[GrannieAnnie]

I thought I would try the brine method for soaking my shallots.  Don't usually bother as when I did them with salt before they were soft.

However, using ordinary cooking salt, but it won't dissolve.  Tried boiling it slowly and tried quick boil then turn down heat, but its still there and when cools down gets a thin coating on top like ice.

What am I doing wrong?

[DD.]

Using too much salt?

You could well have reached what they call the saturation point, beyond which more salt won't dissolve.

Heating the water will make more dissolve, but this will come out of the solution once it cools.

[GrannieAnnie]

I did 1lb salt to 2.5 pints water like it said in Val's book, so shouldn't be too much as she usually knows what she's talking about!  

[DD.]

There is no scientific reason why a quantity of salt below the saturation level, will not dissolve! 

[GrannieAnnie]

So you are saying that my salt is unscientific???   

It's ordinary cooking salt, that should be okay shouldn't it?  Doesn't need any expensive rock salt or anything?

[DD.]

Salt is basically salt - sodium chloride - NaCl, whatever form it comes in shouldn't stop it dissolving, especially if it's cooking salt!

[Trillium]

Could it be that you're using table salt with iodine rather than canning/pickling salt? Table salt
often contains additives for free flowing and other nonsense and this might be interfering with it dissolving.

[Madame Cholet]

could it be affected by how may chemicals are in your water ie the strength of the chlorine in the water?

[DD.]

There would have to be one heck of a lot of chemicals already dissolved in the water to stop anything else dissolving.

Typically in the UK the residue of chlorine is 0.5 mg/litre. Val's recipe of 460g/litre of salt = 3.2g/litre is 640 times the strength of the chlorine - sufficient enough as to make it insignificant.

Trillium - GA said she's using ordinary cooking salt.

[Mrs Bee]

If you are having trouble with the salt dissolving you could layer the shallots with dry salt instead.

[Trillium]

Trillium - GA said she's using ordinary cooking salt.

True, DD, but I'm amazed at how many people consider table salt as 'ordinary cooking' salt, or grab it by mistake in a hurry.

[DD.]

Not GA, surely?!

[GrannieAnnie]

     I know I get a bit dizzy at times, but the words COOKING SALT on the packet gave it away I think!   

It was adding the dry salt in the past that I found my onions were soft Mrs B.  But I probably did it wrong!

This afternoon I boiled the kettle and added the contents to a jug with salt in and the blooming stuff dissolved straight away!    So more pickled onions in a couple of days!

But thank you all for your help!!  xx

[Lawrence]

This was something I didn't know exactly off the top of my head, so I looked it up, it turns out that 100% brine solution for  2 1/2 pints of water takes 1.1 pounds of Salt which is 500g.
Any more salt or any less water than that and it won't dissolve.

[Mrs Bee]

  I know I get a bit dizzy at times, but the words COOKING SALT on the packet gave it away I think!    

It was adding the dry salt in the past that I found my onions were soft Mrs B.  But I probably did it wrong!

I am sure you weren't doing it wrong Grannie, I think sometimes it can be the shallots or onions.
I have had varying results with the same method.

Think I am going to try Cheshire Cheese's recipe this year. That looked really good.

Edited to put reply outside quote