August 5, 2020

A Nifty Gadget for Lacto-Fermenting

Has anyone else had trouble finding canning supplies? I had been looking for low-sugar pectin for weeks, and noticed canning jars and lids always seem to be sold out, especially wide mouths. Canning salt seems to be sold out regularly too. I did find this, however.


I couldn't resist buying it. If you've ever lacto-fermented anything (like sauerkraut), then you know that the challenge is keeping all the chopped or shredded veggies submerged in the brine. The bits tend to float, and if they have contact with the air, they will get moldy. The package was less than $10 and I thought worth a try.

The box contained two stainless steel springs made to fit wide mouth canning jars and two fermentation lids.


In the above photo, you can see that the lids have a little check valve that lets the carbon dioxide escape but keeps oxygen out.

I was anxious to try this gadget, but we still had a half-full gallon crock of sauerkraut in the fridge, so I wasn't ready to make a new batch. Instead, I transferred my sauerkraut to a wide-mouth half-gallon canning jar to give the gadget a try.

The spring pushes the veggie contents down to keep them in the brine.



The lid holds the spring down and keeps the jar airtight. Unlike a sinking weight, the spring is easy to remove to get to the contents.


I finally ordered my pectin in bulk from Pacific Pectin, but I can't tell you where to buy the Ball fermentation kit. I found it at Walmart, but online, it's currently unavailable or double the price I paid for it. You may have to check out your own favorite local places that sell canning supplies, if you're interested.

30 comments:

Michelle said...

This is brilliant and timely! A friend of mine recommended Pickle Pipes and I was going to order some from Amazon, but did wonder what I would use for weights. This takes care of both; I'm going to see if my local Walmart has them, or search for them online.

Living Alone in Your 60's said...

Goodness this is all news to me. I'm intrigued as we dont do canning as you call it in the UK. Is it for produce that isn't heavy in salt or sugar?

daisy g said...

Nifty indeed!

Leigh said...

Michelle, I had to look up pickle pipes. Do you mean the silicon tops that look like nipples or the glass tubes with the creepy faces? I think they use glass weights with the silicon tops; in fact I ordered some of those weights with tops but can't find them because of our great pantry adventure. :)

Frugal, you don't do water bath canning of pickles, jams, and fruits, or pressure canning of vegetables? Interesting. It's one of my favorite ways to preserve foods.

The fermented foods aren't canned, however. It's just convenient to use the canning jars. Fortunately, I have plenty of jars and reusable canning lids, but finding the consumable supplies like pectin and canning salt have been more challenging this year.

Daisy, :)

Kris said...

Hi Leigh, I found these....fermentation lids. Seems to cover all the bases and an ingenious design. Even I would start fermenting something with these.

Windkey said...

Leigh,
Went straight to Amazon and found them right away. They sell a kit for $46.87 + $7.71 shipping which includes wide mouth jars, salt and a recipe book. I bought the Replacement Pack, which is what you have, for $18.46 with free shipping since I already have jars and salt. Thanks for the heads up!

Toirdhealbheach Beucail said...

Dear Lord, these are brilliant! Thanks Leigh!

(Note to self: Get more reusable canning supplies before they are gone).

wyomingheart said...

Great find for sure, Leigh! We have a lot of canning supplies that we have put aside for years, but we have noticed that the stores here are completely out of everything canning related. We have really been busy with preserving our bounty, and with each shelf filling, we are less anxious. The candy rooster squash is finally blooming. How are your cheesecake pumpkins doing? Have a fabulous week!

Cockeyed Jo said...

Leigh, check etsy for your canning flats in bulk. It's one of those things I know I'll need so it doesn't go to waste. I usually buy my reg flats in lots of 1,000 and my wide mouth flat in lots 500. This way I have more than enough for a year's worth of canning. As far as pectin goes, I make my own when I do my apples each year. I have been alternating Clear-Jel and my no pectin recipes this year. I don't know why. I tend to mix up my method each year to keep skills sharp. I buy pectin from Pompano site. They have both types and they sell it in bulk. I keep about half a case in reserve.

I saw a figure that there were 52% rise in home canning and 32% rise in homesteading. Nothing like a crisis to open people's eyes and send them scrambling.

Ed said...

I have not done any fermentation but from reading this blog and other places, I would like to try it someday.

I guess when the first cases of Covid-19 were hitting our shores and it looked like it would spread elsewhere, I stocked up on canning supplies, mostly lids and pickling spices so I haven't been looking. This past weekend however, I decided I was going to can some things we only use in small quantities and looked for half pint jars online. I was shocked at how high priced they were. I suspected my local grocery store would probably be sold out but decided to go there and look anyway. I was going through the produce aisle to stock up on a few things and right there between the banana and apple displays was a stack of half pint and pint canning jars and they were on clearance. I bought all the half pint jars they had in stock in that display (32) and never did go down the canning supply aisle to see if things were stocked up.

Goatldi said...

Well poo I was just at Walmart yesterday!
I will be back on the valley floor tomorrow as Miss Claire is coming to visit and we meet up there. What an ingenious solution as I have lost that battle before 😊

Leigh said...

Kris, I haven't seen those, they're different. Apparently, they don't weight the contents because the jar is filled to the top(?)

Windkey, I'm glad you found them!

TB, I hope you don't have problems finding canning supplies. It may just be local.

Wyomingheart, I'm glad I've accumulated my supplies over the years as well. Amazing how it's taken off this year.

Glad to hear your candy roasters are blooming! We have one volunteer that's already got an 8" squash on it! The cheese pumpkins have been very slow to grow. I suspect they're in survival mode like everything else in the garden, due to extremely hot weather and no rain!

Jo, thanks. I use Tattler lids so I don't need to buy any of those. I've made my own pectin in the past too, but this year our crabapple tree died! Very disappointed about that. I really like the Pacific Pectin I linked to. Pricey in bulk, but comes out to only about 50 per ounce! Considerably cheaper than all the others. Do you come out even with the Pomona? I always ended up with leftover of one packet or the other!

Ed, that was excellent forethought to stock up as early as you did. I bought more wide-mouth quarts early on because I wanted to can more meat. Also bought more half-gallon jars for dry vacuum canning. But I had to go through Tractor Supply online. Stores were empty even back then!

Good score on the half pint jars! Odd they were on clearance, considering the demand these days.

Goatldi, hopefully, you'll find it! Have a good visit!

SmartAlex said...

I too stocked up on what I thought I would need back in the beginning of April when the seed companies started running out of stock. But I always look for supplies when I happen to pass by them, and when I last looked a couple of weeks ago, stock was still OK. But locally they rarely have anything "fancy" like that nifty invention. That's quite fascinating.

Michelle said...

Leigh, my friend got the silicon Masontops Pickle Pipes, but they do require weights. I am picking up the last three boxes of what you got from a Walmart Supercenter today!

Leigh said...

SmartAlex, stocking up was a wise decision, I think. We all hope it doesn't get worse, but this year has thrown so many surprises at us, who knows?

Michelle, I'm glad you found them! They work with both quart and half-gallon wide mouths, which is convenient.

Nancy In Boise said...

Looks good! Kind of sad that it took them so long to get on the ball with that but that's an old company. I was able to get a different fermentation kit through my local Ace Hardware that I special ordered so they might be an option possibly?

Leigh said...

Nancy, yes, I think Ace would be a good option, probably some of the other hardware stores that have been around for awhile too.

Retired Knitter said...

Well I don't can but I did have a bit of a laugh about your first comment - things sold out. Since the pandemic began that has been the story of a lot of things. My son, who is handy and like to do odd jobs around the house and build things has the same problem! Seems like everyone has time on their hands and is doing the kinds of stuff they never had time for before!!

Leigh said...

RT, well, you can't blame folks for wanting to keep busy! I suspect some of it has to do with manufacturing slow-downs as well, considering how many places have shut down and sent workers home.

Cockeyed Jo said...

Leigh, there always seem to leftovers. Not sure why that is.

Cockeyed Jo said...

Leigh I use regular deer apples skins and cores to make my pectin. I've never tried crab apples. I'll also make some apple cider vinegar with the cores and skins too. Nothing goes to waste around here. What's leftover either goes to the chickens or into the compost pile. Apples are a three or four ways use item, canning the fruit for pies, apple butter, fruit, apple jelly, then it's the above.

Leigh said...

Jo, that's exactly how it should be.

Mama Pea said...

What a neat little tool! I've never seen anything like that before. All canning supplies are very scarce around here. And if you can find anything, the price is jacked up astronomically. Which really bothers me when so many people are starting (at least trying) to grow some of their own food. Those of us who have been living the homesteading life for long enough know it's always wise to have back-ups tucked away. Whether it's an extra filter for a vehicle or pair of work gloves or canning supplies or pickling salt. Doesn't hurt and isn't that big an investment when supplies aren't available.

Leigh said...

Mama Pea, I agree. I've always thought everyone should grow at least something edible, but I suppose not everyone enjoys gardening. The events of 2020 have probably been something of a wake-up call to many people. It's a more challenging time to get started on these basic life skills, but still a good idea.

Michelle said...

Leigh, I use don't get that – "not everyone enjoys gardening." Since when is ENJOYMENT the sole criterium for whether or not you do something? I could rattle off a long list of things I don't particularly ENJOY doing, but they still NEED doing, or are beneficial for me/my family/my community/my planet. And there is a certain satisfaction for contributing, whether I "enjoy" the activity or not. Joy in service, in other words.

Leigh said...

Michelle, your problem is that you have a work ethic! I don't think that's fashionable these days. ;)

Honestly? I don't get it either. I remember though, when I was quite young, asking a friend's grandmother if she would teach me how to can. She refused and gave me a good scolding. "You have money! You don't have to grow your own food!" In his later adult years, this friend liked to buy the most expensive options, hire out jobs he could do himself (like changing the oil in his car) and use his credit card for everything. He felt that this behavior highlighted his affluence, which had been a sought after goal. It didn't make sense to me, and we never could understand one another's point of view.

Michelle said...

Gulp; that's quite the story. Aren't we all glad you married Dan and not HIM!?!

Leigh said...

Michelle, I think one of the things it taught me was how much parents and grandparents influence how kids perceive things. If our kids see that we love doing a thing and if we take time to explain the value of our choices, then kids are more likely to be drawn to value it themselves.

Dan spent close to 20 years as an over-the-road truck driver, and met numerous drivers who came from farming families but grew up to hate farming. After talking to enough of these guys, the pattern became clear: 1) Their parents constantly complained about farming, and 2) pretty much used their kids as slave labor. No sense of purpose or joy was imparted. The kids couldn't get off the farm fast enough.

Nowadays, our culture values affluence over work, and too many folks seem to see growing food as work. I think it's going to be a very long while before things get better, however, so hopefully people are figuring out now that some work is good work.

Stephanie said...

I've never used weights for my cultured foods but these intrigued me. I found them at my local Walmart and tried them. They are great. Thanks for the information. Canning jars are no where to be found. Luckily, I kept all my jars in our move. I have 6 moving boxes full of jars and soon I'll be able to unpack them and use them.

Leigh said...

Stephanie, I'm glad they worked for you. I've done some pretty awkward weighting of fermented foods in the past and was glad to find these too!

Canning supplies are nearly impossible to find now. I suppose it's good more people are canning, but I'm guessing we all wished we'd stocked up on more.