The direct Mains powered food based organic lighting and cooking thread

[Gyro]

Given the tastefully rather suspect turn of the "Girl in critical condition after fault earth electric shock" thread... https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/girl-in-critical-condition-after-fault-earth-electric-shock/msg1446271/?topicseen#msg1446271

I thought it would be a good idea to start this thread as a more healthy outlet for stories of direct mains powered lighting and cooking.

For my contribution I'd like to add the attached, rather scientific analysis of organic lighting from mains energized Dill (and associated) Pickles, carried out by the DEC (Digital) Western Research Laboratory back in 1989. 

The Report is Titled:

WRL Technical Note TN-13
Characterization of Organic Illumination Systems

Abstract:

Recent anecdotal reports of novel principles of illumination have stressed
qualitative aspects. This note presents a quantitative study of an organic il-
lumination system, characterizing the temperature and current-flow
properties of the system as functions of time and device parameters.
Theoretical and practical implications of these measurements are discussed.

A masterclass in how long you can go in a document without actually mentioning the electrified pickles! 

EDIT: I wish I had a copy of the original version created in Runoff (the in-house distinctly non-wysiwg document generator) - this one has been transcribed to PDF.

[james_s]

I my highschool physics class I remember the teacher doing a demonstration involving connecting 120V to a dill pickle. It lit up rather nicely, flickering and flashing for a few seconds it was connected. Then after shutting off the power another student dared him to eat it so he shrugged and took a bite. The look on his face was priceless as he almost choked and spit it out, he said he figured warm pickle wouldn't be too bad but apparently it tasted terrible.

[Gyro]

Interesting, the DEC study indicates that the gastronomic properties of the pickles weren't affected:

8. Gastronomical effects

We also investigated the effect of electrical simulation upon the gastronomical qualities of
pickles. Subsequent to electrostimulation, the ‘‘Kosher’’ pickle was dissected using standard
laboratory techniques to extract a .2 inch slice, roughly equidistant between the two electrodes.
Careful examination revealed no tissue scarring, but a small loss of moisture content. Surpris-
ingly, this slice did not exhibit the egregiously noisome odor noted in section 7. Further testing
indicated that the taste was neither enhanced nor diminished, but remained ‘‘very much like a
pickle.’’ Our conclusion is that the culinary potential of electrical stimulation is limited.

Maybe the secret is to remove the electrode portions! 

[james_s]

It's been over 20 years since it happened but I recall he just bit off the end so it would have been right where the electrode entered. I don't remember what the electrode was made of either, I would guess there would be some reactions going on that would result in some material from the electrode being left in the pickle.

Either way, I much prefer my dill pickles cold. Cooked pickle sounds disgusting.