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I just brined 2 chickens which I am about to roast. Once the roast dinner is over, I anticipate there will be some chicken and carcass left-overs which I will boil in a pot of water to make a broth, and then probably chicken soup.

Can I reuse the brine that the raw chickens soaked in to boil the left-over chicken carcasses in?

  • Is this safe? (I assume so, since everything ends up boiled)

  • Will this be tasty? I anticipate the brine is quite salty, so will need watering down some.

  • Are there any off-flavours that come off the chicken during brining that I would want to discard?

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Tasty and quite salty, YES, (the taste will be salt!) with need to water down are probably GROSS understatements. You gain nothing trying to save/reuse it. Discard it! It will have very little flavor besides salt and very few, if any nutrients.

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    Many brines include sweet but the salt will normally overpower that. Some co-exist as a marinade and include other spices and flavor so may add some if reused. But your general sentiment I would concur with: a brine is not likely to be a candidate to start for further use. It is something which has been in extended contact with raw poultry. Add that though the overall effectiveness is debatable, salt has been used for ages to draw things like stray blood, maybe toxins, and off flavors from the brined meat making it even less desirable for further use and if watered down maybe even unhealthy.
    – dlb
    Sep 16, 2018 at 4:40

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