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How to Use Leftover Brine to Make Pickles

Is there any way to use leftover brine from a jar of store-bought pickles to make more pickles?

Is there any way to use leftover brine from a jar of store-bought pickles to make more pickles?

To test this premise, we chopped up all kinds of vegetables—cucumbers, radishes, carrots, and celery—and put them in jars of leftover dill pickle brine. (No need to heat the brine, as is often done when pickling, since the salt was already dissolved and the spices already infused.) After four days, the vegetables had picked up a pleasant pickle-y flavor. But none was quite as acidic or salty as the original pickles. The reason? The cucumbers from the original pickles had released moisture into the brine, diluting it. Because the brine that’s left over from a jar of pickles is thus less concentrated than fresh brine, the second round of vegetables is probably not truly pickled.

THE BOTTOM LINE:  Use leftover pickle brine for quick refrigerator pickles, but never use it for canning, which requires a set level of acid for safe eating. Refrigerator pickles made with leftover pickle brine will not keep as long as those made with fresh brine; we suggest storing them (covered and refrigerated) for no longer than a week.                              

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