Mason Jar Fermenting Lids – The Easy Way to Ferment

Whether you’re new to your bubbly fermenting adventure, or seasoned at it, mason jar fermenting lids make things easy, fool proof, and effective.

Fermenting foods really isn’t difficult but it can be intimidating at first. And the stories of ferments gone bad, anaerobic this, carbon dioxide that, can add to the intimidation factor.

Before starting my own ferments I was looking for something that would help take away that fear factor, and at the same time reduce the risk of botched batches.

Anything that would make the process easier and reduce the chances of messing things up…that’s what I’m talking about.

If you have been searching for fermentation kits you’ve most likely come across various fermenting jars, crocks, and vessels that come with lids that create an airlock.

These are great,  but I was hesitant to invest in half gallon or gallon sized jars when I wasn’t sure yet if I would love fermenting enough to make large quantities, plus storing a gallon sized jar isn’t so easy in my tiny fridge.

Besides, I’m all about re-purposing things I already have, and mason jars are something we use often for many things in our house, so all I really needed were airlock lids. After a little searching I found my mason jar fermenting lids with airlock, ordered them and anxiously awaited my first test run.

Why use Mason Jar Fermenting Lids?

You can ferment using lids that come with standard containers, but there are potential issues. The lids of these containers don’t create the same airlock seal that fermentation lids do.

The chances of mold developing on your ferments is increased, especially since non-airlock lids may need to be burped to allow carbon dioxide to leave, allowing oxygen to get in each time.

Other issues include corrosion of metal lids over time and S shaped airlocks aren’t as sturdy and harder to clean.

Mason jar fermenting lids allow you to easily make small batches of fermented foods.

The airlock lids allow carbon dioxide to escape and inhibit oxygen from being introduced to your foods while they ferment. No more stinky ferments either, enjoy an odor-free fermentation environment.

Are They Worth it?

For me, the answer is an easy YES!

Airlock lids allow me to ferment smaller batches using 16-32 ounce wide mouth mason jars I already have in my kitchen, and have 3 going at the same time (I have 3 sauerkrauts going as we speak – recipe here), which fits my needs perfectly without taking up too much space.

This makes fermenting so easy, I absolutely love the fact that I simply place the lids on my jars, insert the airlocks, fill them with a little salt water and leave them be. That’s it. No opening lids, or messing with anything during fermentation. Totally the easy way to ferment.

Where Can I Find Mason Jar Fermenting Lids?

Ferment N’ Joy is a great choice and includes the following components:

• 

  3 wide mouth BPA-free, food grade plastic lids
• 3 3-piece airlocks
• 3 wide mouth silicone seals
• 3 silicone grommets
• Fermentation Basics Guide and Fermented Mix Vegetables recipe

Note: Wide mouth fermenting lids fit common wide mouth mason jars such as Ball, Kerr, or Golden Harvest.

Rubber stoppers are not included in this kit, so when you are ready to store your ferments in the refrigerator you can use the lid that came with your container, or you can use wide mouth plastic storage caps with your silicone grommets, like I do.

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Quality Reliable Products adds a unique Fermentation Food Retainer Cup*, which is a really smart option. The kit includes the following components:

• 

  6 BPA-free, food grade plastic lids with silicone grommets (6 wide mouth, 6 regular mouth, or 3 regular mouth & 3 wide mouth)
• 6 Food Retainer Aeration Cups
• 6 3-piece airlocks
• 6 silicone seals
• 6 rubber stoppers

*The exclusive patent pending Food Retainer Aeration Cup sits on the mouth of the jar and keeps the food submerged underneath the juice during fermentation.

This design isolates and protects the airlock from contamination. Slits in the side of the cup also allow the airlock to breath.

Final Thoughts

A few last things worth mentioning are to handle your airlock pieces with care, they are fragile and likely to crack or break if dropped. I haven’t encountered it (knock on wood), but can see how it happens. Cleaning is easy, the pieces come apart and a soft soapy sponge inside the airlock will get the job done.

I am currently using the first type of airlock lids, which are working great, but I would love to try the ones with the Food Retainer Aeration Cups. After fermenting for a bit now I can tell it’s a really smart design, eliminating the need to weight down your ferments which also saves money since weights can average about $20 for a set.

Folding up the outer leaves of my cabbage to keep my sauerkraut under the brine and cutting cucumbers or other veggies into short enough pieces to wedge over the top and keep the others from floating above the brine has been working well for me so far, but the Food Retainer Aeration Cups would really simplify things and no doubt, produce consistent ferments.

Both kits are in the $30-$35 range at the time of this post. Two more reasons I will purchase the smart design when I need a new set are, it contains 6 lids plus I like option to get the combination of 3 regular mouth & 3 wide mouth so I can also use my 32 ounce regular mouth mason jars. More options.

I hope you found this helpful. If you’ve been looking for an easy way to ferment foods at home, get yourself some mason jar fermenting lids, you’ll love them!

Need ideas for what to ferment? Check out these 10 tasty fermented foods!

Questions? Let me know what you think in the comment section below!