Storing pickle solution

[lucy81]

Sorry for being a complete newbie (again), but....


I only need to pickle a few items. I haven't made up the solution yet! But I was wondering, is there a safe way to store pickle when not in use?

I don't know how long it will be until I need to pickle again. I don't really want to leave it hanging around in a Pyrex dish. Or should I just dispose of it once I'm done?


Thanks

[Solunar Silver Studio]

Well - I very rarely use pickle as I work predominantly with fine silver and pmc that don't need pickling...but I do have a brew made up and I do use it occasionally for Argentium as this does discolour a bit and needs a quick pickling! I have my pickle in a tiny little ceramic, lidded casserole dish which just sits perfectly into an old, tealight powered chocolate fondue set frame. When I finish with it I blow out the candle...pop the lid on and leave it until next time. When I want to use it again I find that the lid is usually stuck on by tiny crystals deposited by the pickle vapour and splashes and the contents is exactly as I had left it - with no evaporation - and is ready to power up again! As far as I am aware - there is no need to chuck your pickle away until it becomes quite discoloured...and even if it tends to dry out because you don't have a tight enough fitting lid, I don't think there is a problem with just adding water to the deposited crystals and re-disolving them.

As usual - there are chemists and long term pickle users on the forum who will know the facts better than I...but no-one seems to have answered you yet...and I can't bear to see a big fat 0 in the replies section!!

[Green Beetle]

Like you, I only need to pickle a few items at a time. I keep the pickle in a screw top plastic tumbler thing of the sort available cheaply from Wilcos, Tescos or anywhere else that has a kitchen section (I suppose I should label it too in case someone decides to take a swig). It seems to last for ages.

When I want to use it I just nuke the tumbler+pickle for a few seconds in the microwave and put the tumbler into an old aluminium camping saucepan full of hot water over a tealight plate warmer. Sounds more complicated than it is. The plate warmer cost about £1.50 off eBay.

It works for the small number of smallish things I produce. I'll treat myself to a small slow cooker one day after the Lindstrom ultra flush cutters, the disc cutter, the - oh you know how it goes!

[Boo]

Much the same as others, I use a Pyrex casserole dish over a tealight in use with my citric acid pickle and it's one of the newer dishes that has a plastic airtight lid, so I just pop the lid on when not in use - I bought it for that reason - it's a shallow flat bottomed dish. When I need it, I pop it in the microwave to warm it initially, then over the plate warmer flame to keep it warm until I'm done.

I have some old very blue pickle used with copper and I just keep that in a sealed jam jar. I tend to prefer glass jars for chemical storage rather than plastics - because I have no idea what might react.

[Trudy]

I keep my pickle in a lidded glass jam jar and rewarm and reuse it each day until the time comes when it takes ages and ages for anything to pickle

[lucy81]

thanks everybody! no doubt i will be back with yet another chemistry-related question soon!

[glen]

waste not, want not....
REMEMBER SAFTEY FIRST!!!
Never throw acids or corrosive liquids into the water supply, disperse of chemicals safely.
The main reason for this apart from the obvious is that the acids may destroy or completely erode some systems.

Store chemicals out of direct sunlight or heat in a safe enclosed environment in a good sealed glass or ceramic container, anything metal or plastic will be corroded.