h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Is ordinary salt (table) OK to use for this recipe - I have seen some recipe's that recommend rock or sea salt rather than refined salt? Thanks

There's a lot of nonsense talked about salt, sometimes. Much of it has to do with some of the snobbery that clings to many topics of food and drink.

In the method in this recipe, the salt is dissolved in boiling water - so the only difference the size of the lumps of salt makes is how long it takes to dissolve it all. But yes, I don't see any reason not to use ordinary table salt.

And welcome to h2g2, by the way.

Did you find your way here through this recipe?

Thanks for your reply to my query & the welcome. Yes I did find my way to this page through the recipe.

I use the cheapest table/cooking salt I can get hold of. As Bomba says, it is dissolved anyway and is purely used to leech out the onion juices. Save the 'posh' rock or sea salt for when you want to impress your friends.

shazzPRME

There is some bad science in this recipe. The solubility of Sodium Chloride (salt) doesn't vary much as the temperature changes so if you want cold brine just stir salt into cold water. Moreover 500g/l is miles too much to dissolve completely. Boiling it will make no difference to the amount that dissolves except that evaporation means that you will end up with less than a litre and you waste a considerable amount of energy.

I am about to try this recipe this week - but am I being dense here or what? If we are talking five kilos of onions surely it would need more than one litre of water - or is that supposed to be just the amount of water to dissolve the salt and then topped up with more water to submerge the onions? Thanks... Gail

Quite agree, go for the lowest price. Pickling Salt is usually used to prevent clouding in some recipes.
When peeling onions if you top and tail them then drop them into very hot water for a minute then into very cold water only the skin you discard will be soft.
Other vegetable pickle recipes calls for boiling water processing for at least five minutes.
How come this one calls for cold pack.
Is it safe and for how long ??