[Emma]

Why have my pickled onions turned blue.
Made using onion, vinegar, black peppercorns, garlic and chilli

I think its the garlic??

Any ideas?

Emma

[Heather_S]

Raw garlic turns blue in the presence of very minute amounts of copper. It's still safe to eat

(edited after i re-looked it up)

[Emma]

must be the jar lid - will use a jar with pastic or glass lid next time

Thanks

[Heather_S]

Apparently it can be caused just by minute traces of copper in your water too.
Only surefire way is to either cook the garlic/blanch it to deactivate the enzyme in the garlic that turns it blue, or use distilled water and no metal in the cooking/canning process.

[muntjac]

the blue like little specks on the onion is copper sulphate and its a very low amount's so small it shouldnt cause any problems , tip i like to use is a bay leaf in each jar ,or a hot chillie if you  growling !! onions