Can Pickle Brine Be Reused?

[GB]

I made these the other day.

Can the brine be re-used? If so, do I need to boil it or anything? I am thinking that with all that vinegar I could probably use it again, but I don't want to assume that and make a stupid and dangerous mistake. It would just be a shame to throw all of this liquid away if I don't have to.

 

[Alix]

Are you talking about doing another entire batch of pickles or just adding some cucumbers to the brine? I do that all the time. Works just fine.

 

[GB]

An entire new batch. I will be finished eating the pickles I made the other day pretty soon and I am guessing I will have a few new items to pull in from the garden by then. I was thinking of just using this brine over and over and over, if that is safe to do.

 

[Alix]

I don't think I would use it over and over, but once would be OK I think.

 

[BettyR]

I made these the other day.

Can the brine be re-used? If so, do I need to boil it or anything? I am thinking that with all that vinegar I could probably use it again, but I don't want to assume that and make a stupid and dangerous mistake. It would just be a shame to throw all of this liquid away if I don't have to.

I have actually tried this before; each time I reused the brine the pickles were a little less flavorful.

I could tell the difference even with just the second use; by the third time the pickles tasted so washed out that I drained the old brine off and made a new batch.

 

[GB]

That was the type of info I was looking for. Thanks!

 

[PytnPlace]

Thanks for reminding me about this GB. I put some small pickling cukes in some claussen juice once several years ago. It was yummy . . . I forgot all about that!

 

[Katie H]

GB, I looked at the ingredients list and wondered "why" would it make any difference? For the quantities listed, the vinegar bath seems so insignificant that it would hardly matter. Why not start from scratch?

 

[Andy M.]

My parents used to make gallons of pickles every Fall. After we emptied a jar, Mom would put pieces of cabbage in the liquid for a second go around. Anything more substantial never tasted as good as the first time around.

 

[BettyR]

That was the type of info I was looking for. Thanks!

Your welcome.

How were the pickles? I've never used sugar in a sour pickle before, were they sweet or could you taste the sugar at all?

 

[YT2095]

the problem is that the brine of X strength is used to slighly dehydrate the veg, so each time you use it it`s gets more diluted.

same with Vinigar based, start with half a jar of 8% vin, and then add the veg, wait for however long and take the veg out, it will taste vinigary, and the amount of liquid in the jar will be the same, but since the veg water and vinigar reach a ballance, and you`ve taken vinigar out IN the veg, then your liquid will be water and your 8% (leaving about 4%).

4% is nice on fish `n` chips, but not good to pickle with

 

[GB]

Thank you everyone. You guys are great. I will not be re-using the brine.

Katie, to answer your question about why I would want to try...The brine was not cheap because of the champagne vinegar. I had a hard time finding it and when I finally did find it I had to pay $10 for a very small bottle. There might be enough left over for one more batch (or I might be a little short). Once I run out of that vinegar I will just use more cider vinegar in its place. I don't think it could possibly make that much difference.

Betty, the pickles came out great. I would not call them sweet (I don't really like sweet pickles that much), but do have a slight sweetness that cuts the vinegar taste. You could tell there was sugar, but the sour is more predominate.

 

[Constance]

I think you'll be well satisfied with the cidar vinegar, GB. It makes fine pickles.

 

[Katie H]

Okay, GB. Thanks for the clarification. I couldn't imagine why you were so concerned about reusing the pickling liquid. We can't even get champagne vinegar here so it would be a moot point for us.

 

[allergictoeverything]

I am coming in on the tail end of this one...are you talking about what you pickle the pickles in, or just the leftover liquid in the pickle jar??? My mom used leftover pickle JUICE from the jars of sweet pickles all the time in her vinegarettes.

 

[BettyR]

I am coming in on the tail end of this one...are you talking about what you pickle the pickles in, or just the leftover liquid in the pickle jar??? My mom used leftover pickle JUICE from the jars of sweet pickles all the time in her vinegarettes.

We are talking about using the leftover pickle brine from homemade pickles to make another batch of pickles.

 

[Mraughh]

I make 3 batches of pickles each week using this "base" liquid.

1 quart water.
1 cup vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup salt.

bring to boil for 15 minutes, let cool to room temp and using a 3 quart jar stuffed with cukes, either sliced or small pickling cukes. let sit for 24 hours on the counter then refrigerate and enjoy. This is for crunchy pickles, if you want rubbery ones, add the liquid while its still hot and it will cook the cukes or other veggies.

For spices, depending on what kind of flavors I want, I typically add, fresh ginger root, garlic cloves, the juice of 1 or 2 limes or lemons, peppercorns, etc. basically whatever you like. I cant get fresh dill here so no luck making genuine dill pickles. Using the above liquid base, I've pickled hot cauliflower, onions, mushrooms, carrots pretty much anything.


When I do mushrooms, (white ball type that can be bought in the supermarkets)
I boil them for 5 minutes in the liquid, and I will add 1/2 cup red wine vinegar and 1 cup of red wine to the liquid (subtract 1/2 cup of water). fresh basil, oregano, rosemary sprigs are all good to add along with garlic, peppercorns, a chile pepper or flakes. Just remember, the mushrooms will shrink when they are boiled, I use 4 packages of the shrooms and thats about 1/2 a 3qt. containers worth. After I've poured the liquid into the container, I add a 1/2 cup of olive oil.