If you are new to the worlds of home canning, preserving and pickling you can feel a tad overwhelmed by all the instructions, safety considerations, equipment and techniques discussed in many preserving recipes.
May I suggest you take a step back, and think about how old some of these 'how to make' recipes are. Long before pressure canners, sterilising fluids, thermometers and jelly bags, people managed to get by, and discovered thousands of ways for 'how to make pickled this or that'.
So you, in a modern, basically equipped kitchen, should be able to manage to find a recipe for pickles you are comfortable with. You should be able to produce great results without a degree in home economics or a restaurant grade kitchen too.
So when choosing a recipe for pickles make sure you think a little laterally:
Do you really need a jelly bag? Of course not, some muslin in a sieve will serve the same purpose.
Malt vinegar is called for but difficult to get in your region of the world. That's okay use wine vinegar in your recipe for pickles instead.
Are the spices specified not to your liking? No problem, use ones you like.
The whole point about home preserving is that you can produce products to your taste. So a little tweak of your pickling recipe, here and there, should not be a problem. In fact the results will be better as they will taste of the things you like. If you are after a generic product, why bother making it yourself when there are perfectly enjoyable items available to buy.
A little variety in the kitchen, as elsewhere in life is always good. Okay sometimes you run into the odd snag, and occasionally things can go very wrong. But it is only food. You will learn by both your failures and your successes. So learn to adapt, modify and make every recipe for pickles your own.
So long as you learn the basic requirements of a pickle recipe and keep those elements constant you can play with your preserves as much as you like! That way you get to let out your creative side, and make some more interesting preserved foods into the bargain.
When starting out it is maybe easier to follow preserving recipes word for word. That way you feel they can be nothing but perfect. Wow you are wrong. All the elements in your recipe will vary according to variety, quality, temperature, size etc. So you can never be 100% certain that this year's pickled onion recipe will be exactly the same as last year's. So why struggle to attempt it? Live a little and stamp your own mark all over any recipe for pickles you 'follow'!
So when choosing a recipe for pickles I say choose any but then make it your own.
