Fermented food jars keep cracking??

[Newbie102]

For some reason my jars keep cracking. I cannot figure out why. I am not screwing a lid on them, and it always seems to be the ready to use jar. I do set a lid on the top, but it's not even a lid that really fits the jar, so it won't screw on anyway. I have gone through at least 7 jars now, all cracked in a U shape at the bottom. These are in a controlled temperature room. I am confused . . . Has anyone else had this issue? Perhaps I need to change to plastic because I will soon be out of glass.

 

[AnneGirlGG]

That's odd. I haven't fermented any chicken feed yet, but I make milk kefir, water kefir, kombucha, and sourdough for myself and my family. Plus fermented veggies and what not. I've never had jars do that.

 

[Airyaman]

What kind of jars, canning or leftover from some store items?

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I have been fermenting in older glass and never had this happen either. Do you have a picture of your jar and lid setup? If anything I would imagine the lid would pop off before the glass broke from the fermentation process.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Try putting a coffee filter over the top and holding it in place with a rubber band, hair tie or jar ring. That will let the contents breathe or burp as needed. Also set the jar in a pie dish so if the jar does break you won't have a mess on the counter.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Photos of the jar? I've been using the same glass jar (1.5 gallon cookie jar type) for the last 5 years without issue.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

That's wild! Are these Mason jars or similar, thick glass meant for home canning, or just glass jars in general? Even if they aren't Mason jars, there shouldn't be enough gas buildup in aerobic fermentation to crack them. It's never happened with mine.

 

[Newbie102]

They are all Ball jars except for the one on the left. Broken jar pic is a Ball and it double cracked. I am starting to worry that there is something weird with the last bag of crumbles I bought. I usually purchase Scratch and Peck and our Grange was all out so I had to purchase a different brand. This didn’t happen when fermenting the S&P brand. I only do 1/2 cup at a time for now.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

They are all Ball jars except for the one on the left. Broken jar pic is a Ball and it double cracked. I am starting to worry that there is something weird with the last bag of crumbles I bought. I usually purchase Scratch and Peck and our Grange was all out so I had to purchase a different brand. This didn’t happen when fermenting the S&P brand. I only do 1/2 cup at a time for now.

Well, I'm baffled!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Maybe a defect in the manufacturing process if you're always using the same type and they end up with similar cracks. Maybe try bigger jars with thicker glass?