Forum:

food preservation

What do you do with your pickling water?

Edward Norton

pollinator

Posts: 1495

869

I like...

posted 3 years ago

13
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I recently discovered Pickled Onions forever - basically, sliced red onion, 50/50 hot vinegar water solution with some salt. I love them on almost anything, especially in cheese sandwiches and tacos. But what do I do with the liquid that’s left over when all the onion has gone? There must be something I can do with it. What do you do with your left over pickle water?

Cargo bikes are cool

PEP - BB150 Badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by gir bot

nest - straw badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by Mike Barkley

natural medicine - sand badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by Mike Haasl

dimensional lumber woodworking - sand badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by Mike Haasl

Robin Katz

pollinator

Posts: 458

234

I like...

posted 3 years ago

9
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

You could use the juice as the base for a meat marinade. I've done this before using the juice from both green and black olives.

We do wild fermentation of our veg and drink an ounce or two of the juice in the morning. It's a nice way to get some probiotics, but vinegar brine doesn't have the probiotics so I don't know if this is useful.

Pearl Sutton

steward & bricolagier

Posts: 15754

Location: SW Missouri

11654

I like...

posted 3 years ago

18
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Um. I put more onions in it. That's the "forever" part of it. You just keep adding them, top up liquid as you need to. I have had batches run 9 months or more before I started them over.

Sometimes I steal some as a salad dressing base.

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

oddball - sand badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by Nicole Alderman

Edward Norton

pollinator

Posts: 1495

869

I like...

posted 3 years ago

5
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

[quote=Robin Katz] You could use the juice as the base for a meat marinade. I've done this before using the juice from both green and black olives.

We do wild fermentation of our veg and drink an ounce or two of the juice in the morning. It's a nice way to get some probiotics, but vinegar brine doesn't have the probiotics so I don't know if this is useful. [/quote]

Good idea on the marinade. I’ve been adding little bits to stews and other dishes where a bit of acid often helps balance the dish.

I also wild ferment and the juice is great when added to a glass of water.

Cargo bikes are cool

Edward Norton

pollinator

Posts: 1495

869

I like...

posted 3 years ago

7
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Pearl Sutton wrote:Um. I put more onions in it. That's the "forever" part of it. You just keep adding them, top up liquid as you need to. I have had batches run 9 months or more before I started them over.

Sometimes I steal some as a salad dressing base.

Ummm . . . *Slaps head*!

Good idea on the salad dressing although I’m the only person who likes the onion / vinegar combo . . . And my teenagers are both salad dodgers!

Cargo bikes are cool

Tereza Okava

steward & manure connoisseur

Posts: 4719

Location: South of Capricorn

2699

I like...

posted 3 years ago

12
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I'm not sure about pickled onions... but dill pickles, I often use the water in.... rye bread. It is almost a magic ingredient. I imagine any vinegary-salty liquid of this type would work the same.
I haven't used this particular recipe, but it looks similar to the one I usually use.
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/sandwich-rye-bread-recipe

Edward Norton

pollinator

Posts: 1495

869

I like...

posted 3 years ago

6
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Tereza Okava wrote:I'm not sure about pickled onions... but dill pickles, I often use the water in.... rye bread. It is almost a magic ingredient. I imagine any vinegary-salty liquid of this type would work the same.
I haven't used this particular recipe, but it looks similar to the one I usually use.
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/sandwich-rye-bread-recipe

Great idea Tereza. I just had a look through ‘The handmade loaf’ by Dan Lepard and he has a rye loaf that includes pickle juice. I have rye flour and my regular sourdough normally has 10% rye. That’s a great recipe you’ve linked too as well and includes an optional use for sour dough discard. Cheers.

Cargo bikes are cool

Brian Holmes

pollinator

Posts: 117

Location: 6.b.

I like...

posted 3 years ago

6
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Odd thought: use it to season focaccha? Generally a salty flat bread, and I've cooked it with red onions on tip before, so seems like a logical extension.

Also: mayo calls for vinegar, so maybe try making mayo with it? Water aspect might be less desirable, bit maybe worth a try :)

Year 4 of gardening. Orchard is happy, grass needs a goat. And the garden is about to get swallowed by surrounding trees.

commerce - air badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by Nicole Alderman

Thekla McDaniels

gardener

Posts: 3563

Location: Western Slope Colorado.

781

I like...

posted 3 years ago

5
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Did somebody already say put some in the soup? Especially borscht that already has vinegar and onions and salt? You would just have to cut back on the vinegar and salt that was added new

Best luck: satisfaction

Greatest curse, greed

Stefanie Chandler

Posts: 26

posted 3 years ago

3
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I would pour a bit in the cracks in the drive to kill the weeds.

Anne Miller

steward

Posts: 18174

Location: USDA Zone 8a

4626

I like...

posted 3 years ago

3
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

What do you do with your pickling water?

Put some hard-boiled eggs in that pickling water:

https://permies.com/t/58881/leftover-pickle-juice

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

roberta mccanse

pollinator

Posts: 199

Location: Near Libby, MT

I like...

posted 3 years ago

2
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I make a salad with pickled onions, and some of the juice, mandarin oranges, and black olives on lettuce from the garden.

I do reuse pickling liquid, as you suggest. Pickle beets first then use that lovely red liquid to pickle hard boiled eggs. They are so pretty when sliced in half.

Each generation has its own rendezvous with the land... by choice or by default we will carve out a land legacy for our heirs. (Stewart Udall)

Eileen Bertie

Posts: 1

posted 3 years ago

2
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Try a shot of pickle juice for immediate relief of muscle cramps. Google "pickle juice for muscle cramps". Research shows when pickle juice hits the back of the throat, it triggers a response similar to drinking electrolytes.

Patricia Kavanaugh

Posts: 13

Location: Southeastern Idaho

posted 3 years ago

2
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Anne Miller wrote:What do you do with your pickling water?

Put some hard-boiled eggs in that pickling water:

https://permies.com/t/58881/leftover-pickle-juice

I do that with the brine from my pickled beets. Makes lovely lavender/maroon eggs depending on how long the eggs soak.

L Fortney

Posts: 6

Location: Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada Zone 5

posted 3 years ago

3
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

A friend of mine makes a potato salad using pickles and pickle juice rather than mayo, I love it! Why not try that with your onion pickles? Sounds delicious to me....

Thekla McDaniels

gardener

Posts: 3563

Location: Western Slope Colorado.

781

I like...

posted 3 years ago

2
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Probably worth mentioning somewhere in this thread that pickling to prevent spoilage depends on the concentrations of salt and vinegar and sugar in the brine, and as we reuse the brine these ingredients are depleted as they flavor the vegetables or eggs and diluted as water comes out of the vegetables into the brine.

If we are pickling to preserve we need to replenish the concentrations of salt and vinegar and sugar up to whatever the original concentrations were

Best luck: satisfaction

Greatest curse, greed

Megan Palmer

gardener

Posts: 1616

Location: Zone 9A, 45S 168E, 329m Queenstown, NZ

815

I like...

posted 3 years ago

2
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

When I make chutney, I substitute up to a third of the total vinegar with pickle juice depending on the concentration of the juice. Homemade pickled onions juice is much stronger than commercial pickled gherkins so can sub 1-1 for vinegar and the sugar & salt needs to be adjusted too.

S Ydok

Posts: 115

Location: A NorCal clay & rock valley

posted 3 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Tereza Okava wrote:I'm not sure about pickled onions... but dill pickles, I often use the water in.... rye bread. It is almost a magic ingredient. I imagine any vinegary-salty liquid of this type would work the same.
I haven't used this particular recipe, but it looks similar to the one I usually use.
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/sandwich-rye-bread-recipe

Interesting...*finds a dark hole from the heat to ponder this more*

Stacy Witscher

pollinator

Posts: 1518

Location: Southern Oregon

466

posted 3 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

My kids just drink it, not necessarily onion pickle juice, but dill pickle juice. It's actually become a popular drink chaser, for example a shot of vodka with a pickle back.

Living a life that requires no vacation.

John C Daley

pollinator

Posts: 5836

Location: Bendigo , Australia

522

I like...

posted 3 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

How do the hard boiled eggs come up and taste like after immersion in the liquid?

John Daley Bendigo, Australia The Enemy of progress is the hope of a perfect plan
Benefits of rainfall collection https://permies.com/t/88043/benefits-rainfall-collection
GOOD DEBT/ BAD DEBT https://permies.com/t/179218/mortgages-good-debt-bad-debt

John C Daley

pollinator

Posts: 5836

Location: Bendigo , Australia

522

I like...

posted 3 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Is refrigeration important?

Anne Miller

steward

Posts: 18174

Location: USDA Zone 8a

4626

I like...

posted 3 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

John C Daley wrote:Is refrigeration important?

When I was a kid, a lot of neighborhood stores would have big jars of pickled eggs sitting on the counter without refrigeration.

In today's world that would never happen.

In real life, I feel it depends. Probably something to do with percentages or strength of the vinegar or what kind of pickling solution was used, etc.

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

I'm THIS CLOSE to ruling the world! Right after reading this tiny ad:

Learn Permaculture through a little hard work

https://wheaton-labs.com/bootcamp