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I have previously pickled some cucumber in a pickling liquid of mostly vinegar, which was kept in the fridge. I have now finished the pickled cucumbers, but would like to pickle some more. Can I re-use this liquid to pickle the cucumbers?

Note: I made the original pickling liquid about 3-4 weeks ago, it is kept in the fridge, in a sealed jar.

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I would say you could use it once, and probably just to make refrigerator-type, quick pickles. The problem is that you have no way to determine acidity or salt levels once you remove the previously pickled items. Of course it should look clean and clear. If you were previously doing a lactic acid fermented pickle, some of the liquid could be used to jump start your next ferment.

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    @Danger: I have re-used pickling juice in the past (once again), but the span was more like 3-4 days (not weeks). More than that (time or uses) and you'll likely get (possibly undesirable, for a quick-pickle) critters growing in there. As noted in this answer, if you're doing fermented stuff (e.g., as for sour pickles or sourdough bread) it's common to take a bit of your previous batch to "seed" and cultivate the (desirable) critters in the next batch, but really just a small fraction of the original volume.
    – hoc_age
    Oct 10, 2014 at 14:00
  • Yep, the simple fact that you can't measure acid or salt content is reason alone to exclude it for making canned pickles. Accuracy and close adherence to a tested recipe is extremely important for preserving.
    – logophobe
    Oct 10, 2014 at 18:35

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