Overheard a guy at the market say 'airlocks are just for show' and I had to bite my tongue

I was picking up some cabbage at the farmers market in Springfield last Saturday and this guy was talking to a vendor about sauerkraut. He said, and I quote, 'I just use a loose lid, airlocks are just for show and a waste of money.' I've been fermenting for about five years now, and I have to strongly disagree. I used to do the loose lid method with my kimchi, and three separate times I ended up with mold or kahm yeast that ruined the whole batch. Since I switched to using simple airlocks on my half-gallon jars, I haven't had a single failed ferment. It's not about being fancy, it's about letting gas out without letting bad stuff in. For a $12 piece of gear, it saves a lot of heartache and wasted food. Has anyone else found that a simple airlock made their process way more reliable?

3 comments

3 Comments

thomas.mark2mo ago

That guy is asking for trouble. A loose lid is just an open invite for mold. I lost two gallons of pickles that way, and the smell was awful. Airlocks are cheap insurance. Why risk your food for a couple bucks?

daniel_lane302mo ago

But mold needs air, right?

terry_jones2mo ago

Yeah, a loose lid wrecked my sauerkraut too.