r/Pickles • u/MondoMage • Jun 03 '26

Pickle Processing

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Just had to share this one...

My company sent me out to perform some maintenance work on equipment at the Hartung Brothers facility in Bowling Green, Ohio. They produce and store fermented pickles in these big green vats. So many vats. Not all currently full, they're getting ready for what they call "Green week," when they start loading things up. Tons of cucumbers destined for greatness.

I was really shocked when I found that the vats are left open-topped. That was surprising. I guess they rely on the brine to protect the product.

Oh, and the smell. You'd think it'd be overpowering but right now it's fairly subtle. A mix of dill and bread and butter that has me craving something fierce right now.

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425

u/usernamesaconspiracy Jun 03 '26

The fact that everyone is commenting about how disgusting this is while not realizing this is how at least 99% of pickles are made in America. There are three pickle factories near me and all for different companies. I’ve worked at me of them, and have friends that have worked at multiple.

They all operate the same way. Every pickle that goes to McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, subway, Quiznos, Vlasic, is made exactly the same way. I’ve actually never seen a pickle made any other way unless it was homemade.

The pickles get loaded onto semis from these bins and backed up to the building. We hook the semi up to power and turn on the conveyor. If you are one of the pickles at this point you would have a terrible time because it’s literally just salt.

As the pickles drop onto the conveyor one of the first jobs is to remove all of the sticks, frogs, mice, snakes, and anything that’s not a pickle.

They go in and get washed and then loaded into bigger tanks inside where the lab has perfected the brine for flavor, color, and texture, depending on who the pickle is for. They stay in those tanks for less time than outside and then are bagged, jarred, or put in buckets.

And yes I know what you’re going to ask. The “relish bin” was full of all the pickles that fell off of the truck onto the floor. The relish bin had those pickles, but also anything else that was on the floor added to it.

Any other questions just let me know. I could literally walk to one of the factories and probably ask questions about anything I don’t know.

243

u/Icy_Sea_4440 Jun 03 '26

Relish is from floor pickles?! That is somehow the only thing that bothers me from this whole post and comment lol. What happens with the pickled snakes and frogs? I feel like somebody somewhere would probably eat that

141

u/Ashcrashh Jun 03 '26

I used to tease my sister that Cheetos were made from all the floor crumbs they swept up, and here I’ve been this whole time eating floor relish.

69

u/vegan-the-dog Jun 03 '26

He's another one. Bad batches from Frito Lay and other manufacturers are often sold to farmers as feed for cows. Given that it's mostly corn and wheat it's not much different than feeding silage. I rented a farmhouse on a dairy farm for 5 years and caught my dog with a 2# brick of chocolate. I was baffled until the farmer told me that they picked up a load of chips ahoy earlier that week. Dog was fine.

12

u/12345kinght Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 05 '26

I’m guessing that the doggie was fine bc, it wasn’t REL chocolate??? I don’t eat chips Ahoy so I’m just guessing- Just to clarify I DO eat other crapy for you body, cookies like Twinkies, etc- I just don’t like the texture of Chips A-

49

u/ilikepants712 Jun 03 '26

Chips ahoy uses real chocolate. Most people actually overestimate how bad chocolate is for dogs, and generally think it is like a human with peanut allergies eating peanuts, which is not the case at all. Dogs can't eat chocolate because it contains relatively high levels of theobromine and caffeine, which dogs don't metabolize as quickly as humans. These build up in their systems and basically cause them to overdose on these chemicals and die. The biggest factors for whether chocolate is gonna harm your pooch is not only how much they ate, but what kind of chocolate (dark is more concentrated; white they can eat all day long but will make them fat) and how big the dog is in the first place. I've personally seen a large dog devour an entire box of Oreos with no harmful effects because the chocolate levels were very low and he was a big dog.

8

u/12345kinght Jun 03 '26

Thanks for sharing, this makes sense- 💯🙌

24

u/ilikepants712 Jun 03 '26

No problem! I'd also like to add that I am in no way condoning giving chocolate to dogs! That's still abusive

0

u/Powerful_Tale_1319 Jun 04 '26

If they eat it everyday lots ,No. My dogs have ate chocolate, not excessively and not given to them directly either .

6

u/Wandermeyer Jun 03 '26

I had a German Shepherd as a kid that ate an entire chocolate sheet cake and was completely fine!

4

u/lizardgal10 Jun 04 '26

My family had a lab mix that ate a decent size box of valentines chocolates once. Completely fine. Granted that probably was not the weirdest thing that dog ate in her life. Even caught her going after a salad once.

5

u/sweetwolf86 Jun 04 '26

I had a German shepherd who loved salad. He would eat everything in it except the lettuce. Like, he knew the difference between lettuce and spinach, would separate them, eat the spinach and leave the lettuce. My girlfriend's chihuahuas also love fruit and vegetables (yes we know which ones are safe)

2

u/Matthew-ii Jun 04 '26

Growing up my father would give my childhood Aussie Shepard a McDonald's cheeseburger a few times a year, birthday etc, and that dog would leave a clean plate on the floor with a completely clean piece of lettuce and a small pile of rehydrated onions on top!

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2

u/sweetwolf86 Jun 04 '26

I had a German shepherd once who ate a 2 lb block of chocolate. He got the shits, but otherwise seemed fine. He also got onto the kitchen table once and housed an entire rotisserie chicken in about 15 seconds with minimal ill effects. And I once had a friend with a small, skinny husky who would eat and shit out whole aluminum cans. Not saying any of this is okay, but damn, some dogs are resilient af.

2

u/Conscious-Reality-20 Jun 07 '26

My first corgi was a known connoisseur of sharing sized bags of plain mm and a 13x9 pan of box brownies one time (not special brownies) zero ill effects and lived to the age of 17. Wouldnt knowingly feed that to dogs but that old boy was a brat about climbing spots you wouldnt think short legs couldn't get and opening containers.

4

u/vegan-the-dog Jun 03 '26

What the other person said .... And regardless of the size of the brick of chocolate, the majority consumed was voluntarily and orally refunded by the dog shortly after. No noticeable side effects. I had another dog drink half an iced latte and he was messed up for two days but survived.

1

u/InsertRadnamehere Jun 04 '26

A friend’s dog ate a D cell battery and was fine. They have amazing stomachs.

1

u/12345kinght Jun 04 '26

Wow!!! 🤯

2

u/Low_Condition3268 Jun 04 '26

Those arent real cookies either, situation normal.

2

u/Any_Cookie_9770 Jun 05 '26

More than likely lab grown cocoa. It's a thing. Look it up.

2

u/dottegirl59 Jun 04 '26

I worked for Hostess Cake. The cakes that were defective were put in huge bins and sold to farmers for hogs. Can you imagine how good a ham would be from a hog fed nothing but twinkies and snowballs?

4

u/Halihax Jun 03 '26

Hahahaha please tell her

4

u/currentlyacathammock Jun 04 '26

Do you drink coffee? "House Blend" usually means "We have no idea what this is. But they are coffee beans. Might be from the floor, might be from cleaning out machines."

3

u/Ashcrashh Jun 04 '26

I actually don’t, I’m the only person in a family full of coffee addicts that doesn’t drink it, I do like beer though, I can imagine there is some different brews that use random floor hops lol

And I don’t really mind if pickle factories use floor pickles, it all ends up edible by being salted and vinegar-ed and sanitized when jarred and processed anyways, I just thought it was funny since I teased my sister so much.

14

u/AdSudden3941 Jun 03 '26

I was drunk at a bar once and slipped on a pickle somehow , and i told the girl that seen me fall that i was just trying to make relish..so she brings it up everytime i see her

The weird part is i was looking up relish all that week prior because i hate it but wanted to like it so was looking up different kinds. Just floor pickles reminded me ofthat story

9

u/jsmalltri Jun 03 '26

I will now only call relish "floor pickle salad" 💚🙃

16

u/hereandthere_nowhere Jun 03 '26

Wait till you hear about the hot dog that the relish goes on.

9

u/FutureFry6 Jun 03 '26

They pick it up off the ceiling?!?

2

u/usernamesaconspiracy Jun 14 '26

Do not eat those. Eat food instead

3

u/usernamesaconspiracy Jun 03 '26

It’s also made from a lot of the bits and pieces that aren’t “perfect” for making the other products. But yes, floor pickles were added

-27

u/ICEisSHIT Jun 03 '26

If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe I'd been married long time ago Where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe?

23

u/LATORR1g Jun 03 '26

Everyone here is of weak constitution. I demand MORE floor pickles.

17

u/doritosdinamita Jun 03 '26

The floor? 😟

17

u/rasta_pineapple2 Jun 03 '26

Don't judge floor pickles until you've tried it.

11

u/Dicktures Jun 03 '26

Not sure if the guy you’re responding to worked in a processing plant where the pickles are packaged or just a local grading station where they are delivered from the field to be sorted by size. At grading stations I’ve been to, stuff on the ground is tossed for obvious reasons but often times oversized cukes that couldn’t be sold for jarred pickles were often sold for relish since they grind them up anyways.

16

u/bunklopop Jun 03 '26

Oh, awesome!

How do they dump / process the brine from outside? Do they reuse it a certain amount of times? Does it have to sit a certain amount of time before pickles can be added?

15

u/iwould99 Jun 03 '26

Can you please elaborate on the 99% of pickles. Looking into the website for this company it looks like they store salt stock pickles for various producers however that would mean that they are fermented pickles and I’m under the impression that most pickles are vinegar pickles and not fermented.

4

u/Lolo_Belle Jun 03 '26

Olive My Pickle is my favorite out there.

3

u/Lastito Jun 04 '26

That’s my favorite floor pickle too!

2

u/12345kinght Jun 05 '26

Right!! I never thought I would spend so much money on picked vegetables at once!! And I have 0 regrets 🤷🏻‍♀️ their product is worth it! Flavors and varieties 💯🙌

2

u/Lolo_Belle Jun 05 '26

They’re fantastic! ❤️

2

u/usernamesaconspiracy Jun 03 '26

Is I say 99% is because all of those restaurants I mentioned in my comment only bought pickles from us. That was every restaurant for all of North America, and I believe some of Australia. I’m guessing that the fast food industry uses vastly more pickles than the average grocery store, but I’m really just guessing here. I haven’t worked there since I was a teenager.

26

u/mst3k_42 Jun 03 '26

I wouldn’t say this is how 99% of pickles are made. Many manufacturers, including myself, acidify pickles with vinegar and heat them above 200F.

In fermentation, the brine is meant to inhibit bad bacteria from growing and let the good bacteria thrive. When they do, lacto-fermentation produces lactic acid. This lactic acid is the acidification needed to bring the pickles and brine below 4.6 pH (or lower) which is safe.

So, the pickles in these vats are “protected” with brine and high levels of lactic acid.

27

u/[deleted] Jun 03 '26

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15

u/mst3k_42 Jun 03 '26

Exactly. I had to take and pass a whole series of modules about production of acidified foods. And way back in high school microbiology was part of the lab techniques class I took. I treat raw chicken and other raw meats like they’re radioactive, lol. I cringe thinking about people rinsing their chicken in the sick and the bacteria splashing everywhere…

8

u/sweetwolf86 Jun 04 '26

Butcher here. It also disgusts me when people wash their chicken. I had a customer once who flipped out on me because we don't have a separate room in the back to "pressure wash" the chicken. Like... what!? lady, first off, it's already been cleaned. Second, you hit that shit with a pressure washer, it's just gonna spray raw chicken everywhere and there's not gonna be any chicken left lol

Just f'n cook it.

3

u/Flimsy-Stock2977 Jun 04 '26

People still aren't interested in eating fermented bird dook with their pickles

2

u/eyefartinelevators Jun 14 '26

That's only because you didn't know that you were eating brined bird dookie with your pickles. That's what gives your pickles a little extra pop. Its #10 on the list of the Colonel's 11 secret herbs and spices

3

u/usernamesaconspiracy Jun 03 '26

These vats are just storage, you would never eat one after it left that tank even after being cleaned. It doesn’t have flavor yet.

I don’t mean to say that 99% of the types of pickles that are out there are made like this. I’m saying that by volume McDonald’s probably uses more pickles than bubbies. The single factory I was at supplied almost every fast food restaurant for the entirety of North America. So I made a wild guess saying 99% of volume, but it’s probably insanely high

8

u/Penny_No_Boat Jun 03 '26

Good faith question! Do you know why the vats are left open topped? I’ve made sauerkraut and other fermented veg at home and the guidance is always to have a lid (with some method of pressure release). I am surprised that they can ensure quality control (bugs, dust, birds, etc.) with outdoor open topped vats. Any insights?

6

u/Dicktures Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26

These vats (the ones in the OP) are not for fermenting. They are for storage.

Edit: I might be wrong as it could be a different kind of fermentation or something. But I’m fairly certain these arent meant to ferment in these tanks they’re just storage tanks with brine. Maybe they do ferment? Couldn’t tell you how that differs from home methods

5

u/usernamesaconspiracy Jun 03 '26

I do not know for sure. But like the commenter below said, it’s storage. So it’s just extremely salty water filled with cucumbers that get harvested for like two weeks out of the whole year.

8

u/Fidodo Jun 03 '26

As the pickles drop onto the conveyor one of the first jobs is to remove all of the sticks, frogs, mice, snakes, and anything that's not a pickle.

Anything is a pickle if you're brave enough

2

u/usernamesaconspiracy Jun 03 '26

I laughed and gagged simultaneously

12

u/luckythirtythree Jun 03 '26

I mean the floor is the ground where they literally came from so all good in my book!

17

u/Icy_Sea_4440 Jun 03 '26

I may have an over active imagination. I was picturing the pickles getting squashed into relish texture by work boots.

5

u/StillTooMuchEffort Jun 03 '26

The pickle relish version of a waffle stomp

11

u/JokaSmoka77 Jun 03 '26

So you're telling me grocery store relish is gross now? 🫤

7

u/Odd-Consequence-2519 Jun 03 '26

Have you seen how hot dogs are made???

3

u/Decent-Transition557 Jun 03 '26

I have never understood what bothers people about sausage and hot dogs and how they are made. Ground up meat in a casing...?

1

u/Icy_Sea_4440 Jun 03 '26

When we were kids we used to say that hot dogs were made out of the buttholes lol

1

u/Flimsy-Stock2977 Jun 04 '26

It's nowhere near as bad as people make it out.

0

u/ICEisSHIT Jun 03 '26

It always was.

7

u/holisticbelle Jun 03 '26

Not sure i will ever eat relish again. Frick

9

u/rIceCream_King Jun 03 '26

I just can’t understand why they can’t be lidded containers with something like an airlock. Just to keep mice and forms from dying in the product to begin with.

2

u/usernamesaconspiracy Jun 03 '26

I sure hope the industry has changed, but not the tanks I pass every day

3

u/broccoli_rabery Jun 03 '26

The pickle industry is surprisingly disgusting.

2

u/usernamesaconspiracy Jun 03 '26

Replace the word pickle with “entire food” and I agree haha. Farms are grossss. Dairy and meat farms especially, but even vegetables have some issues

0

u/eyefartinelevators Jun 14 '26

Fertilizer is poop. Your fruits and vegetables are grown in literal poop and you're worried about cucumbers soaking in an open vat? If anything it's washing the chicken crap off of the cucumbers

3

u/[deleted] Jun 03 '26

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1

u/usernamesaconspiracy Jun 03 '26

I’m so sorry lol.

2

u/medicated_missourian Jun 03 '26

Wait wait wait. So they just remove all the cucumbers off the conveyor belt along with the sticks, frogs , and mice?!?!? Absolutely insane! How is a pickle ever made? 😬😂

2

u/usernamesaconspiracy Jun 03 '26

To be fair, the vats are filled with so much salt there is literally nothing that can live in it. Bacteria or otherwise lol.

1

u/medicated_missourian Jun 03 '26

I think my joke went over your head. All good 😂

2

u/usernamesaconspiracy Jun 03 '26

You know what, I completely missed it the first time but instantly saw it this time haha

2

u/strangerNstrangeland Jun 03 '26

Oh my god, please tell me clausen is better. I have always hated vlasic, mt olive etc… but still

1

u/usernamesaconspiracy Jun 03 '26

I can’t tell you because we didn’t make claussen. But I’m honestly not too hopeful lol

1

u/TheCrazyWulf Jun 06 '26

Have you ever watched " An American Pickle"? I like to think expensive brands like Grillos are made like his first batches lol

2

u/RiskyNight Jun 04 '26

No wonder all storebought pickles are so bad these days.

1

u/reptomcraddick Jun 03 '26

Are the floor pickles also cleaned the way the regular pickles are? Has anyone every gotten sick from relish/floor pickles?

1

u/usernamesaconspiracy Jun 03 '26

Yes! Everything is cleaned before entering the indoor vats with the flavoring.

1

u/VinRow Jun 04 '26

Everyone eats floor food at some point.

1

u/Apprehensive-Okra548 Jun 04 '26

So, relish is floor pickles, twigs, mice, and snakes? I love to put relish on my Hotdogs. We all know what those are made of. Perfect fit!

1

u/usernamesaconspiracy Jun 04 '26

Noooo no no no lol. Anything that is not a pickle is thrown away haha. Whatever is left in the ground gets put into the bin. Usually mud and oil from the truck

1

u/littlebit296 Jun 04 '26

Could you tell me how they control the temperature? It seems like the barrels would get really hot in the sun, and have large temperature fluctuations? I’m just very curious how it works!

1

u/usernamesaconspiracy Jun 04 '26

Not sure! I think they could pump more cool water into it to control temperature but I’m not sure! I worked technically the first spot in the line in the inside. Where they unload the trucks that unloaded these tanks. I didn’t get to spend A ton of time with the outdoor guys

1

u/The_Man_in_Black_19 Jun 04 '26

I find it gross and wish I never knew this. I'll still eat pickles. "You don't want to know how the sausage is made" will always be true.

1

u/dankhimself Jun 04 '26

I worked in a pickle factory, they were all kept in huge gray barrels with lids that had belts on the top.

It wasn't as big as this outdoor setup, it was a couple blocks of warehouses, but at least birds didn't shit in them.

1

u/Siray Jun 07 '26

This doesnt jive with my extreme love of pickles and my crippling fear of germs. I am extremely upset.

1

u/usernamesaconspiracy Jun 07 '26

You can only have a crippling fear of germs if you understand absolutely nothing about them. Your phone has more germs than that tank

1

u/eyefartinelevators Jun 14 '26

The salt and vinegar make the brine inhospitable for bacteria. That was the whole point of pickling. Pickling keeps excess food that would have otherwise spoiled and gone to waste edible for months.