Humble HouseSAUERKROCK Fermentation Crock 10 Liter / 2.6 Gallon Ceramic Jar in Traditional Brown for Fermenting Pickling Kimchi, Sauerkraut, Pickles, Vegetables, Kombucha-Glazed Weights, Lid, Pounder

Not the heaviest crock, walls are kinda thin but works well. The well for the water to seal lid is a good depth and center height keeps water from getting into the crock. Handles are adequate but could be slippery or hard to keep a grip on for some. With a little care not to drop it or bang it into things it should last years. The glaze was nice and even (the crock and the weights) so clean up is fairly easy. The stick is....well.....it's a stick! It does what it's supposed to do. I am happy with it and would definitely recommend it. Happy fermenting!!!

Esta hermoso! Venía muy protegido! Lo recomiendo al 100%

I ordered a Sauerkrock 10 liter (2.6 gallon) size specifically for making sauerkraut. I’ve been a sauerkraut maker for a number of years but had been thinking of making smaller batches a bit more often rather than one large batch. The Sauerkrock seemed to fit that bill.As always with Amazon, it was delivered as promised on March 5 ,2022. The product seemed well-made: not overly heavy but at the same time not flimsy. It is ceramic though so care needs to be taken in handling it. One careless moment and $84 goes down the drain. I gave it a thorough wash and rinse, shredded my cabbage, and set to work.The first thing you’ll notice is that the opening seems rather small. However it was easy enough to fill and the wooden pounding stick supplied worked well enough to get adequate juice from the cabbage so that it was covered in liquid. Instructions call for the Sauerkrock to not be filled beyond about 2/3 to 3/4 full; the reason for that recommendation became clear when I put the two ceramic half-disk weights on top of the cabbage. It took a bit of maneuvering to get them situated on top of the cabbage; I had to move some of the cabbage aside before I could get them both in and situated. Had I filled the Sauerkrock with any more cabbage than I did, getting the weights inside the Sauerkrock would have been progressively more difficult. The same can be said for removing them at the end of the process. So…don’t overfill it. After the weights were put on the cabbage the liquid just barely covered the weights, leaving about a 6” air space between the weights and the lid.The instructions said to put the lid in place, then to pour water into the valley between the edge of the lid and the top of the Sauerkrock so that the fermentation was sealed. The instructions also advised to check the water level by the lid periodically so that it wouldn’t completely evaporate. I checked it daily, adding water as needed. It seemed to need more water on some days than on others, but as it is a dry time of year where I live, with low humidity, I just chalked it up to evaporation. However, when the ferment was finished and I took off the lid, I was amazed (and not in a pleasant way) to find that the 6” airspace on the top of the weights was completely filled with water! Apparently temperature changes during the ferment was enough to draw the water used for sealing into the Sauerkrock. Having never had that happen before I was apprehensive about the taste of the sauerkraut, but after draining the water and removing the weights, the finished sauerkraut was crisp and very tasty—better, in fact, than many of my other efforts. That does not negate the fact however that there is no guarantee that the water used for sealing would remain clean, and as it is open to the air on top it could become contaminated with who knows what, which could then be drawn into the fermentation.The lid has two half-moon openings, each about 1/2” in diameter, 180 degrees across from each other on the lid. These are obviously designed as vent holes for the gas being given off by the ferment. However if the pressure differential is great enough it could also be a a handy way for the Sauerkrock to suck in the sealing water as well. I can’t really call this a design flaw—if the temperature is kept perfectly constant the pressure of the gases given off during the ferment should be enough to keep unwanted water from being sucked in—but unless you have a dedicated space at a constant temperature and no light on the Sauerkrock which itself could cause warming and then cooling, the danger of contamination would be there, and it would seem that that danger of contamination would increase, the closer the fermentation gets to finishing, because of lessening pressure within the vessel. I will certainly use mine again but will pay more attention to the environment where the fermentation is taking place, and also would think about interrupting the fermentation a bit earlier in the process—say at three weeks rather than waiting for 4-5 weeks as I usually do.A few other things to keep in mind:The Sauerkrock is easy to handle when empty, but when full of whatever it is you are fermenting, plus the added weight of water being sucked in, it gets quite heavy. The Sauerkrock had two handles but they are not really designed for gripping: the bottoms of the handles are flat, not convex, and your grip could slip especially if your hands are wet. Be VERY careful when lifting the Sauerkrock, especially when full.The pounding stick appears to be finished on the sides but the ends are not finished as well. I use red cabbage for my sauerkraut and the sides of the pounding stick did not become discolored, but the end that made contact with the red cabbage has a pretty good reddish tint to it.The cover is made of ceramic that is a lot thinner than the rest of the vessel, and thus needs to be handled even more carefully.BOTTOM LINE: This is an attractive fermenting vessel but is not without it’s quirks. It’s use should become easier with experience.

This is a very nice crock. I currently have my first batch of sauerkraut fermenting. The only reason that I am not giving 5 stars is that one of the weights is slightly warped and when I put them into the crock they kind of wedged in and made a minor grinding noise. I tried to pull them out and reset but the same thing happened. I fully encourage others to buy this item though as I think this is a one off issue.

Well packaged, shipped without damage and a quality product.