"Pickling jewelry" is a thing.

We get jaded sometimes. We admit it. We look ahead on the product schedule and see a dreary march of overfamiliar standbys and it just feels like all the wonder and joy has been drained from the world. We will never be surprised ever again.

Like this Hamilton Beach Set ‘n’ Forget Programmable Slow Cooker again. A six-quart stoneware crock, digital programmable timer, locking travel lid. A probe to make sure your food is cooked through. Casseroles, brownies, pulled pork. Maybe essential oils or something, but mostly casseroles. CASSEROLES. We know the drill so well, we want to take a drill to our skull.

Then we noticed something. This set also includes a Party Dipper Food Warmer, to warm your party dipping food. It keeps it melty and smooth but doesn’t get so hot it burns. OK, a little twist, that’s something. Get some queso and artichokes into the mix. It’s something. But is it enough?

Hang on. Wait a minute. Of the more than 900 Amazon reviews, a couple of dozen mention something called “jewelry pickling”, and how this works great for that. What is that? Let’s solve the mystery! To the Internet!

OK, so it turns out that when you solder or otherwise heat metal to work with it, copper oxides rise to the surface of the metal. These visible purple, blue, and grey blotches are called “firescale”. To get that firescale off, you have to dissolve the metal in a warm, acidic solution. That’s jewelry pickling. The vat you soak the jewelry in is called your “pickle pot”. And a least a couple of dozen jewelry makers on Amazon have found this food warmer a satisfactory pickle pot.

So hey! We learned something new. We’re never going to do it ourselves, and probably neither will you, but that’s not really the point. The world got a little bigger for us, the details a little more filled-in. Our brains made a new little connection to help stay supple and strong. Hooray for learning!

Too bad we’ll probably be selling something boring tomorrow.