If you were in attendance for my fermenting classes, you heard me mention some equipment that would make your fermenting game strong.

Fermenting Crock – I have this one.  Patrick Yeung is a Toronto based ceramic artist that my mom met at the Toronto One of a Kind show.  I love the masculine look of his work.  This crock is a German style fermenting crock.  It has a lip on the top where you add water so gasses produced by the fermenting process can escape, but nothing can get in.  It actually makes me happy when you hear a little pop of air escaping, like a little fermenting toot. His crock also came with weights! Which is very important when buying a crock. You want to buy your weights from the same place that made the crock, otherwise you may never find weights that fit just right.

If you don’t have a fermenting crock, or you ferment so much that one fermenting vessel isn’t enough, you have options.

Mason Jars – I use these ones because they hold about one head of cabbage for a kimchi or sauerkraut.  These mason jars are “wide mouth” as well.   I walked into Canadian Tire and bought them (no shipping needed).  The issue with mason jars is the weights needed to hold the veggies under the juices produced. I jerry-rigged a small mason jar with my kids blocks. You have to get creative as the fermenting food must be covered in liquid. Some places say to use the core of the cabbage, but I worry about dirt getting into my delicate healthy bacteria. OR if your obsessed with kitchen tools, there are Pickling Pebbles!

Pickling Pebbles – My brother just got me these for my birthday and they are so cool!  They are handmade glass weights made of non-iridized soda glass and will never leach chemicals into your food. Use one or more weights to keep your food under the brine and free of oxygen exposure.  They come in two sizes (as do Mason jars) regular and wide mouth and are easy to clean.

Weck Jars – for pressurized storage are great.  I mentioned Weck jars for storing your flavoured kombucha.  I love these because they are easy to clean, and to remove your fermented fruit.  They pressure seal, which helps make your kombucha fizzy.  I got mine at Hendrix Restaurant Equipment.  They ship from Toronto.  I know that Crate and Barrel sells them, but you have to call them and place the order if you want to pick up in store.  (Because their Canadian website sucks I didn’t buy from them.)

This is a bit of an investment out of the gate, but if you’re going to be using these tools for years, it’s worth the money.