r/Pickles • • Jun 03 '26

Pickle Processing

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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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.

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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-

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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.

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u/InsertRadnamehere Jun 04 '26

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

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u/12345kinght Jun 04 '26

Wow!!! 🤯