Cheap pickling crocks
January 12, 2008 at 7:20 pm (Cooking, Food preservation)
Tags: crocks, pickling, resale shopping
I love my pickling crock. I found a used 2-gallon crock at a local consignment shop for $10 and it’s worth every penny. It makes it so much easier to mix ingredients and keep everything submerged in brine. I also found a source for regionally-made (Ohio, I think) crocks, new, and today succumbed and bought a 2-quart one that will be perfect for pickling ginger carrots.
But what if you’re just starting out pickling and don’t want to invest in a crock that may only see a couple of uses? You could use a bowl or quart canning jars, but my friend Ken had another brilliant idea: use your Crock Pot. Since the key features of a pickling crock are that it’s a) cylindrical and b) non-reactive (so, not copper or aluminum or iron), the ceramic innards of a slow cooker are just about perfect. Chances are you have a plate that fits the inside, too, to serve as a weight and lid.
I was kicking around the weekly Kiwanis sale this morning, and I had another idea, too: a plastic ice bucket. They’re also cylindrical, non-reactive, and the right size, and you can find them for a buck at almost any resale shop.
That being said, I still love my crocks. Plastic is very practical (and oh so much lighter), but there is a grace and solidity of a stoneware crock that it can’t match. If you’re a geek like me, there’s a great (long) article called “Feeding the Family: Domestic Outbuildings and Traditional Foodways in the Blue Ridge” that explains how food was typically stored on farms before refrigeration was common. A good set of earthenware crocks and a spring house were key. It actually sounds like the advent of canning meant more work and possibly less-safe food, though it did increase variety.
In other news, I’ve now had two invitations to help kill chickens this summer. I probably will.
Momster said,
January 20, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Does this mean you have edited the “crock” off your Amazon list???
Emily said,
January 20, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Unsure. The Amazon one has “special features” that are quite spiffy…but the plain ones seem to be working out just fine. Perhaps the recipe books are more important first!
Derrick said,
February 1, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I stumbled across your site today looking for a place to get some pickling crocks, and I must say that i’ve now had to add you to my RSS reader! Thanks!
Oh, and can you let us in on who your local crock maker is? I still need one
Kimberley said,
March 15, 2008 at 4:58 pm
I want the crock link too….off to read up on the traditional foodways of the Blueridge..
Thanks ECtH!
XXKHT
Emily said,
March 17, 2008 at 10:10 am
I buy my new crocks at Downtown Home and Garden in Ann Arbor, Michigan - but their manufacturer (from Ohio) has quit making crocks. I often find used crocks (at Treasure Mart in Ann Arbor) stamped with Ohio or Illinois company names, but I don’t know if they’re still in business.
Buttercup said,
April 2, 2008 at 9:17 am
Lehman’s (lehmans.com) has US-made crocks and also German pickling crocks.
http://www.lehmans.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=6511&itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&keyword=crocks
They have many useful tradtional products for gardeners and cooks. I bought the sauerkraut stomper.
City Farm Project » Blog Archive » …and the moment I’ve been waiting for… said,
July 15, 2008 at 11:11 pm
[...] found out what I actually wanted was a fermented pickle. After searching across the internet, and finding new and interesting sites, I came to find out that pickling crocks are not Dollar Store items–especially if you have to [...]