The 14 Biggest Mistakes You're Making When Pickling Eggs

There's a pickle revolution happening, and everyone's along for the ride. While pickles in their various forms have been around for thousands of years, the food preparation and storage method has recently seen a renaissance. Lately, seemingly every menu has the sharp taste of pickled cucumbers, kimchi, or sauerkraut. Given that these pickled foods often have health benefits and unique tastes, we understand why people love them.

Although certain pickles are wildly popular, there's one pickled foodstuff we think is pretty underrated: pickled eggs. Made by soaking hardboiled eggs in brine, pickled eggs are more often seen in bars than on haute-cuisine menus. But they're a seriously tasty food, combining the creaminess of eggs with the sharpness of vinegar and salt and supplying nutrients like protein.

If you're feeling a little dubious about the dustiness of the pickled egg jar in your local dive bar, you can make them at home. If you know the right way to do it, that is. It's surprisingly easy to get pickled eggs wrong, and we thought it was about time to get rid of some common mistakes, once and for all.

Given that pickled eggs are about, well, the eggs, you'll need a quality product. But it's all too easy to use an egg that's past its prime. However, it can be difficult to tell if an egg is bad, leading to an increased risk of resulting in an unsafe batch of food.

To start, it's useful to know how long eggs last in the fridge. Eggs are surprisingly resilient food items. Past their sell-by date, eggs are good to eat for up to a month. Keeping eggs in the refrigerator, particularly tucked in the coldest parts, will keep them fresh for longer. Leaving them out at room temperature, on the other hand, will cause them to perish more quickly.

If you wanted to check whether your eggs are still good, you'll need to place your eggs in a large bowl of water. When eggs float, it means they've gone bad. They've become buoyant because bacteria have produced gas inside the shell. If your egg sinks to the bottom, though, you should be good to go ahead and cook it.

Pickling any food requires a perfect balance of salt and vinegar. But there can be a temptation to just throw any old salt you find into your jar, and hope for the best. Unfortunately, not all salt works in the same way: The type of salt you use can have a serious effect on the quality of your pickled eggs.

When pickling eggs, you should avoid using table salt. While iodized table salt can, in theory, pickle your foods as effectively as other salts, it can also contain additives that can change the color of your pickling mixture and pickled eggs. You may end up with a cloudy brine, which won't exactly make you excited to dive into the jar when you're hungry.

So what salt should you use? If you're serious about your pickling, you might want to invest in canning salt. Canning salt (or pickling salt) is specially formulated to remove any additives that could affect the taste or look of your pickled items. Kosher salt can also be a good option, provided that it has no additives.

If you're a big fan of pickles (and honestly, who isn't?), you might be thinking of ways to get more bang for your buck. If you're whipping up a batch of pickled eggs, it makes sense to throw your cucumbers, carrots, or whatever other vegetables you're using in there too. After all, that pickling brine has to be put to good use, right?

We highly recommend you keep them separate. Before pickling different items in the same jar it's important to remember that each item will pickle at a different rate. Some items are way more soft and porous and deteriorate faster. You can end up in a situation where your pickled eggs are done way after your other veggies: This may just render those vegetables too mushy.

There's also flavor to consider. Some vegetables, like onions, have a particularly pronounced taste, and this will bleed into your eggs. Conversely, eggs have a fairly bold flavor in their own right and could affect any vegetables you have tucked in there with them. It's far better to keep everything separate and enjoy the flavors of each item.

There's an art to pickling. While you might fancy yourself as a bit of a kitchen pro, if you're not following a recipe and using appropriate equipment, you're setting yourself up for failure.

Freestyling your measurements can leave you with a strange-tasting result or poorly pickled eggs. To play it safe, follow a Classic Pickled Eggs Recipe. Remember that your ratio of vinegar to salt is important and avoid overpowering either ingredient into your mixture. Some recipes also call for cutting the pickling brine with water, which will remove some intensity.

Additionally, while you may be tempted to add in as many spices as possible, use them sparingly when you're first learning how to pickle eggs. For ten eggs, you may only need a few bay leaves, a couple of sprigs of herbs, and maybe some garlic. When it comes to the powerful taste of spices, a little goes a long way.

The pickling process involves warming up your pickling jars to usher in the necessary changes in taste. But one fatal mistake involves trying to drop the temperature of the jars again as quickly as possible. As Healthy Canning states, it's essential to avoid the temptation to do so.

When you're warming up your pickled products, the heat kills off any bacteria present in the food. But some bacteria can remain once you've finished the water bath process. The gradual cool-down process allows that bacteria to be destroyed, further increasing the safety of your food. When you try and speed it up, you just make your food more likely to harbor microbes.

Instead, allow the cans to do their thing. After you turn the heat off, leave your jars in the hot water for five minutes or so. Leave them to cool somewhere that's consistently room temperature, with no breeze or drafts. Ideally, you should let your jars cool for a minimum of 12 hours. For best results, leave them to cool for a full day. Then, place them in the refrigerator.

Once you make pickled eggs, you'll want to savor them. But if you're not storing them correctly, you could have to throw them out quickly. How you store your pickled eggs determines their shelf life. Direct sunlight, higher heat, and improper sealing will all affect how long your food lasts.

Pay attention to how you should store your pickles. It's advisable to keep your pickled eggs in the fridge, and only remove them to eat, says the National Center for Home Food Preservation. If you haven't yet opened your pickled eggs, it could be okay to keep them in a cool and dark pantry. Whenever you open the jar to take one out, make sure that the lid is screwed on as tightly as possible again. Remember, if you see any signs of spoilage, or smell anything particularly unusual, don't take chances on eating it — especially if you've been storing it in a warm place.

If you've made a killer batch of pickled eggs, and you're nearing the bottom of the jar, you might be wondering what to do with the brine. It can be tempting to pour it into your next batch of eggs. After all, it worked so well the first time, so why not save on waste and reuse it?

Well, like all other foods, pickled egg juice is prone to deterioration. Once you've used it, it's better to throw it out and start anew. If you're not in the habit of wasting food (which we very much respect), you can also put your pickle juice to good use elsewhere. As Clemson Cooperative Extension Home & Garden Center states, pickled egg brine can be a good addition to coleslaw, or sauces that need a little extra zip. If you're making egg salad, adding in some pickled egg juice can also amp up the flavor. Try adding a tablespoon or two of pickle juice in place of vinegar. Remember, though, that if your brine shows any sign of spoilage, it should be thrown away immediately.