The Benefits of Utilising Fermentation Crocks for Superior Fermentation

Have you ever fermented vegies using your Thermomix® Appliance, or perhaps you’ve been thinking of making your first batch. Regardless of how long you’ve been making fermented foods, we all know that using the finest ingredients and best tools will result in delicious, gut-healthy homemade fermented foods that you can share with the whole family.

You may have heard about people making sauerkraut using mason jars, bottles or fermentation crocks. So today, let’s look at the most common tools that can be used for fermenting fruits and vegetables.

• Mason Jar and Jars With Clip Lids

These jars are easy to find and they have lids to make sure that dust or bugs do not penetrate the fermented foods that you’re making.

You can find a lot of these everywhere but to ensure the fermenting gases can escape,  it’s essential that you don’t close the lid too tight nor too loose. And since they’re not airtight, air can still pass through your food that undergoes fermentation, thus making it susceptible to mould.

Aside from that, mason jars don’t have weights that help to submerge the contents of your jar that will ensureyour food is fermented evenly.

A fermentation crock is a type of stoneware that maintains a stable temperature for fermenting fruits and vegies and contains an airlock to protect the contents from bugs and dust. 

Since fermentation crocks have lids that sit perfectly in an open moat, you can simply fill the moat with water and know that the crock will have an air-tight seal meaning mould will not develop and bugs won’t be able to penetrate your fermented foods.

And because of the water in the moat, gases that develop in the process of fermenting can escape.

In addition to being airtight, traditional fermentation crocks come with weights that keep your fermented foods evenly drenched in brine meaning all of your fruits and vegies ferment evenly and will not dry our or go mouldy.

We recommend the use of fermentation crocks when fermenting foods because it makes fermenting stress-free. How? You can simply put your fruits or veggies in the crock, add water in the moat and close the lid. This will allow for more healthy bacteria to grow without letting air come in contact with your ferment that can cause moulds, while keeping the bugs out. Simply add water to the moat every couple of days to maintain the air lock.

To get your own Fermentation Crock, you can check out ourCeramic Fermentation Crocks that come in 2 colours - black and white. The thing I love about ourFermentation Crocks is that they can hold up to 1 litre of fruits or vegetables which is a much more manageable amount of saurekraut or kimchi to store once ready.