this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2025

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Dumb mistake; Glass fermentation weight stuck in jar (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 4 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by azerial@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/cooking@lemmy.world

21 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Okay. So, I didn't have a large enough jar to fit all my ingredients, so i was like I have this pickle jar. Mind you I'm pretty new to fermentation but I've read a shit ton of cookbooks. I thought, this will work. I get my brine and load everything up, brine it up, and then a split second before it's too late, realize the glass fermentation weight is exactly the same size as the mouth of this cheap jar. By that point it was too late and stuck.

So i was left with two options, let it be stuck or use the handle of my knife to gently tampen it into the jar. I did the latter.

Sooooo now I'm thinking I'm going to try to move the weight to the side and remove the contents when it's done, and break the cheap jar to get the expensive weight.

What do you think? 😅

edit: UPDATE: I couldn't get it out, su I placed the jar in a paper bag and tapped just once with a hammer and retrieved the weight. Then I placed the paper bag in a box, taped it up and wide tipped sharpied GLASS on all sides. (It's what my city waste disposal recommends to do with sharp broken glass from residential). The ferment is okay and so is the weight.

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[–] ScientifficDoggo@lemmy.zip 13 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)

If you do decide to break the jar, make sure to score the glass so you get a clean(er) break.

[–] teft@piefed.social 23 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)

Even better is to use the burning thread trick. You’ll get a clean break in two pieces with minimal shards.

Wrap the string around the jar several times before tying it off.
Slip the string off of the jar and soak it in acetone or nail polish remover. When it is saturated, slide it back around the jar and position it exactly where you want the glass to be cut.
Use pliers to hold the jar while you ignite the string with a lighter. The flame will spread more evenly if you rotate the jar as the string burns.
When the flame is about to burn out, dunk the jar into a bucket of extremely cold water. The glass should crack evenly along the string leaving an open end to the jar.

[–] azerial@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 4 weeks ago

Wow thank you!

[–] azerial@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

What kind of string?

[–] Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone 10 points 4 weeks ago

Anything made of acrylic or polyester will melt and make a gross, burnt plastic mess. So I’d go for cotton or some other natural fiber.

[–] teft@piefed.social 7 points 4 weeks ago

Doesn’t really matter as long as it soaks up the accelerant. I’ve used yarn in the past on wine bottles and it worked fine.

[–] ScientifficDoggo@lemmy.zip 4 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Never heard of this trick , but I'd imagine the contents of the jar would get dunked.

[–] teft@piefed.social 11 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

You do it with an empty jar. A full jar will soak up the heat and might not break properly.

[–] azerial@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 4 weeks ago

Yeah I'm planning on getting everything out to another jar before anything

[–] azerial@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

I have a diamond tipped drill bit that I use to drill holes in pots. While not the correct tool, at all, I wonder if it could work. Edit: no drill, that would be psycho. Lol

[–] DarkSirrush@piefed.ca 3 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Why not just heat the rim of the jar, and then try to pull the weight out? Put some ice on the weight while heating the glass to reduce the amount the weight heats up, and then carefully pull the weight off.

[–] azerial@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 weeks ago

Okay! Sounds careful. But from what I've read could be effective!

[–] Alexstarfire@lemmy.world 3 points 4 weeks ago

Why waste time doing any of that? While I've only had to do this once, I just broke the jar in the recycling container and picked up what I needed. My recycling is separated so the glass gets tossed together and broken at the facility anyway.

[–] despoticruin@lemmy.zip 8 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

So you might be able to save both the jar and the weight here.

Finish the pickles, empty the jar and clean it out so you just have the jar with the weight inside. Dry it out and put like a drop of vegetable oil around the weight.

Put the whole jar in the freezer, get it super cold, more importantly get the air inside of it super cold.

While it's cold get the weight in the mouth of the jar and get it trying to come out, it should want to pull a vacuum. Once it does, just warm the jar and the air inside of it up to room temperature. The pressure from the air warming up should pop the weight right out, if not use a hair dryer.

[–] azerial@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 4 weeks ago

Oh interesting! Then only use that jar for storage. That's a really good idea! Thanks!

[–] evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world 6 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

As it pickles, the contents will likely get a little softer, and the weight might drop down into the larger portion of the jar. If that happens, you'll be able to rotate it out of the way, and get all your stuff out of the jar. Then you can actually stick your hand in and grab the weight and try to pull it out perpendicular to the opening. Odds are that the weight (and the jar opening) are not perfectly circular, so you can try rotating both to pull it out.

Borosilicate glass (which this probably is?) has low thermal expansion, so heat probably won't help.

[–] despoticruin@lemmy.zip 2 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

You won't be able to go perpendicular, the rectangular cross section will be larger than the mouth of the jar at the corners. They can get it parallel and try to slide it out the way it went in, but it might pull a vacuum and get stuck.

They are likely going to need to break the jar to save the weight. No big loss, it happens.

[–] azerial@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 weeks ago

Awe you guys are so helpful. And it's just a pickle jar. I think i have another in the fridge. It's a good lesson though. Thank you! If anything else i was planning on putting it in a box wearing safety glasses welding a hammer with small taps.

[–] wieson@feddit.org 5 points 4 weeks ago

Could you heat up the kat and cool down the weight? Like putting the jar in a bath of hot water and putting some ice on the lid?

That should give you a higher probability of getting it loose.

[–] Kathmandu@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

RIP jar, contents look tasty tho.

[–] azerial@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 4 weeks ago

I'm hoping so! 😀

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