The problem with reusing pickling brine is the vinegar / acid levels remaining. The previous vegetables will have given up their liquid into the brine, reducing its acidity / salinity and its effectiveness as a preservative agent. You can certainly add more vegetables to it, and not knowing the amount of vinegar in the original brine, you must consider your level of acceptable risk as to the actual preservative effect of the remaining brine. I would do it, it will probably be fine, but the flavors may seem weaker and more watered down.

Steve

Thanks, Steve. Makes sense that it would be diluted. I never thought of that. But I might just pour off a little and top up with straight vinegar...

Would you post that daikon and carrot recipe, please? Daikon is a major fall crop for me and I have carrots in the garden too.

Thanks.

Shaxhome, you can use pickle juice in other recipes, e.g. potato salad.

Here is a link that might be useful: German potato salad with pickle juice

Laceyvail...I just used a basic refrigerator pickles recipe I found online, and adjusted it to my own taste with a few additions. Mine is quite spicy, so ignore whatever doesn't suit your taste!

Funnily, here the local word for radish is "loffu", and the name for carrots is "loffu map", which literally means red radish!

In a sealed container (Tupperware?), mix:

1 1/3 cups white sugar
2 tablespoons salt
1 cup white vinegar

Shake until sugar mostly dissolves.

Add:
4 cups sliced daikons
2 cups sliced onions
2 cups sliced carrots

Sounded a bit plain, so I also added:

4 whole garlic cloves
12 halved Habanero chillies
1 Teaspoon roasted black mustard seeds
1 Tablespoon coriander seeds
1 Tablespoon black peppercorns
12 bay leaves
Handful coriander (cilantro) leaves

Because I put my mix into coffee jars, I needed to top them up a little with more vinegar. Leave in fridge for 2 days, then devour! Absolutely delicious, and so easy to make and experiment with combinations. I now always have a new batch going. Great with cheese and crackers...

Netla, thanks for that great idea... I just now added a dash of the juice to some awful bought mayo, and what a difference!

Sounds like a good way to use some of my Habanero chilies. Have you had any of the Bhutan chilies? They are supposed to be 2-3 times as hot as the Habaneros, and so I will pass on those, as I have to dilute the Habaneros when I make chili sauce as it is.

If your pickle juice is anything like my Habanero sauce, it will be a great addition to mayo.

Your bay leaf is longer and skinnier than mine, but it will be good to use those as well.

Thanks for posting the recipe. I will definitely try it with your additions, as they sound good to me, and I have all the ingredients except for the daikons and carrots, which I can buy. I have some cilantro in the yard that is about to bolt, and I have tons of coriander seeds that I harvested last January.

Lars

Lars, here in Bhutan there is a common saying..."A chilli is not a spice, it's a vegetable". And so true. The national dish is ema datshi (chilli cheese).
I eat them with practically every meal (including breakfast!), and having lived in India and Bhutan for the last 5 years, I thought I could out-eat anyone in hot food. Typically, in a chicken curry for myself, I'll put in 12 fiery bird's-eye chillies and love it. BUT there is one particular chilli here that's thumbnail size, and I use 1/4 of one in a meal for 4 people, and still sweat and get numb lips.

I discovered it's a relative of the notorious bhut jolokia, and some say it's even hotter. But when talking these levels of heat, it matters little to read the Scoville Scale.

As for the bay leaf, it's an Indian one, from a tree in the same family as the western bay, but with a totally different flavour.

This is my favourite time of year here, when everyone starts drying chillies for winter. Everywhere there's a flat surface, you'll find them...

You win the exotic locale category, Shax. Bhutan. Gorgeous. Breathtaking mountains, and chili.:)

Lots of people just drink the juice.
I'm going to plop 2 hard boiled eggs (peeled) into the juice of some store bought Jalapeno Dills.
The juice, and a dill spear, are great in a Bloody Mary.

Thanks so much for the recipe. I love my fall Asian radishes and I love pickles and yours look and sound delicious--additions included.

I wonder if I could pickle raw potato cubes?
Anybody tried it, or have a scientific/taste reason not to?

I'm on a mission to experiment with all hard veges...

And OldFixer...yes, hard-boiled eggs! Great idea...off to the kitchen now.

This post was edited by shaxhome on Tue, Sep 30, 14 at 7:06

Shaxhome, I just started to make your pickles, but the amount of liquid as stated in the recipe you posted looks completely inadequate! Could you please check what you posted.

I've added a cup of water to what you posted, and it looks as if I'm still going to have to adjust. Also using less sugar.

thanks.

Laceyvail...yes, the recipe I started with seemed to want the veges laid flat in a container, which I realised too, once I started bottling them. I just added more vinegar to top them up...

I also used less sugar. I'm more of a "handful of this" type guy. Only trouble with that is that when I get the perfect tasting batch, I can't remember how...

Edit to add, the original recipe was just for cucumbers and onions, which I imagine would sit pretty flat.

Here is a link that might be useful: Original Recipe

This post was edited by shaxhome on Wed, Oct 1, 14 at 8:52

I love soup...especially the unusual but simple...dill pickle potato soup..recipes all over the net..have made it with many compliments...a cup of grated swiss would probably make any thing good...give it a try...bz

I made some refrigerator pickles on Saturday, loosely based on your recipe. I found another recipe for refrigerator pickles that did not use any sugar at all, and so I combined that recipe with yours. I forgot that you had used daikon radishes, and so I bought some of those on Sunday, but I made my pickles with cucumbers instead. I used six Persian cucumbers, onion slices, 1-1/2 carrotsgarlic, coriander seeds, three Habanero chilies, fresh Bay leaves, Kosher salt, cider vinegar, and black mustard seeds, but I forgot to roast them. This made two jars, and each jar had three halves of Habaneros. I hope this will not be too hot, but I omitted the black peppercorns, since I figures I was getting enough heat already.

I'll sample them later today or tomorrow.

Thanks for the inspiration! I might remove the Habaneros and store them separately and perhaps pickle a batch of chilies, since I have so many of them right now. I roasted a bunch of them yesterday to make more sauce, which I will probably have to freeze, unless I give it away.

Lars

Hi, Lars...yes, I reckon they're all loose recipes at best, the only constant seeming to be the vinegar, salt and onions.

My first attempt was also with cucumbers, and it inspired me to try the daikons and carrots. That lot is now 2 weeks old, and so tasty! The chillies and spices do seem to get hotter with time.

I like your idea of just pickled chillies. I'll make a few jars of those myself this week, as the vege market is overflowing with them, all shapes, colours and sizes.

And Beezee, if you're around, I did make some dill pickle potato soup, and it was wonderful! I made a few chapattis as croutons, and a handful of Swiss cheese on them. Will become a regular for me now.

I only wish I had an oven here...only seen a couple in the past 6 years, and it's so limiting having just 2 stove-top burners...I wish you all would stop posting pics of wonderful breads. Drives me crazy!

Edited to add, as you seem to be a fellow-aficionado of chillies, thought you might like this quaint, short article on the local ones...

Here is a link that might be useful: Drying Chillies

This post was edited by shaxhome on Tue, Oct 14, 14 at 4:14

sax...glad you enjoyed it and brave enough to try it..bz

I sampled the pickles yesterday and this morning, and they seemed to have gotten hotter overnight. They were a bit mild yesterday, and I am not considering redistributing what is in the jars. I think I will try to put all the cucumbers into one jar (if they will fit) with half the brine and spices, and then I will put the carrots and chilies into a separate jar, and the onions will have to go where they will fit. Kevin thought the cucumbers tasted sweet although I added no sugar, and I thought that the onions tasted even sweeter. The onions are especially good.

I am thinking now that I may stop buying pickles and just make my own. I expect this batch to get eaten fairly quickly. Kevin said that the spice mixture gave better flavor than the store pickles.

The next time I make them, I will cut the carrots into smaller strips. For this batch, I cut the bottom half of the carrots in half lengthwise, and I cut the top half into four pieces lengthwise. I think they should be half that size, at most. I'm not crazy about the carrot part, but I think they add flavor to the brine.

Thanks for the Kangpar chili link!

Lars