question

[sissy]

I've been using a 5 gal food grade bucket to soak cukes in lime mix. Does anyone see a problem with this. I was just wondering if the lime would cause a problem with the bucket or the cukes. I use the bucket solely for this purpose. Thanks for any info.
Sissy

[NCLee]

Good question! I've never thought about plastic buckets from that standpoint during the actual liming process.

I've always used my enameled water bath canner for jobs like this that require a non-reactive material. That may be a good option for you as it would remove any question about using plastic.

Hope this helps, a bit, since I can't answer your question.

Lee

[CanNerd]

As long as it is food grade there should not be a problem. I doubt that the pickling lime would react with it.

[Anon001]

I can't see the problem. My pickling lime came in a plastic jug.... I use one of my Red Wing crocks for soaking the cukes, curing ham, etc....

[NCLee]

Red Wing Crocks - as in more than one -- lucky you! :yes2:

At least one of those is on my wish list. However, when one shows up a auction there's generally such a fight for it, my poor bid gets left in the dust. :sad:

Lee

[Anon001]

Lee, I had several "given" to me but I insisted on paying and did. None of them have a chip or crack. I still have a 25 gal, 20 gal, 15 gal, 10, gal, 5 gal, and I used to have a 3 gal, but it was lost in a house fire.

I saw one sell for $240 (?) a couple months ago and I think it was either a 10 or 15 gal, at a farm sale. It wasn't even a Red Wing.

[sissy]

Thanks ya'll,
The thought just came to mind so I asked.

NCLee, the only problem with my enameled water bath canners is they all have chips in them. All mine are the newer ones & are made cheaper. No matter how careful I try to be they get chips.

Quote: My pickling lime came in a plastic jug..
Duh! :o I didn't even think about that & I have some now in a plastic bottle.

Red Wing Crocks, never heard of them. I'll google that one. They sound great.
Thanks again Ya'll
Sissy

[NCLee]

Sissy, I don't worry about tiny chips in mine. They've never seemed to cause any problems. Often the chips are on the outside, so as long as the break isn't on the inside it won't make any difference at all.

I know what you mean about the quality of enamel ware today. :( I have my Mom's and my MIL's old canners. And I have several of the newer ones. There's a world of diffrence in the quality. The coating on some of it is so thin it's almost worthless in terms of trying to keep it intact.

Lee

[Anon001]

Sissy,

Red Wing is probably the most sought after of all antique crocks and demand some of the highest prices at auction. I lucked out on mine. If I was to sell mine, they would bring well over $1,000 for all of them.

Lee's right, I don't think just a little nick here or there will hurt.

[DM]

I have more than 10 crocks of all sizes around here... I have no idea what brand they are, guess i'll have to take a look and see...

I want to edit in: I just looked at 10 of mine in sizes up to 30 gallon, some have a crown on them, some have a different symbol, and some have nothing. Where is the "brand" normally found?

I have more of them in the barn, but i didn't go look at them.

DM

[NCLee]

It just depends on what the manufacturer decided to to or not to do as far as labeling their crocks. In the last century many didn't mark their wares with identifiers at all. Small local companies didn't see the need, since all their customers knew them. Also that was before the time that patients, copyright, and trademarks took on the importance they have today.

Using castiron cookware as the example, because I'm more familar with that, many old pieces can't be idenfified 100%, although clues in construction, molder's marks, etc. can lead to a good guess.

For your crocks my suggestion is to take pictures of each one. Look each over for any identifying marks -- look on the bottom, too. Then, start researching on the net. The crown that you mentioned is significant. Here's a link that I found using the keywords crown crock. It turned up both crown and redwing.
http://home.att.net/~cruller1/Crock.story.html

Hope this helps get you started. Bet you have some treasures, BTW.

Lee

[WileyCoyote]

So glad for this post - you have inspired me to go into my basement shop and start thinking about making my own crocks. :D

The only problem with chips or cracked glazing is that, all too often and especially with high-acid storage, lead from the clay and/or glaze can seep or "leach" into the fluid. As long as the chips or cracked glaze are not near the soaking fluid, it should be ok to use. Most glazes until the late 1980's used lead bases (and even now the glazes from China are often lead-based). So if your cheap coffee cups have cracked glaze on the inside - discard them.

[DM]

Thanks for the info...

DM

[Anon001]

DM,
The RedWing crocks will have the size in blue and a red wing under it on the side somewhere.