Reusing pickle juice

[HelenWheels]

I usually keep a jar of pickle juice in the refrigerator and use a splash when I make potato, macaroni, tuna, or egg salads. I was thinking it may be good to add to salad dressings too.

Does anyone else have any ideas for reusing pickle juice?

 

[HappyHoney]

What a great idea Helen. I usually just pour mine down the drain or one of the kids will drink it. I know. Ewewewe! I don't know why they like to drink the stuff but they do. I'll save it from now on and use it in cooking. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[corked]

We put hard-boiled eggs in the leftover juice (dill or sour pickles, at least). Leave them in there for a day and you have a fast pickled egg. I do use a bit of sweet pickle juice when making up a tuna salad, too.

 

[masksis]

It can be used for brine just about anything from eggs to veggies. It works great as a meat tenderizer or give a little extra flavor to fish. It's also good for meatloaf and barbecue sauce. Or you can always use it to kill weeds...

 

[BrewJen]

I have never reused pickle juice but I love the idea of adding it to chicken or tuna salad. It would replace the relish I often use.

How does pickle juice kill weeds?

 

[HelenWheels]

I use the leftover pickling juice from jarred jalapenos also. That adds a nice little bit of spice to things. That's what I usually add to my barbecue sauce, but not too much, I don't want it too vinegary.

Oh, and HappyHoney, when we were kids, I had a cousin that would drink the pickle juice too. I never knew why she did that. She always smelled like pickles. Haha!

 

[Stephanie Malloy]

I use it the same ways that you do. It would be nice to have more uses for it though because my husband goes through pickles like nobody's business. I end up tossing quite a bit of it down the sink.

 

[HelenWheels]

Since it is basically just garlic and dill seasoned vinegar, I have thought about adding oil, minced onion, maybe some basil and a few other seasonings and blending it up to see how it comes out as a salad dressing.

 

[melli]

That is a great idea! I have never kept it to use in anything. I bet my salads would be amazing with a splash of pickle juice. I am going to add it to tuna to see if I like it.

 

[oldieg]

I have done this before. I add it to egg salad. I like to cut up pickles and add those too. Sometimes I just use the homemade relish. I have never added the pickle juice to a salad before. I should try this.

 

[HelenWheels]

It is particularly good for macaroni salad. The noodles seem to absorb the juice after it sets in the fridge for an hour or two and it adds a great bit of flavor. Be careful of adding extra salt before tasting, though, because the pickle juice is already very salty.

 

[clarkdart]

I know you can clean pots and pans with it if they are copper. My mother would toss the juice on her rose bushes too. Other than that I am not really sure. Can you clean anything with pickle juice?

 

[HelenWheels]

I'm not sure. I imagine the vinegar in it would make for a good cleaner, but with all that salt... I'd be careful what I used it on.

 

[Georgie]

There are some great ideas floating around here. I must admit that it never occurred to me to use it for anything apart from pickling. I have boiled some beetroot and sliced it into old pickle juice but that's about it!

 

[carolyn]

I must admit I have never used pickle juice for cooking, but I will definitely give it a try. I have just recently started saving it for my hubby though. You can chug a little pickle juice if you have leg cramps and it will help them stop.

 

[brewgal]

I have never used pickle juice for coking either, but I must admit that it is a really good idea. Next time we finish the pickles I will be sure to save the juice!

 

[HelenWheels]

I wouldn't drink too much of it since it's pretty salty. Makes me pucker just thinking about it.

I am trying an experiment. I had to slice an onion for something else I was cooking and I sliced too much. I hate to waste food so I popped the sliced onion into the pickle juice jar. I'll see if it picked up any of the flavor in the next day or two. I think it will be good diced and used in other dishes.