I may have missed someone else suggesting this, but for small items and jump
rings, a half cup of pickle will come to 150F in about 3 minutes in a
microwave oven. Your time and temp may vary but it is just too convenient
not to use. When was the last time you heated a cup of coffee on the stove?

I find the difference between hot and cold to be too great to ignore unless
there is no immediate need for the parts. Hot pickle cleans my parts in
about 3 minutes compare to hours or overnight at room temp.

As a point of interest, as it heats, the pickle makes strange squeeking and
snapping sounds even when still cold. I gave up trying to find out why and
it doesn't seem to have any effect on anything I can see. If anyone thinks
otherwise, let me know.

I also took Peter's advice and bought 7lbs of Ph minus at Ace Hardware for
about $9.

I also pickled several gallons of jalapenos and green beans this week but I
decided against sodium bisulfate. I ferment them in salt in the traditional
way and you would not believe what beans taste like pickled with the hot
peppers. Cools the peppers and heats the beans. Yah I know, millionaires
don't have to make pickles.

js


--
PHOTO OF THE WEEK: http://schmidling.netfirms.com/pow.htm
Astronomy, Beer, Cheese, Gems, Sausage, http://schmidling.netfirms.com