Lacto Fermentation using an easy, cheap Air Lock System and Mason Jars

You don't need to spend hundreds on Pickl-It Jars! For around 10 dollars I had myself an airlock system to fit any wide mouth mason jar. For about 80 dollars I got 9 airlocks, 9 rubber bungs, and 9 re-cap lids! That beats paying 40 dollars for one Pickl-It jar! Prepare your ferments and make sure you have a good brine covering it all. I also buy fermentation glass weights to insure everything stays under the brine. If everything does not stay under the brine you will get mold and have to throw it out start your ferment from scratch. Now you screw the Re-cap lid on tight, pop the little lid open, place your rubber bung inside it and push your airlock seal into the drilled hole in the rubber bung, be careful not to press too hard or you will break the airlock (Guilty). Fill the airlock with water up to the waterline and you're done, that's it. Now just place your jar in a cool place (around 50F)  and leave it to ferment for a month. Check on your airlock every few days to make sure it stays full of water and add more when needed. Check also to make sure your ferment stays under the brine. Below are some pictures.

You can spend a lot of money on specialized crocks, $25.00-$200.00 is buying you an ideal anaerobic environment in which to nurture your precious bacteria… and so on. So here’s how to turn any mason jar into a Pickl-It Style fermentation crock for about $10.00 or less. For a DYI very serviceable Lacto-fermentation crock, you’ll need:

1 airlock. Around $2.00 or less at your local homebrew store. I paid $1.00

1 rubber bung #6 $1.00 or less at your local homebrew store. I paid .77 cents

1 Re-Cap Mason Jar lid online for $6.99 in an appropriate size to hold your ferment. They sell wide mouth and regular re-caps that work for any size mason jars.

Go shopping at your local homebrew store or buy online from a brewery if you don’t have a homebrew store. Buy a 3 piece plastic airlock and a #6 drilled rubber bung. Should cost around three dollars or less total.

Put your airlock, bung and Recap Lid together in this order.

Now any mason jar is a fermentation crock. And now you have sealed off your ferment from nasty aerobic critters.

You can also buy from amazon this airlock system as well if you have trouble locating the system mentioned above, it will cost a bit more but still pretty cheap.