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Pickle Juice

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Lots of brines hanging out.

This may seem kind of weird, but I save back Pickle Juice from the jarred pickles, olives, pepper rings, and other pickled foods that I buy. Why? It's great brine for lean meat like turkey, chicken, and pork.[1] Muh momma used to do this for her fried chicken and nobody could ever figure out what that zingy background flavor this brining method produced.[2]

I don't save it back all of the time, but when I know that I will need to pump up the flavor in normally dry, bland food, this is a good go-to method. Also, since most people just pour the juice down the sink after they eat their pickles, it makes me feel like I am saving the environment by not adding unnecessary vinegary green liquid to the water table.

What To Do?

They sell these types of pickles in most stores and the jar makes a great pickling jug.
Normal, lean pork chops after about a half an hour in pickle juice.

Buy pickles. Buy pepper rings. Buy pickled onions. Buy sauerkraut. Mankind has been pickling just about everything for over four thousand years,[3] so you can probably find a billion different items that are pickled in a brine, are in a jar, and are located in the condiments aisle at your local grocer.

Most jarred pickles and other items come in a brine that will basically last forever if you keep it in the fridge.[4] After all, it's just water, vinegar, salt, calcium chloride, sodium benzoate (which is a preservative), alum, and polysorbate 80.

They sometimes use the food color "Yellow Nº 5" to give their pickles that traditional pickle juice color. Using pickle brands with this ingredient will give your protein a delightful greenish tinge. Try it on shrimp and freak your friends out.

Once you have purchased your pickles and other brined foods, eat them and enjoy them. Do not throw the jar full of juice out. Find some larger vessel and save back that liquid. Most chain grocers have a large "store brand" jar of huge dill pickles on the bottom shelf of the pickle section. They are always really cheap. Usually like 6 or 8 bucks for a huge jar of those old "deli style" brand of pickles.

These types of pickles are usually not very tasty, but you aren't buying the jar for that. You are buying the jar to save your pickle brines over a period of time. Also, most of the time, the jar's mouth is wide enough to squeeze a roasting chicken into the jar. Now you have a self contained brining vessel.

The Science

Quote.png Brining adds moisture, making it the best choice for lean proteins. Salt in the brine not only seasons the meat, but also promotes a change in its protein structure.[5] Quote1.png

In cooking, brining is a process similar to marination in which meat is soaked in a salt solution (the brine) before cooking. Brining makes cooked meat moister by hydrating the cells of its muscle tissue before cooking and by allowing the cells to hold on to the water while they are cooked.[6]

References

  1. ↑ https://www.allrecipes.com/article/clever-uses-for-pickle-juice/
  2. ↑ Here is some meathead's recipe: https://eatthegains.com/chicken-marinated-in-pickle-juice/
  3. ↑ If you make your own pickles, your results will work as well. http://fermentationpodcast.com/pickle-juice-uses-leftover-brine/
  4. ↑ https://www.verywellfit.com/pickle-juice-nutrition-facts-and-health-benefits-4164284
  5. ↑ https://www.americastestkitchen.com/cooksillustrated/how_tos/5804-brining-meat <--this link is now behind some sort of pay wall.
  6. ↑ https://www.scienceofcooking.com/science-of-brining.html
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mmmmm, Pickle Juice is a part of a series on Food
Click here to open up the recipe book.

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