Drinking pickle juice may actually be very good for you

Even for the most seasoned pickle fan, glugging a glass of briny pickle juice may sound like a step too far - but you might want to think twice before you go to toss it away.

It turns out the juice is actually pretty good for you and does a whole lot more than just add flavour to your favourite snack.

Despite its sharp taste it is an incredible source of health busting benefits.

So what’s the big dill? Here we reveal ways that prove pickle juice might actually be really good for you.

It relieves muscle cramps

After an intense workout what do you reach for? A bottle of water? An energy drink? Next time why not try a nice chilled glass of pickle juice.

According to science, the briny beverage helps to ease muscle aches and pains thanks to its high concentration of sodium and vinegar.

A study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise showed that dehydrated men experienced faster relief from muscle cramps after drinking pickle juice than those who opted for water; what’s more it only took a third of a cup to take effect.

It hydrates you quicker and for longer

Drinking water is great and all but what if there was something to help your body recover more quickly? Enter, pickle juice.

Because it contains sodium and potassium the juice is the ultimate rapid hydrator; they’re both electrolytes that your body loses when you sweat so opting for a drink that contains both will help to restore your electrolyte levels to normal at a much faster rate.

It boosts your immune system

According to the study Dietary antioxidants: Immunity and host defence, antioxidants such as Vitamin C and E offer a protective role against infections caused by bacteria, viruses and parasites. Luckily, pickle juice contains a decent amount of both these vitamins meaning it will help to boost your immune system function.

It can help you lose weight

Vinegar is the main ingredient in pickle juice and according to a study from Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biochemistry, consuming this one ingredient every day can promote healthy weight loss. After just 12 weeks, study participants who had consumed a small amount of vinegar daily had lost more weight and fat than those who hadn’t consumed any.

It helps to regular your blood sugar levels

Unregulated blood sugar can lead to serious health complications including blindness, heart damage and kidney damage but research has found pickle juice could be the missing link. Research published in the Journal of Diabetes Research showed that drinking a small serving of vinegar, the main ingredient in pickle juice, before a meal helped to regulate a person’s blood sugar levels, especially those with type 2 diabetes.

Kitchen gadgets review: Scoopsaw – part sex toy, part street weapon

What?
Scoopsaw (Chefn, £9.99) is a serrated blade housed in hard plastic sheath, shaped into a shallow scoop at its extremity.

Why?
You think you know how to handle your melons. Think again.

Well?
Scoopsaw sounds like the poorly sketched antagonist of a horror franchise squarely in its dog days. Nightscream 8 or something. Perhaps a serial killer whose modus operandi is based on civil war-era field surgery techniques. He finds victims to “cut, clean and cube effortlessly” and leaves a bloody apron as a calling card!

The truth is more prosaic, but more useful. It’s a tool that helps with the annoying parts of squash prep, which is all of it. Because that’s the thing about squash, pumpkin or any autumnal gourd – they’re hard. The shell is hard, the flesh is hard, the only soft bits are the messy seeds, which you throw away. A good knife helps, but their shape – long, round, often corrugated – means a straightforward cut isn’t possible. They’re one of those foods, like pineapple, crab or tacos, that God doesn’t want you to eat.

With sacrilegious ingenuity, this gadget says: enjoy your squash. The blade is tipped to penetrate the skin, and serrated to saw through the flesh. Once you’re in, the scoop lets you dig around and dispose of seeds in a single motion. It does what it says on the tin; which makes it more confusing that the tin is shaped exactly like a street weapon. The design nests the blade inside the translucent spoon, like a dagger in a scabbard. Why are all kitchen gadgets moulded on sex toys or street weapons? This one is almost both, which is a strange Venn diagram.

The plastic is a horrendous shade of sickly green, and the housing is loose – I’d have preferred it to click into place rather than rattling around. But it makes me feel like a ninja. I could infiltrate the kitchens of my enemies in the night, and er … helpfully split and cube their squash. Because it really is very good at that. In fact, like a latter-day sibling to the Ninja Turtles of my youth, it’s a hero in a half shell.

Redeeming features?
Doubles as a melon baller. (A melon baller is a cantaloupe that drives around in a convertible, with a gaggle of clementines and sharon fruits in the back seat.)

Counter, drawer, back of the cupboard?
Drawer your weapon, and damn your eyes. 3/5

9 Tips For Cooking Salmon Like A Pro

You probably have your favorite way to cook salmon. Maybe you roast it. Or, maybe, you place it on a cedar plank, close the grill, and let those two sizzle and smoke.

But if we've learned anything from one of our latest contests, "Your best recipe with salmon," it's that little techniques — like not tossing your corn husks and instead using them to imbue sweet, corny, smoky flavor to whatever you're grilling — make all the difference between average fillets and something you'll make over and over again.

So, we looked to the contest's winners (congrats, aargersi!) and community picks to find nine of our favorite tips for cooking salmon. Check them out:

1. Corn husk-smoked salmon with grilled corn salsa: Corn husks, when soaked and placed on the grill with corn, add a sweet, subtle smokiness. Plus, it's a no-waste way to cook dinner — and a good reason to make grilled corn salsa.

2. Shallot topped salmon & jade rice: Placing your aromatics, like shallots and red onion, on top of the fish is an easy way to infuse flavor into the fish while it cooks (and an easy way to cook the vegetables, too!).

3. Miso and ginger poached salmon with warm soba noodles: When poaching, using all water or broth can be a little "eh." Instead, add aromatics and/or spices to the poaching liquid for more flavor. As you might guess, this recipe uses miso and ginger.

4. Perfect roast salmon: Coat fish with mayonnaise instead of oil to add flavor and moisture. Then, don't oil or grease foil when roasting skin-on fillets so that you can easily remove the fillets, leaving the skin on the baking sheet.

5. One-pan salmon with spicy creamed greens and tomatoes: Creamed greens aren't just a side for barbecue — they're a great bed for seafood, too, and an easy way to cook salmon without worrying about overcooking the bottoms or flipping the fillets. This recipe uses collard greens, but any sturdy green, like kale, would also be lovely.

6. Lapsang Souchong cured king salmon with ginger lime cream cheese: Curing salmon in tea makes for one complex hors d'oeuvre. And such a fish deserves an equally inventive spread, so treat cream cheese like compound butter and add zing with grated ginger, lime zest, and a bit of sour cream.

7. Ginger scallion salmon: Pour a gingery, scallion-y sauce over fish right out of the oven to not only hear the sizzle, but also to bring out the flavor of the sauce.

8. Butter-basted salmon with buttermilk garlic mashed sweet potatoes: Start salmon in oil, then baste in butter. That way, you get crispy skin (without worrying about the butter burning) and all the flavor butter has to offer.

9. Quick-smoked grilled salmon: Yes, you can smoke AND grill salmon at the same time. By using both coals and wood chips, you get perfectly cooked fish with a hint of smokiness in just 10 minutes.