Harsch Fermenting Crock Pot

[budrichard]

After years of screwing with old designed crock pots with crappy lids, scum and what not, I ordered a 20l Harsch for myself from http://www.simply-natural.biz/Harsch-Crock-Pot.php this source. This crock has semi circular stones provided to weight down the product and a unique water seal to release CO2 but keep out air and unwanted bacteria.

A trip to the local Wholesale Produce in Milwaukee (Jennaro) produced a crate of beautiful Kirby cucumbers from Mexico. Some bolied well water, canning salt, garlic from California and fresh dill used up only about half the crate. Today we canned 28 quarts of Kosher Dills to use up the rest.

In 21 days we will lift the lid to determine the results!

Anyone else used the Harsch?-Dick

[rooftop1000]

I thought the water seal was the whole point of these things, just like wine making

a funny aside....while making wine many years ago with my Ex's family they had extra juice so we jarred it up with a tube out the top into a glass of water....Homemade water seal

tracey

[SundaySous]

Which ones are the wanted bacteria?

[budrichard]

One introduces whey with live cultures like one adds yeast during beer making. Any other bacteria are simply crowded out.-Dick

Edited December 9, 2007 by budrichard (log)

[takadi]

I was fermenting sauerkraut in a newly bought Harsch Crock and I am having a problem of the water seal disappearing due to the water being sucked into the crock. The water being sucked in also ruined my kraut since the brine was watered down and the water being sucked in was contaminated. Does anyone know why the water is being sucked in? 

[nickrey]

It should go the other way as the fermentation creates excess carbon dioxide that needs to be expelled.

 

Perhaps you should wait a few hours for fermentation to begin before putting water in the moat seal.

 

I've never had this problem with my Harsch. In Australia the main issue is keeping the water topped up to combat it being evaporated over time and the seal failing.

[takadi]

It should go the other way as the fermentation creates excess carbon dioxide that needs to be expelled.

 

Perhaps you should wait a few hours for fermentation to begin before putting water in the moat seal.

 

I've never had this problem with my Harsch. In Australia the main issue is keeping the water topped up to combat it being evaporated over time and the seal failing.

 

That is exactly what I thought, which is why this left me completely confounded for a while. But it's no joke, the water seal was being sucked into the crock.  No way it could have evaporated completely after two days. 

 

The funny thing is that the water started to get sucked in about three days into fermentation. So I suspect something else is happening. I could clearly see bubbles, just that every day I came back to check, the water seal was extremely low then just disappeared. I could tell it was being sucked in because it was obvious that the water level was rising inside the crock. I filled up the water only until it barely covered the weights...after a while the weights were covered in an inch of water. 

Edited August 18, 2014 by takadi (log)

[nickrey]

Because the salt will draw liquid out of the cabbage, it is conceivable that the increase in water level is in reality a decrease in the level of the cabbage. Perhaps this has happened along with evaporation of the water from the seal.

[boilsover]

Is the inner rim of your crock's moat lower than the outer rim? If so, you may be overfilling the moat, with the extra going inside. The Ohio Stoneware version of the Gairtopf not only has a higher inner rim, but also a drain notch so that you can't overfill or swamp water into the crock.

I also suggest you sulfite your airlock water.

Edited August 25, 2014 by boilsover (log)

[takadi]

Is the inner rim of your crock's moat lower than the outer rim? If so, you may be overfilling the moat, with the extra going inside. The Ohio Stoneware version of the Gairtopf not only has a higher inner rim, but also a drain notch so that you can't overfill or swamp water into the crock.

I also suggest you sulfite your airlock water.

 

I just looked up the Ohio stoneware crock. When you talk about a drain notch,  are you talking about that little "U" notch on top of the outer lip of the crock? I haven't gotten around to making a second batch yet but I'll make sure to keep this in mind when I do it.

 

Also, can you elaborate on what you mean by sulfiting my airlock water. Is that a sterilizing agent?

[boilsover]

Yes, I meant the U-shaped notch.

As for the moat water, sulfiting it keeps spoilage bacteria from growing there.