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DAE buy a fancy airlock that just didn't work?

I got this glass bubbler airlock for my sauerkraut last month, cost me about $25. It kept getting clogged with kraut bits and would seal shut, which I didn't notice for a few days. I mean, I opened the jar and it had built up a ton of pressure, and the whole batch tasted off, so I had to toss it. Has anyone else had a bad time with a specific airlock type, and what do you use instead?

3 comments

3 Comments

emery9652mo ago

Oh man, that's the worst! I fell for a fancy three piece airlock once that did the same thing. I felt like such a clown for overthinking it. Now I just use the basic S shaped ones, or honestly, sometimes a loose lid is just fine. My need to buy the fancy gear really backfired that time.

jake_martin162mo ago

Switched to the cheap S-locks and never looked back lol.

michael6931mo ago

The thing I never see mentioned is how much of this comes down to how stable your fermenter is. I had one of those narrow neck carboys that would wobble just enough to make any airlock misbehave. Once I switched to a wider bottom bucket, even the cheap airlocks work fine because the whole setup isn't jostling around with every little bump or temperature change. Sometimes the gear isn't the problem, it's what it's sitting on.