Hab's Pickled Eggs

[Habanero Smoker]

You can use regular hardboiled eggs or smoked hardboiled eggs. For pickled eggs my preference is to use regular hardboiled egg, but smoked eggs are good also.

Hab's Pickled Egg Recipe
Ingredients:
4 C. white vinegar (or your favorite vinegar)
1 C. water
½ C. white sugar (super fine works best)
1 (15 ½ or 16 ounce) jar of sliced jalapenos, including liquid
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1-3 Tbs. of Tabasco (depends on your desire for heat)
1 Tbs. pickling salt (1 ½ Tbs. of Kosher salt)
1 tsp. pickling spice

2 dozen hard boiled eggs (peeled)

Equipment:
Sterilized heat resistant jars with lids (preferably canning jars with plastic lids)
Pot holder to hold the hot jars while you screw on the lids.

Directions:
Cut onion in half, lengthwise, then thinly slice. Next coarsely chop the garlic. Add all ingredients, <u><b><i>except eggs</i></b></u>, in a sauce pan. Heat mixture at a high temperature; stirring the ingredients until all the sugar is dissolved, and bring mixture to a boil. Super Fine sugar dissolves much faster then the regular granular sugar. Reduce heat, cover tightly, and simmer for 10 minutes. It may seem like you have a lot of peppers and onions, but after they simmer for 10 minutes, it looks like a lot less.

While ingredients are simmering; place eggs in the sterile jar(s); do not tightly pack the eggs. After ingredients have simmered for 10 minutes, bring back to a boil. Remove from heat, and carefully ladle pickling solution over eggs until eggs are completely covered. Place lid(s) on the jar(s); when cool enough, shake the jars and place them in the refrigerator. Let age for at least 3 days (7 days is better), and shake jar(s) at least once each day. After aging for 7 days, you do not have to bother with shaking the jars. Keep refrigerated.

The eggs will have a greenish color. Don't throw them out. The greenish color is due to the jalapenos.  Serve cold with salts and black pepper to taste, and a few jalapenos and onion slices from the jar. I also like to eat them with a little extra Tabasco sauce.  After pickling the eggs texture changes; it becomes to some extent rubbery (not tough). So if you are making sandwiches it is better to slice the eggs. Place the sliced pieces on bread with mayonnaise, and add some jalapenos and onions

Additional Considerations:
Using smoked eggs will infused the vinegar with a smoky flavor.

If you use distilled white vinegar or cider vinegar the eggs will store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months. If you use rice or wine vinegar, the eggs should be eaten within two weeks.

When ladling the pickling solution into the jars, keep your face out of the vapors. If the vapors rise into your face, you will swear you got hit with pepper spray.

Canning jars make the best jars for storing pickled eggs. A one gallon jar is large enough to hold over two dozen eggs, but I prefer to use quart and pint size jars. If you do use several jars, make sure that each jar has some of the jalapenos, onion, and garlic in it.
-----TIP: if you use several jars you may run a little short of the pickling solution. What I do is gradually pour the pickling solution in each jar so that all jars have the same amount. If you are lucky you have enough pickling solution to cover all the eggs. If not, top off each jar with more vinegar. You just need enough pickling solution to fully cover the eggs.

If you do not like too much heat, you can reduce the amounts or omit the hot peppers and/or Tabasco sauce. Maybe add 1 or 2 teaspoons of peppercorns instead, or not.

[HCT]

Hab's, these eggs are killer! You can't eat just one. :)
I made a few adding the liquid smoke to the pickling solution. They came out great also.

[Habanero Smoker]

HCT;

Thanks!

I'm trying to hold off until after Easter before making some, but I've seen so many post on pickled eggs, I may do a dozen this weekend. I may get brave enough to even add some beets.

[pensrock]

Those sound great Habs. I normally only use beets with the juice plus white vinegar. They come out really good, we eat them with horseradish.
But I'm going to try yours, I love the pepper idea. Have you ever added beets to this recipe? Not sure how beets and penos would come out.
One other question, about how many quart jars will this do? Three?
Thanks,
pens

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi Pens;

I've never added beets or beet juice to my pickled eggs. I agree with you, about the mixture of jalapenos and beets. I use quart jars, and because I make 2 dozen extra large eggs at a time. I generally will put 6 eggs in a jar, so that's four jars. If they are smaller eggs, you will be able to put more in each jar.

[pensrock]

I picked up everything I need so next weekend I'll be making these. hope to be able to keep a couple jars for the first day of trout season the begining of April. I'm not adding beets to this like I do with my regular pickled eggs/beets. I can't wait to try these with the penos in them!

[Mr Walleye]

Habs

I just made a batch of 24. The only thing I did different was I used fresh jalapeños, sliced, and a far bit more garlic (sliced in half the long way).

Now... just the waiting....  ::)  :D

Mike

[Smokin Soon]

Never boiled 2 dozen eggs at once. How big of a pot do you use and whats your formula for boil time?

[Mr Walleye]

SS

That's the first time I ever hard boiled that many as well. I used a 6 quart ( I think) pot for 24 eggs. I just boiled them for 15 minutes, then put the pot in the sink & ran cold water over them too cool them & peel.

Mike

[HCT]

I did 36 in a 8qt. stockpot. Covered them in water, an inch over the eggs and brought them to a boil. Med-hi heat on a electric stove. When they reached a boil I covered them and removed them from heat. Let them sit for 10 minutes, drained then plunged them in ice water. One of those spiders work best for getting the hot eggs out of the hot pot.

[Habanero Smoker]

Mike;
Let me know how they come out. I'm always tinkering with my recipe.

When I make pickled eggs I always make two dozen at a time using an 8 quart stock pot, but have also used a 5.5 Dutch oven, and never had problems. Though it is recommended to only have the eggs in single layer, I have had no problems with two layers. Once and awhile I've gone three layers; but there is a greater chance of the eggs cracking.

With extra large eggs, start with cold water and cover the eggs by one inch. Bring to a boil, cover and remove from the heat. Allow it to sit for 15 minutes, drain and run under cold water, or use ice water. For medium and extra large I will allow them to sit for about 10 and 12 minutes, respectively.

[Mr Walleye]

Habs

We taste tested the pickled eggs tonight and they where fantastic. The fresh jalapeños still had a fair bit of bite but the flavor they added to the eggs was just a nice subtle bit of heat. Really good... 12 of the 24 are gone... along with a couple of whiskeys.  ;)

Mike

[Habanero Smoker]

I'm glad you liked them. I'm still trying to hold off until after Easter, when I get a chance to do my annual harvest of hard boiled eggs.

I was thinking of ways to adjust my recipe, and I came across the following site. The warning of botulism is a downer, so the lesson learned don't pierce the eggs thinking that will help in the pickling process. Anyway there is a recipe for Pineapple Pickled Eggs. The though of Pineapple Pickled Eggs seems almost as strange as adding beets; but I may just try it. ;)

Pickled Eggs

[Mr Walleye]

Thanks for the link Habs!  ;)

Mike

[Oldman]

To funny Hab,

Your original posting was done on September 29, 2005! I don't remember seeing this recipe on the recipe site.

Olds