[willowman]

I've just finished a jar of supermarket pickled onions and I have a lot of small onions suitable for pickling.
Can I re-use the left over jar of vinegar by just filling it with my onions?
Seems a shame to throw it away and use new stuff.
Would I need to prepare the onions in any way (other than peeling them) and would I need to sterilise the jar again?
I would have thought that vinegar would kill anything that tried to grow in the jar.
Thanks.

[8doubles]

I`ve heard it said that pickled onion vinegar is the best sort to put on fish and chips. Might get around to trying it myself.

After growing,peeling and overnight brineing i always use a good brewed malt vinegar for my onions. I think if you use good vinegar you get better pickles so i would say no to the 2nd hand stuff .

[mumofstig]

If you do decide to try it at least give the oldvinegar a good boil up as some of the liquid from the first lot of onions will have seeped out into the vinegar and you need it to be up to strength to pickle the next lot. Let us know how you get on if you do try it

[Trillium]

Used vinegar is not good to keep using. You've got a now diluted solution from the previous contents losing water due to the salt in the solution, plus it was a brine which means it was fermenting to an extent and that means the vinegar has lost much of its power. Plus you've got whatever sludge the previous item left behind which could add an unpleasant extra 'flavour' to your new batch. Vinegar is cheap so simply make more fresh.

[willowman]

Thanks for the replies.
I was just trying to save time and energy (being a lazy b.....).
But it seems I ought to do it properly. Ah well, it was worth a shot.

P.S. It's hard being a gardener when you're a lazy b....., but eating last nights meal which included courgette, runner beans and potatoes from the garden made it worthwhile.

P.P.S. Home grown potatoes straight from the soil seem to cook exceedingly quickly.

Bye for now.

[Roll Roll]

8doubles your right.
  Pickled onion vinegar is just the best for your chips. 
  I have a jar of pickled onions at work which everyone helps themselfs to. I normally find the vinegar goes just as quick as the onions.