I'd get her some pretty jars, kilner jars are nice if the pickles are for the person to keep themselves.

If she going to be giving them away she might want normal screw lidded jars, probably medium to large size.

Pre cut paper lids and bands or string

Pretty variety of stick on labels.

Picking spices

I like to add tie on labels with string around the top with a message when I give things away.

She'll also need a kilner type pincer tongs to lift out the sterilised jars from boiling water. These make the process much safer.

I agree with the jars , get some spare rubber seals too.
How about a recipe book and dried spices , once you have picked the recipe book have a look through it at the type of spices and equipment it says she will need the most and go with the them .

Going against the grain here I do not suggest buying jars. This is because there are various sealing methods and the jars are key to that.

I started pickling and jam making a few years ago.

Lakeland have loads of stuff. I suggest Lakeland vouchers plus a preserving book. Then she can buy what she wants. They sell hot water preserving, kilner and normal jam jars, so plenty to choose from

I use my jam pan to make pickles and the mason jars Lakeland sell. However the hot water method that Balls uses requires a large saucepan that needs to be high enough so that the jars are completely covered. My very large casserole type saucepan fits the 240ml jars and tthe squat 480ml ones but not the taller ones. I now have the proper Balls hot water preserver ( a saucepan with lid the size the BFG would use ) which I ordered from the US and cost a small fortune.
The hot water method is expensive in materials but ultimately pretty foolproof.

I am pretty sure that kilner jars use a different method. Someone will come on here and tell me I am sure . All I know is that you have to replace the seal each time.

I think you put the normal jars in the oven to seal them. However I have found this method not completely foolproof, for these jars.

So essentially there are various ways to proceed and you need the appropriate jars for that method.

Another very useful item common to all methods is a clip on thermometer Which clips to the side of the pan.

I agree with Lakeland vouchers, there are a lot of choices and types of jars etc.

There's a great book called The Modern Preserver which I use quite a bit.

Nothing to add but I wish I was your friend! What a lovely idea and a great present - I third the Lakeland vouchers option, something I would be very chuffed to receive.

As a book idea, I also really like the River Cottage Preserves handbook by Pam Corbin.

I am so interested in ALL of this!

Echo Lakeland vouchers. A jar funnel is a great piece of kit, and a proper jelly bag on a stand - we started off tryng to balance a jelly bag on canes over a clean bin !

Lovely jar covers and labels would make it more 'presenty'.

A maslin pan is a great investment but they can be quite expensive (found mine for £4 in a charity shop, best find ever.)

We use Marguerite Patten's preserving book, don't know if it's still in print but it's very good.

Aldi do lots of preserving stuff in late summer, I got my preserving pan there for about £20 but probably too late for the birthday.

Spiced vinegar.

Extra spices. You can get packets of 'pickling spice' but you can also buy loose spices, black,white and pink peppercorns, corriander seeds and other 'seeded' spices, not powder.

Some flavoured vinegar, onions pickled with pickling vinegar and a glud of raspberry vinegar are fabulous.

A book on pickling.

Any jars, jam jars, mint sauce jars, nutella jars etc. I once got a box full on freecycle, they were left on a door step so you could still do this in lockdown.

Sticky labels for the pickles or pen that writes on glass.

Salt and sugar, salt to dry out the veg before piockling, sugar in case she wants make chutneys.

Big bowl to put brine in over night.

Can you tell I make pickles?

I sterelise the jars and lids in the dishwasher. I have done the hot method @2beesornot2beesthatisthehoneybees mentined but I use smaller jars, mint sauce jars work well for this.

You can also, I believe, use a dishwasher instead of a pan for the hot method.

Vouchers seem a good idea.

Just to point out, there are different kinds of pickling and preserving. It may be worth asking what kind of thing she wants to make.

You can preserve/ferment veg in mild salt water which creates good bugs for digestion.
You can pickle in vinegar.
Or make preserves which add sugar like jams and chutneys.

I think a variety of labels- stick on and tie on luggage types would be good.
Some film lids and waxed discs for chutneys and jams.
Woody flavourings like anise, cinnamon, peppercorns, mustard seeds etc.

Thank you everyone so much!

I am now thinking I will pick some things for my friend and some for me!!

I'm going to reread all your comments with a pen and paper to hand and write a lovely big list!

I'm not sure what sort of pickling she would like to do probably try a few things I guess

I also suggest finding and buying an online class for her so she can learn methods from watching a person to supplant her reading it herself. Watching another person always helps me a great deal. This is a great gift idea. :)

@Needcoffeecoffeecoffee

If you are a newbie at pickling then Delia Smith has a basic recipe for pickled onions. There is no overnight brining so they don't last as long, but will last a few months. It's the second recipe on the link.

britishfoodhistory.com/2018/01/26/two-easy-pickle-recipes/

Thank you sashh i should have checked queen delia straight away!