Cultured food heretic

A heretic is one who agrees with the premise,
but disputes the conclusion commonly reached by that premise

I turn out to be a heretic about almost everything. From my religion which gets me kicked out of the communities I most conform with, to my aquariums with no filter or pump, to the irish music that I play on a ukulele. Usually one day into a new hobby, I change all the rules and do it my own way. Most people hate that automatically. Some people profit by taking a second look.

I wanted to culture some food. I had done so before, in small batches, not really making a steady process out of it. But now I have no one to complain about the jars on the counter! Yay!

That's the expensive valve on the right
Really great looking pickles though!

So I read up on it and saw right away that the only reason you need the complicated valves and lids is because someone wants to sell you complicated valves and lids. Their only purpose is to prevent the upper layer from being oxygenated or contaminated while preventing CO2 from building up to explosive levels.

That's easy.

I thought of several ways for several different containers, but I already have several (Bormioli Rocco) Fido jars. These are common canning jars and many people have them. They are difficult to use for fermenting because they really do lock airtight. I saw a guy do a thing where you readjust the tension on the wires to make it possible for the gas to escape before breakage, but then you have to bend the wires back and forth every time you use it. That could end up breaking your wires.

Wait a minute. He took the clasp off to bend the wire. Why is he putting it back on?

Me showing the various methods
of making almost free ferment lids

So I just made a batch of salsa to ferment and I just took the durn wires off. It's bubbling like crazy right now and the CO2 produced has driven the oxygen right out of the jar by building up a little pressure and lifting the lid to release the pressure. Since CO2 is heavier than air, and there's almost no mixing in the jar, it's the oxygenated air that leaks out the top. Meanwhile gravity holds the lid down against the gasket most of the time, and prevents oxygen and mold spores from entering.