Pickle Juice
I buy several jars of refrigerator pickles a month (claussen), as I love to snack on them. I end up just pouring out the brining liquid, as well as the chopped garlic, down the drain. It seems to me that there must be some practical use for it. I've already thought about using a little in potato salad, but can you guys think of any more possibilities?
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34 Comments:
I love those pickles! If I happen to empty a jar without having a replacement, I keep the liquid. I've used it in dips and sauces, I always add a little to tuna salad - adds just the right amount of tang. If I'm out of celery, I chop even more pickles into the salad, too for some crunch and flavor. Add some oil and it's a great dressing or marinade for meat and fish. It is too tasty to toss!
PerkyMac at 12:09PM on 01/19/08
There's a recipe out there for pork chops marinated in pickle juice, just google. I always wanted to try it, but I'm a little frightened.
thebrokedown at 12:29PM on 01/19/08
Drink it straight to soothe a hangover. I tried it once and it seemed to help, but that may have just been a one time phenomenon.
Chau at 12:50PM on 01/19/08
It makes a good braising liquid. (especially for roast beef) Just lighten up on the salt!
srhcb at 1:14PM on 01/19/08
Could it be used to prepare one's own home-made pickles of various sorts?
mongoose at 1:34PM on 01/19/08
Read the ingredients. Then decide what you want to do with it. I make my own fresh pickle because I like the taste better.
JerzeeTomato at 2:10PM on 01/19/08
I use it to make homemade tarter sauce
FoodieCutie at 4:36PM on 01/19/08
I have a restaurant here in Texas, and people like pickle juice on their snow cones ..yuck!
FoodieCutie at 4:37PM on 01/19/08
I'm not sure if you're asking specifically about Claussen's juice or pickle juice in general. There are a multitude of uses for the leftovers we accumulate. I regularly through some peeled, hard boiled eggs in the jar and leave them of few days before using them in tuna, potato or macaroni salads. They make pretty good snacks right out of the jar too. I've marinated soft white cheeses in those same leftovers and I know others who marinate sausages for snacking. My father used to peel, slice and blanch root vegetables like beets and make his own pickled veggies. Just about any firm blanched vegetable can be treated the same way with wonderful results. Mushrooms are real winners. When all else is exhausted, as others have suggested, you can slip the juice in a variety of salads, dressings, soups and braises. Don't ever throw out that liquid gold!
czken at 6:19PM on 01/19/08
Claussen's kosher dills are my one and only pickle. I'm not a fan of other pickled foods, but if you are, this juice is delicious. I took note of what JerzeeTomato said and checked the ingredient list. It does have a preservative which was disappointing to me. Thanks for pointing that out Jerz. They come refrigerated and I never thought to check.
PerkyMac at 6:36PM on 01/19/08
....Claussen's kosher dills are my one and only pickle.......
I should have added - when I can't get deli kosher dill pickles - my favorite. I like lots of garlic flavor.
PerkyMac at 6:39PM on 01/19/08
Wow, czken, those are some great ideas! I've put hard boiled eggs in the leftover pickle juice with great results. Now I have lots of other things to try.
Kerosena at 6:42PM on 01/19/08
You do add a little pickle juice to potato salad, don't you?
lemons at 7:07PM on 01/19/08
Pickle juice is also great for any plants you might have in your yard that crave acid, (Gardenias, Azaleas etc) just dump it right around the base. I despise pickle juice in any type of salad though. (Potato, Tuna etc.) Yuck!
EDL1215 at 10:58PM on 01/19/08
I use mine in homemade tartar sauce, tuna salad, and as a secret ingredient in bloody marys.
mendicity at 12:18PM on 01/20/08
I would suggest not using pickle juice on your plants. Some are pure brine (my favorite kind), but even the vinegar-based ones contain loads of salt, which can be really bad for the roots. If your soil is very alkaline, that extra salt will likely be deadly.
Since I usually a brined variety, like Bubbie's Pure Kosher Dills, I typically just toss the juice. All salt, no vinegar, so not much use. Although I'm not above adding a bit to dressings and dips.
LoCo at 12:31PM on 01/20/08
At a roller skating rink in my town I used to frequent as a kid, they had pickle pops. They were pickle "juice" poured into a popsicle mold. I haven't had one in at least 15 years, but I LOVED pickle pops!
I also used the "juice" as a hangover cure in college...it totally makes you feel better.
lo82070 at 1:45PM on 01/20/08
I use the leftover pickle juice for when I make potato salad. I keep the jar, and add the mayo, mustard, garlic, etc to the juice - shake it up and there's my potato salad dresingQ
Maleficent_fan at 11:48PM on 01/20/08
Let's say you're a broke college student. It just so happens it's Friday night (or looking back on my college career, Wednesday morning, or Sunday afternoon for that matter) and the only Friday evening comestible left in your larder is a half empty bottle of tequila, but you hate tequila. Chase your first shot and every shot thereafter with a shot of pickle juice. The two potentially offensive flavors seem to cancel each other out.
Learned that from a barkeep named Chance.
ajeys at 2:40PM on 01/21/08
Nolan Ryan used to soak the fingers on his pitching hand in pickle juice to prevent blisters.
mhgatti at 8:45AM on 01/22/08
Pickle juice is also good in beef b-b-que.
steflink at 10:35AM on 01/22/08
I have a friend who uses the pickle juice in a martini. She calls them pickletinis. She loves them. Just pickle juice and your choice of alcohol.
malpal at 11:31AM on 01/22/08
There's always pickle soup.
Here's a blog that discusses it.
Karen Resta at 12:08PM on 01/22/08
I love putting a little pickle juice in my Bloody Mary's!
lakeloverhh at 3:52PM on 01/23/08
We run a Girls Softball League Concession Stand and sell the clausen pickles, but also we freeze the juice in sauce cups and the kids go NUTS over Picklecicles!!! In 3 weeks time we have gone thru over 150 picklecicles. Now if we can just get them to buy the pickles, so we can buy more juice!!! We need to figure out how to make homemade pickle juice??
msjhdyer at 12:49PM on 05/30/08
i love pickle juice, probably because I have hypothyroidism and addison's disease. But I love salty things. The pickle juice martini is like a really good dirty martini (which is usually just olive juice and either gin or vodka). I've seen little cans of pickle juice in the supermarket but have yet to try it.
Tonecat at 3:50PM on 07/19/08
Thanks to Martha Stewart's Living, I learned that quartered green tomatoes are perfect for pickling in left over pickle juice. Yum!
Susquehanna at 5:14PM on 07/19/08
^ Oh dear. I guess that should be Martha Stewart Living.
Susquehanna at 7:45AM on 07/20/08
msjhdyer ... Maybe next time you get a jar of pickles you could blend the pickles into liquid and add them to the juice for the pops. That way you have a use for the pickles that come with your needed juice. I don't know how well it would work though.
bebebe at 2:45PM on 10/22/08
I don't know how it started, but my mother used to pour enough pickle juice to fill the jar lid and then drizzle it over very well done scramble eggs. I used to love it. I still can only eat my eggs scrambled BURNT/DEAD, and I still have a love for sour pickle juice on my eggs or right out of the jar :)
ginakaye at 3:12PM on 12/09/08
I said it once, and i'll say it again- popsicles! seriously...
aungeinphx at 3:22PM on 12/09/08
I drink it. We used to have a tradition in my singing group (think singing frat) where any used drink containers were thrown gently into the middle of the room (with the couches all around the perimeter). Nothing ever breaks in that rehearsal room. Usually, it was beer bottles and coke cans. One day, I threw in a pickle jar after I was done sipping. Got a lot of weird looks, but it was darn tasty.
shoneyjoe at 3:32PM on 12/09/08
I poach chicken and fish in it, it also works well as a marinade for cheaper cuts of beef and pork...it tenderizes them like crazy. For the cheaper dill pickle juices, the ones with a lot of yellow color to them, I mix the juice 50/50 with water to use it or it yellows the meat. It's been a staple for my cooking for several years now.I wish they sold it without the pickles in it. BTW, it's also great for steaming veggies...
dejablu503 at 4:48PM on 09/11/09
Pickle juice is great if you have high sugar levels due to diabetes to help lower them. Dallas Cowboys have been using it for years as an secret boost of energy rather than chocolate milk, candy, or energy bars that can bring them down due to the sugar. Athletes with diabetes use Pickle juice mixed with water for boost drinks. I it frozen on a stick.
Hardeegator at 11:02PM on 09/20/09