Title: Suitable Containers, Covers, and Weights for Fermenting Food
Categories: Canning, Pickles, Preserves
Yield: 1 text

A 1-gallon container is needed for each 5 pounds of fresh vegetables.
Therefore, a 5-gallon stone crock is of ideal size for fermenting about
25 pounds of fresh cabbage or cucumbers. Food-grade plastic and glass
containers are excellent substitutes for stone crocks. Other 1- to
3-gallon non-food-grade plastic containers may be used if lined inside
with a clean food-grade plastic bag. Caution: Be certain that foods
contact only food-grade plastics. Do not use garbage bags or trash
liners. Fermenting sauerkraut in quart and half-gallon Mason jars is an
acceptable practice, but may result in more spoilage losses.

Cabbage and cucumbers must be kept 1 to 2 inches under brine while
fermenting. After adding prepared vegetables and brine, insert a
suitably sized dinner plate or glass pie plate inside the fermentation
container. The plate must be slightly smaller than the container
opening, yet large enough to cover most of the shredded cabbage or
cucumbers. To keep the plate under the brine, weight it down with 2 to 3
sealed quart jars filled with water. Covering the container opening with
a clean, heavy bath towel helps to prevent contamination from insects
and molds while the vegetables are fermenting. Fine quality fermented
vegetables are also obtained when the plate is weighted down with a very
large clean, plastic bag filled with 3 quarts of water containing 4-1/2
tablespoons of salt. Be sure to seal the plastic bag. Freezer bags sold
for packaging turkeys are suitable for use with 5-gallon containers.

The fermentation container, plate, and jars must be washed in hot sudsy
water, and rinsed well with very hot water before use.

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* USDA Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539 (rev. 1994)

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