Silicone lid liners are a game changer for mason jar fermentation. These lid liners by Mason Jar Lifestyle are a great new find. There are two places that I like to use these liners, one is the intended use—as a liner. They prevent corrosion to your metal lids from salt and acid. We have even used them without the lid, clamped down by the ring. They also fit under Ball plastic storage caps, making them leak-proof.
Avoid corroded lids and messy plastic (that clearly didn't work) with silicone lid liners.
But…
How I really like to use them is to use them is on fermented pastes, or other barely moist ferments, as a ‘ferment cartouche’. What? Isn’t a cartouche the Egyptian oval that encloses the name of royalty? It is, but in cooking terms it is a round piece of parchment paper placed on the surface of food, often under a saucepan lid to reduce evaporation. In the case of fermented pastes, we use a cartouche on the surface of the ferment to reduce evaporation as well as air exposure. It can take many forms:
· A cabbage leaf, grape leaf, horseradish leaf, or other vegetable leaf
· A circular piece of parchment paper cut to fit the surface of your ferment
· A piece of plastic cut from a ziplock bag (more inert than plastic wrap)
· A small circle of silicone—enter the silicone liner (note: While touted as more more inert than plastic the jury is still out on whether silicone is truly inert.)
Here at FermentWorks we don’t have affiliate sponsors or advertisers. We do however get offers now and again from folks hoping that we we will review their product. Since we do not profit from our reviews they are our honest opinions. Often these offers come with giveaway samples which we are happy to share with our readers. We have a nice little jar fermentation kit from Mason Jar Lifestyle with 2-packs of lid liners, a fermenting weight, air-lock lid, and decorative lid.
