Hi all,

I have recently made a wonderful chilli pickle using fresh green chillis, mustard seeds, lemon juice etc etc. It is oil based and I was wondering how long it may keep, once opened in the fridge?

Any pointers?

Many thanks!

PS : Love this site - the recipes are FANTASTIC!!!

Hello James

If you followed the sterilisation rules and your chillies were dry, it should keep for a year or longer. My last one, which I made about 4 months ago, is just about gone now and it sits on my kitchen window sill. Always use a dry spoon to take the pickle out. If in doubt, keep it in the fridge.

I am glad you like the site :-)

Mamta

James,

Mamta's note about ensuring the chillies are dry is very imporatant, not only for chillies, but for other veg. As it is to be covered in oil (excluding the air), if not sterilized effectively, there is the possibility of great danger lurking in the jar!

Following on another query. I've never kept pickles in the 'fridge since I put them in and they started to grow mould.

Alternatively just keeping them on a kitchen shelf they have kept for years, although as Lapis suggests 'to keep the air out' I might sometimes add a few teaspoons of the preserving agent ( be it oil or vinegar) to ensure the original ingredients are always covered.

Aren't we pickling to avoid refrigeration!

As a general rule, I too do not keep my pickles in the fridge. However, the seasonal vegetable ones, where oil content is low and I am not 100% sure, do go in the fridge, once opened.

If pickles are covered in oil/vinegar, that usually keeps them well, especially if you follow the sterilisation rules. Lemon/mango, chilli type of pickles last a long time, I have some that are more than 10 years old and they live in a kitchen cupboard. In India, old lemon pickle is prized, older the better.

Mamta

Oh good Lord !!! lemon pickle more than 10 years old, that must be something.

if it grew mould in the fridge, it would have grown it out of the fridge, the cold is irrelevant.

Don't forget that if you use a spoon or fork to get the pickel out of the jar, it should be sterilised by running under boiling water, else you run the risk of contamination.

Oil does not preserve, it stops air getting to the pickle. This is good, but could also be very bad, as anaerobic bacteria could thrive in the anoxic environment, and these bugs are the very worst.

All,

Thanks for the guidance.

Much appreciated.

James.