The big airlock vs. burp lid choice for my first batch of hot sauce

I started my first ferment last fall, a simple habanero and garlic mix, and had to pick between a fancy airlock lid or just burping a regular jar. I went with the burp lid because it was cheaper, about $12 for a pack of two. It worked fine, but I lost a whole jar when I forgot to burp it for three days and it exploded all over my kitchen counter. Now I'm thinking about switching to airlocks for my next batch, maybe a mango-habanero mix. Anyone have a good brand they like that won't break the bank?

3 comments

3 Comments

nathan28921d ago

That $15 set from a brewing site was the exact same one I grabbed after cleaning orange sludge off my cabinets for an hour. I was totally in the "airlocks are overkill for hot sauce" camp before that mess, but now I don't know why I waited. Three days of forgetting to burp and my whole kitchen smelled like a science experiment gone wrong. The mango-habanero you're planning sounds great, and with airlocks you can just set it and actually forget about it for a week. No more panic checking jars every time you walk past the counter.

xena_miller312mo ago

Ugh, that exploding jar sounds like a nightmare to clean up. Honestly, after a mess like that, switching to airlocks is totally worth it for the peace of mind alone. I grabbed a basic set of plastic ones with rubber grommets from a brewing site, and they were super cheap, like maybe $15 for a few. They just sit in the lid hole and let the gas bubble out without letting any air back in. You never have to remember to burp, so you can forget about your ferment for a week and it's fine. Makes the whole process way less stressful.

butler.mark2mo ago

Used to think airlocks were just extra gear for beer makers. Stuck with the burping method for years until a kimchi volcano changed my mind. Cleaning that off the ceiling was the final push. Now I use those basic plastic ones and it's a total game changer. The stress is just gone because you can actually walk away. Won't ever go back to guessing if I burped a jar enough.