Crocks and how to use them

I don't imagine that this is what you are looking for, but the two crocks I have from my grandmother (1 one gallon, and 1 three gallon) were used by her, and are again by me, for holding sugar and flour. However, I also have a lovely crock from Germany, with a water seal, for making sauerkraut, and I just recently got another 1 gallon crock which has some *soon to be* apple cider vinegar in it.
 
Anybody have a recipe for pickles in a crock?

And why would you use a crock over a jar?
 
Mackay said:
Anybody have a recipe for pickles in a crock?

And why would you use a crock over a jar?
Click to expand...
I will be looking for a recipe come cucumber season, for a fermented pickle, not a vinegar one. Fermented foods are very good for you, such as traditional sauerkraut, eaten raw. Cooking isn't bad, but it kills the beneficial bacteria, so a bit eaten raw is a very good thing.

My guess from my reading is that crocks block light, and come in larger sizes. Most glass jars are only a gallon, maybe two. Crocks are hard to come by and are expensive, so I use glass jars. I just keep them in a dark place, or put in a cardboard box to block light.

For the two of us, I find the gallon jars to be a better size. I don't eat much of the sauerkraut, I still need to develop a taste for fermented things. I still regard them as medicinal! :sick But I will be making a larger quantity this fall for my folks. They loved the batch I gave them last fall.

I am hoping that I like the fermented cukes better. If anyone has a good recipe, I'd love to have it!
 
See if your library has "The Joy of Pickling". Lots of different pickle recipes, a number of them fermented.
 
Years ago I made a Rumtopf, and found it an interesting process, but neither DH nor I particularly liked the results. Not to say that others wouldn't, and I have heard of many who do. Rumtopf (rum pot, in German) is fruit preserved in rum. One starts with a layer of strawberries (being the early fruit of the season), and then sugar, and cover it all with rum; as the season progresses one adds more fruit (berries, plums, apricots - soft fruit, in other words), layering them with more sugar, and keeping it all covered with rum. By Christmas, so they say, one has very alcoholic fruit - to top icecream with, or something along those lines - and a fruity rum drink. We decided we didn't like rum well enough for this. But one could also use brandy, and/or limit the fruit to only one or two sorts. It is, I think, worth doing at least once.
 
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