Second Attempt at Pickled Eggs

 

I've been regrouping after my first attempt at pickled eggs.  They were OK, I suppose, but had too much vinegar.  Rabbit Man had tried to steer me straight, but I still botched them up.  

Boiling the Eggs 

About two weeks ago I bought a box of 60 eggs for the purpose of making a lot of pickled eggs.  Suppose I ruined some of them?  Well, I had a lot more.   So today I decided to hard boil 30 of the eggs, thinking that would be enough for half a gallon,  probably with some to spare.  I had hard boiled eggs in the InstantPot at high pressure for four minutes, then at the "keep warm" setting another four minutes the last time I made them.  They were hard boiled eggs perfection, which was a first for me.   But, after listening to the "influencers" on Youtube, I saw over and over that five minutes was recommended, so five minutes it was.  However, they were not as perfect as the last time at four minutes.  This caused me to puzzle over the variety of advice I've heard on hard boiled eggs.  I think the location you are at makes a difference in how the eggs turn out.  Most people know that altitude makes a big difference.  Well, live and learn.   At five minutes I think they were slightly overcooked.   The riddle of hard boiled eggs has been solved.  

THE BRINE

The brine has been the part of the procedure that I struggled with.  Just as I was hard boiling the eggs,  Rabbit Man called.  "I fixed five dozen pickled eggs this morning!" he said.  "Oh really?"  He asked me where I was with making pickled eggs.  "I was just starting to make them when you called."  It was a strange coincidence, I thought.  He quizzed me about the brine recipe.  Did I still have it?  I did have it, and read it to him.  "OK, that sounds right."  "I'm going to put a can of beets and juice in them."  He had bought me several cans of beets about a year ago, but I misplaced them.  Now I've found them.  His recipe didn't contain sugar, which I didn't plan to use.  But I decided to put some erythritol in.   

I put a can of beets in my half gallon Mason jar.  I decided to cut up two jalapeños and put them in in layers of eggs.  I gathered my spices and salt.  I had decided to boil the brine, and put in two cups of vinegar, two tablespoons of salt, one tablespoon of red pepper flakes, one tablespoon of allspice,  one tablespoon of garlic powder, about one fourth cup of erythritol, and one tablespoon of my secret ingredient, pickling spice.  This I boiled for five minutes. 

Blast Off

I put sixteen eggs in my jar, interspersed with slices of jalapeños, and then poured the brine over the top.  Goodness it smelled wonderful.  This time I think I've got it right.   In about a week they should be ready. 

That was today in Paradise. 

Yippee!!!