Water or brine can be used, brine is good if you think the bag may leak as it won’t dilute the brine in the ferment.

We apologize that this will increase postage costs but this is because we have had to switch to fully tracked services as Royal mail do not seem to want to deliver letters or untracked post. Keep in mind that the brine will corrode metal, and without the lid the jars may turn on their side and fill with liquid from the ferment. Once we have received photographs of the damaged items and packaging we will replace the item as soon as possible. Lacto-fermentation, a process brought on through the presence of lactobacillus, gives fermented foods and drinks their signature tangy and sour taste, but also creates probiotics that aid digestion. We sell some beautiful handmade fermenting weights made right here in Oakland but for those of you who are more budget sensitive, I have a great alternative.They are all designed to keep your ferment below the brine, though some do a better job than others. These 4 or 5-star reviews represent the opinions of the individuals who posted them and do not reflect the views of Etsy. However, they seem to keep your ferment below the brine during the critical first week of fermentation.

If brine is evaporating (as can happen in an open system) you can just pour more in the top as needed. The perfect size and shape to sit on top of your fruit or veg inside a Ball Mason jar, these clear glass Pickle Pebbles are the perfect weight and thickness to keep food completely submerged but visible during the fermenting process. If the item has been stolen from a secure location or by a neighbour this will need to be reported to the police. Silicone cupcake liners – I’ve not tried these, but they should work nicely to hold down the ferment and then add a rock or other item to give it weight. Turning off the personalised advertising setting won’t stop you from seeing Etsy ads, but it may make the ads you see less relevant or more repetitive.Fermentation weights are being made from glass, silicone, plastic and stainless steel each with their own set of pros and cons as I discuss in What materials are safe in the acidic fermentation environment? In 9 TOP Fermentation Lids for Mason Jar Fermentation [HOW AIRLOCKS WORK], I cover the various types of fermentation lids. With loose vegetables – as in pickles, the bubbles easily work there way around the vegetables and rise to the surface. In the sections that follow, I group them into three styles of fermentatation weights and share the pros and cons fo each. As the packed sauerkraut expands, the jar is forced up against the lid preventing the mixture from moving up and out of the brine.

The screen holes in this material, allow brine and co2 gases to easily move upward in your jar or crock.We teach a lot of fermenting classes here at FARMcurious and one of the most common questions is whether or not homemade fermented foods like pickles, sauerkraut and other vegetable ferments should be weighted down and, if so, what to use as a weight. Porous weights work great, just make sure they are completely dry before storing, else mold can grow on them. There is no reasonable way to eliminate mold spores when it comes to removing them from a human environment so you’re always going to be in the presence of them.

We got to talking about sauerkraut and he mentioned that the sauerkraut he remembered making as a young boy was declared done when the brine levels dropped. The first fermentation weight of this style was made by MasonTops – a company located in Toronto, Canada – whose name includes the inventor of the glass canning jar. Got into pickling during lockdown, and purchased 2 boxes of these “pebbles” to keep the veg submerged in the pickling liquid. In a closed system like the FARMcurious Fermenting Set (or other airlock system) a weight is generally not needed because the airlock keeps the environment oxygen-free and safe from contamination of yeast and mold.We do try to keep it to a minimum BUT we would rather your item arrived in one piece than be mean with the packaging. Weighing your produce down under your salt brine will lessen the chance of mold growth or spoilage to your ferments. This means there are higher nutrient levels in the final product than other preservation methods like canning or dehydrating.