Fermenting with Mason Top Pickle Pipes...

I am so excited to tell you about a new product.  I bought mine on one of those "start-up" websites.  I had to w.a.i.t. to get them, but now that they are in production, I'm sure they can be purchased normally.

Ta-Da!!!

Here is the link to the website: http://www.masontops.com/

This is a fairly thick silicone topper for ANY wide mouth mason jar. They come in 3's.  All you need is a canning ring, the jar and the pickle pipe!  On the top of the little protrusion there is a small "X" cut in the top, that is sealed until the pressure from fermentation builds up and then it "burbs" out a little bit, as needed.

I am NOT in any way, being paid for this endorsement.

I had some fresh vegetables that I don't want to waste and will be too busy for a while to use them up, so I decided to make a vegetable ferment using a Pickle Pipe.  Here is my jar:

And here is what I put inside of it yesterday:

A two-quart mixture of:

red radishes - cut in chunks

daikon radish - peeled and cut in chunks

carrots - peeled and sliced

Nappa cabbage - cut in chunks

To that, I added 1 Tablespoon dill weed, 1 teaspoon paprika and two bay leaves.

I filled the jar to within an inch of the top, then packed it down and added a "simple brine" which is:

1 quart water that has 3 Tablespoons of salt well-dissolved in it.  

In this case, 1 quart of brine was a perfect amount.

On top of the vegetables, I placed 3 nice boiled rocks from our creek to keep the vegetables under the water.  You can see a small piece of leaf from the Nappa cabbage floating up. Mason Tops also sell glass weights for this purpose.

Then I put on the Pickle Pipe with a canning ring and it's ready to ferment!  You can see that the top is bulging up a little bit, which indicates that the fermentation has already begun. The reason it is bulging is because you need to squeeze the little top thing before using it the first time, and I had not done that, so, I was easily able to see the evidence of fermentation.  I do not know how long it will take.  After a couple of weeks, I will taste it and see how it is going. Once it tastes nicely sour, I will take off the Pickle Pipe, put on a regular lid and store it in the refrigerator.

Pickle Pipes are so easy to use, and versatile!

Here is a picture of part of the label.  Please do yourself a favor (if you like to ferment) and check out this product!