Any pickling method might befine. You cannot use any oils however. Home canning can't include any oils of any kind, so a slat and vinegar brine is all you can use.

This is the recipe I have. I am hoping this is ok. They have been using it for years no problem. I am just not fond of the taste myself. I have to can these tonight so HELP please :)

1/2 C oil
3 tbs red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried Oregano
1 clove garlic
steam fiddle heads till almost tender
add dry ingredients to jar then fiddles heads pour oil and vinegar over top. HWB for 20 min

You can take Ken's word for it that this recipe is not OK for canning. The fact that no one's had a problem so far only means you've been lucky. To use oil like that with a low-acid product is a kind of "canning roulette."

Commercial plain canned fiddleheads (no oil) are done in a retort for 30 minutes, which is way more in time and temperature than what you're doing for fiddleheads in oil.

But each person on the forum decides for him/herself the degree of risk they're comfortable with. This doesn't happen to be one of mine.

You could freeze the fiddleheads then marinate. Looking at this recipe the proportion of oil to vinegar is way too high. I can see why you find it bland.

For canning I'd look for a good pickled asparagus recipe since fiddleheads and asparagus are very compatible. A recipe for one should work well for the other.

The link below gives you a nice pickled asparagus with a good brine for fiddleheads. Personally I'd skip the dill (just my preference) and use a combination of garlic, dried red peppers and a little bay leaf. You could also use white wine vinegar as long as it's 5% strength. I'm just thinking the white would be nicer in terms of color, though red wine vinegar would be fine too if that's your preference.

Good luck and let us know how things turn out.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Pickled Asparagus