Brining is a method of soaking foods in salt water prior to cooking or pickling. Dry brining onions involves allowing them to sit overnight in salt alone, which draws the moisture out and makes the onions crunchier than with wet brining. You can pickle bite-sized onions whole, or you can cut larger onions into chunks for thinner pickles. Use sweet onions for pickling. Purple onions are stronger and will tint your pickles.
Instructions
1. Rinse and remove the outer skins from the onions. Cut the large onions into large, coarse chunks or chips and add them to the ceramic bowl. Or, add pickling onions directly to the bowl.
2. Pour one cup of sea salt over the onions. Stir the onions with your hands until they are evenly coated with the salt.
3. Cover the bowl with the cheesecloth and set it in a safe place, such as a cupboard, for 24 hours.
4. Dump the onions into the cheesecloth and run them under cold water to rinse and remove all the salt.
5. Pour the onions onto a dry towel and pat away as much moisture as possible. Pickle the onions according to your favorite recipe.
Tags: onions into