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So I just finished a jar of home-made pickles. They were excellent! Not too salty, a bit spicy, very good. They were so good that I'd like to get some more pickles out of that jar. I was thinking of pickling some eggs in that same brine. Is reusing brine ever done? Are there any reasons I shouldn't do it? I've never heard of this being done, but I don't see why not.

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I have done some experiments pickling eggs with left over cucumber pickle brine.

Just to be safe I reboiled the brine to sterilize it.

It tasted great.

I don't do this with my eggs anymore simply because pickled eggs have more potential than cucumbers. I pickle my eggs now with different vinegars, like balsamic, for more interesting flavors and colors.

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Does reboiling brine affect the flavour? Also, would I have to add more water, as I imagine that boiling the brine will cause some liquid to be lost to evaporation? – FrustratedWithFormsDesigner May 4 '12 at 3:51
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I didn't notice a difference in flavor but I didn't do a side-by-side comparison. There are few flavor compounds in there that I would expect to be unstable. I didn't need to add water- it only has to boil for a few minutes to sterilize it. It will lose only a negligible amount of water in that time. – Sobachatina May 4 '12 at 12:21
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I am not sure about switching to eggs, but I have known several people who reuse brine for more pickles. Warm the brine in the microwave (not to boiling, but to about 120F) add some cucumbers and re-seal the jar. When the brine cools it will seal the jar and you will have fresh pickles in about a week.

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Why the microwave? Wouldn't the stove, with a candy thermometer, be much easier and more precise? – Flimzy May 3 '12 at 4:33
precision isn't really called for. Just 'luke warm' will do. For this the microwave is just easier. – Cos Callis May 3 '12 at 5:20
I guess I'd expect that too much heat could kill important microbes in the brine; but maybe that's not the case. I've never researched nor done pickle making. :) – Flimzy May 3 '12 at 12:51
@Flimzy- most pickles these days are preserved with salt rather than fermented, therefore, killing microbes is a good thing. – Sobachatina May 3 '12 at 13:07
@Sobachatina: Yes, these pickles were made with salt. – FrustratedWithFormsDesigner May 4 '12 at 3:50
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