Mustard Onion Pickles

In October of 2022, Bill Hettig, the creator of the original Perfect Pickler released his Onion Pickle Master Class, where one of the recipes in it was the Mustard Onion Pickles. We will be making this ferment today.

Recipe makes 1 quart

Ingredients needed:

• 4 cups of thinly sliced onion, sliced pole to pole. See above
• 1 tablespoon of dried yellow mustard.
• 1 teaspoon of dried turmeric.
• 2 cups of filtered water, and 1 tablespoon of Pure Sea Salt for the brine.

Optional Additions:

• Bill found a great addition, Potato Chips!
  Potato chips – 1/2 cup ground to yield 2 tablespoons.
• 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika.
• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder.
• 1 teaspoon of wasabi powder – reduce dry mustard by 1 teaspoon.
• If you have leftover dill pickle brine, you may add that to the ferment before adding your newly made brine.

Directions:

1. Peel your onions and slice them into quarters down the poles, then cut into thin slices down each quarter rather than across. Measure out 4 cups of your sliced onions.
2. Add your newly sliced onions and your chosen spices from the ingredients list to a mixing bowl. Stir until well mixed.

   

3. Fill a quart jar with your onion mix, tamping lightly as you fill. Keep filling until about 2 inches from the jar lip.
4. To make your salt water brine, mix 2 cups of filtered water with 1 tablespoon of Pure Sea Salt. Stir well until all the salt is dissolved.
5. Pour your brine over the onions in the jar, filling until about 1 inch from the jar lip.

   

6. Use some sort of weighty object to hold the onions under the brine solution. Be sure to place the jar in your sink as you do this as there is sure to be spillage. We sell our brine overflow cup as a weight here: Brine “Catch” Cup – Wide Mouth
7. Remove the cup and wipe any debris on the lip of the cup and the jar, then put the cup back in. Install a Lid Gasket inside a Wide Mouth Fermenter Lid. Tighten the lid until its snug.
8. Add tap water to a ClearView Airlock to the max line. Now gently insert the airlock into the hole of the fermenter lid until snug. Make sure not to push too deeply into the lid. As the fermentation happens, the water should move back and forth, and bubbles should move through the airlock, this is correct and indicates a tight seal.

   

9. Write down the date you began fermentation on the lid using a Lid Marking Pen. After 4 days, check to see if the onions are sour enough for you. If they are not, just add a day and re-check.

Be sure to check out our website to pick up your own Vegetable Fermentation Kit, which has all the parts shown in this recipe, as well as many included, additional recipes to try!

I would also highly advise taking a look at the rest of Bill Hettig’s Onion Pickle Masterclass if you enjoyed this recipe!