got me thinking (no small task there). It seems to me that “kosher” in regards to pickles can be a type of pickle (like dill, bread and butter, etc) or a reference to the fact that the pickle was produced in a kosher manner.
So, you could have a kosher dill pickle right? Could you have a kosher (type) pickle produced under non-kosher conditions, hence a kosher pickle that wasn’t kosher?
Well, IANAJ so maybe I am confused. Guess I am “in a pickle”.
While you probably could get away with “Cosh’r” or some such trademarkable invention, I think the FTC would be upset if you tried to create a brand called “Kosher” that wasn’t in fact Kosher. It would be misleading advertising and probably you would be prevented from marketing the product.
Kosher pickles are like English real ale or Belgian lambic. Pickling, in general, refers to subjecting something to an acid. In the case of pickled cucumbers, this is acetic acid (and maybe some lactic acid).
Many pickle-makers take distilled acetic acid and soak cucumbers in it. This is not Kosher. For it to be Kosher, the acid has to be formed by the natural action of bacteria in the pickle brine.
Eventually, you get acetic and lactic acid. But you’re not allowed to add it; it has to form naturally.
This is why some jars of Kosher pickles fizz when you open them, A Kosher pickle is an all-natural product, and a living product, like English real ale. The bacterial cultures are active and alive, as they are in good yoghurt.
Actually, the kosher laws do apply to vegetable products.
Certain grains or their byproducts (e.g. vinegar from wheat) must not be eaten or kept in the house during Passover, unless there is an absolute need for them (ie. you have an animal who must eat grain every day to live).
All grape products must be grown, picked, and processed in a certain way.
There are also rules regarding tithing produce grown in Israel, producing vinegar and other sharp and pungent foods, etc.
I hope that you can use a tank of glacial acetic vinegar at home, because that’s the only way you’re going to make kosher pickles from it. Even then, they’re only going to be kosher if you are Jewish, if you intend the pickles to be eaten by you and your family only, and if your kitchen and every spoon, bowl, jug and pot you use to make them has been properly kashered (prepared for the production of kosher food). Otherwise, your pickles are not kosher.
There is much, much more to producing kosher food than just using kosher ingredients. Any food produced or prepared outside the home must be prepared under strict rabbinical supervision in order to obtain a reputable kosher certification. The certifying organization you choose to supervise your food production will assign a rabbi to your plant. The rabbi has the right to, and will, go into every single step of your production, ensure that every single tool or appliance you use to produce food is capable of being kashered and has in fact already been kashered by the time the food is to be prepared. Every item down to the least ingredient must be approved, as must also be the containers, labels, and sealants. Production lines must be segregated so that meat products are never run on lines used to produce milk items, and vice versa. Certain foods (including but not limited to wine, grapes and Israel-grown produce) are subject to even stricter rules.
Producers for home use must follow the same rules, but do not have to have rabbinical supervision (of course) for the food they prepare for their family.
[QUOTE=watsondog]
Production lines must be segregated so that meat products are never run on lines used to produce milk items, and vice versa. QUOTE]
I should also point out, although it’s probably obvious, that appliances and utensils used to produce certified kosher food cannot have previously been used to produce trefe (non-kosher food such as pork, seafood and carmine) unless they are kashered in between. Kashering is a complicated and time-consuming process and can also be expensive (heating enough boiling water to fill a 1000-gallon tank to the very top isn’t cheap).
Kosher food producers generally either avoid non-kosher food in total or, if that’s not viable, produce the trefe at a separate plant. That way there’s no chance of cross-contamination or an ingredient mix-up.
