Reusing Pickle Brine | Cook's Illustrated (2024)

FAQs

Reusing Pickle Brine | Cook's Illustrated? ›

To make quick pickles from leftover brine, toss cucumber slices in a colander with salt (1 1/2 teaspoons per pound of cucumbers) and let them sit for 1 hour; then transfer them to a jar. Bring the brine to a boil and pour it over the pickles. Seal the jar and refrigerate the pickles for 24 hours before eating.

“You can (also) reuse the brine with fresh carrots, baby corn, beans (or) garlic cloves. They will brine to a certain point if you keep it in the refrigerator for about a week or so.” Bec says that pickle brine, or pickle juice, can also be reused for co*cktails, like our Southern Pickletini.

Reuse the brine to make more pickles out of different fruits and veggies. Carrots, mushrooms, beets, radishes, green beans (aka dilly beans), the list goes on. Optional: spice it up with hot peppers. Deviled eggs.

It is not safe to reuse the brine! Discard the brine solution after use. The brine will contain proteins, blood, and other stuff from the meat that soaked in it. From a food safety standpoint, it is not advisable to reuse brine, even if it is boiled first.

How to Make Homemade Pickles with Pickle Juice. Once you've finished up a jar of your favorite pickles, simply chop up the cucumbers and fully submerge them in the remaining pickle juice. Refrigerate for one week before enjoying. I've tried less resting time than that and they're still good.

"Pickles will eventually spoil if given enough time. Some may think the acid will prevent mold from growing, but given enough time, the mold will prevail." Tiner says the pickle brine has a lot to do with pickles lasting up to a year past the "use by date".

Yes, you can definitely reuse pickle juice to pickle eggs. The leftover juice from a jar of pickles is a great brine for pickling hard-boiled eggs, infusing them with tangy and savory flavors.

It also doesn't matter if the pickle juice was pasteurized or not. Because it's thought that cramp relief comes from the vinegar specifically, avoid watering the juice down. Drink it raw and experience the taste. However, this may be difficult for some people who don't enjoy the taste so much.

The temperature can bring out flavors, which leach into the brine. She recommends using hot brine to pickle opaque vegetables or spices such as root vegetables, kabocha squash and garlic. Cold brines are useful if you're looking to preserve the texture and crunch of a vegetable.

Pro tip, if you eat the onions quickly, you can reuse the brine. Add more sliced red onions to the mixture and start again. You can also try pickling other sturdy vegetables like sliced radishes, carrots, or small cauliflower florets. If the brine is cloudy or has a bad odor, discard and start with a fresh batch.

Can you freeze unused pickle brine? ›

Don't toss the brine, freeze it! When you're ready to make a batch of pickles, let it thaw in your refrigerator, add the cucumber slices, and you'll have a second batch of yummy pickles!

Unused brine made with salt and water can be stored indefinitely in the refrigerator. If you added any herbs or aromatics like garlic, it will still last up to two weeks. It's not a good idea to reuse brine, though, so toss it after the first use.

You're only using it to make refrigerator pickles. Once a brine has been used to can something, that's it. You can't do it again because you can't guarantee the acidity level once it has been heated up, hot water processed, absorbed by vegetables and refrigerated for an unknown amount of time.

Use pickle juice to marinate meat and seafood.

You don't have to brine just vegetables; meats and seafood benefit from acidic marinades, too. They help tenderize the muscle fibers and pack it with flavor. Chicken, steak, and pork chops will all work.

Olive all use the term on their websites, in advertisem*nts, and in the product descriptions of their pickle varieties. When asked why the word isn't on the front of the jars, all three companies provided nearly the same answer: They feel the word “pickle” isn't necessary on pickles packaged in clear glass containers.

The most obvious use of pickle brine is to make more pickles. Have a handful of fresh cucumbers, carrots, or jalapenos? Reuse the spicy brine to make another batch of delicious, tangy pickles.

Never use commercial jars such as mayonnaise and pickle jars for home canning.

Put a teaspoon or two of bicarbonate of soda in the jars and dissolve it with water just off the boil. Leave overnight , empty and rinse out well. If the smell is still there , repeat but leave it for a couple of nights. Don't forget about the lids, soak them all in a dish with the same diluted mix as the jars.