The Eugene, Oregon chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation makes and sells beautiful Kraut Pounders. Each one is handmade in Eugene, Oregon and turned from a solid piece of maple hardwood.
Measuring 11 inches tall & 2-1/2 inches across the base, Kraut Pounders are conveniently sized to fit into wide mouth canning jars.
A Kraut Pounder makes it easy to mix and pound vegetables in a large bowl to release the natural juices, and works great to press the food into one quart, half gallon, one gallon jars, and larger sized crocks.
You might be using the trick of letting salt wick the juices out of your vegetables, like Marillyn’s a “no-pound” Kraut – the method which is also mentioned in Wild Fermentation. If so, the pounder is still wonderful to press down the food into the container. This is a very versatile tool for all your lacto-fermented creations.
I purchased one of these pounders a few weeks ago. I couldn’t resist trying it for pounding cabbage or carrots – and it saved me heaps of time over other attempts at pounding using a pestle, potato masher, or wooden spoon. I don’t have a meat pounder, which I think would have been a better choice than any of those (not including the Kraut Pounder).
I also really liked how useful it was for pressing the vegetables down into the jar – it was more efficient and did a better job at packing than anything else in my kitchen.
I don’t have anything to gain by recommending this to you. I’m telling you about it because I think it is a beautiful piece of workmanship and we like to support local organizations such as this WAPF chapter. So if you’re in the market for a good lacto-fermentation tool, please consider purchasing this quality product. It is $25 and they will ship it to you (shipping is extra).
Anyone in Eugene? Are you planning on attending the fat rendering event this coming Saturday, the 27th of February, 2010? It is BYOJ – Bring Your Own Jar! Isn’t that awesome? I might be there – still trying to work it out!
About Wardeh
For some reason, my last link photo doesn’t show up. Odd....
Take the guesswork out of what to fix, what to buy and what to prepare. This week:
Class materials compiled into easy downloads: 
Oh isn’t that an interesting tool! I’ve never heard of it before. Good find!
.-= Michelle @ Find Your Balance´s last blog post… Red velvet coconut muffins =-.
Michelle – It is one of those tools that brings great pride in ownership – kind of a funny emotion to experience with a tool – but the wood is nice, the tool works well, it can’t break, and it is for a good cause.
Twitter: homesteadreviva
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Thanks for the information on the pounder, I have never made kraut so I haven’t thought about needing such a tool….
I also didn’t know about the Eugene WAPF chapter and their website – so thanks for the link.
My kids will be gone this weekend, and I’d love to attend a Old Fashioned Fat Rendering Party…. It sounds like it is open to none-members of the foundation, is that true?
Jami – Yes, it is open to friends of members. Let’s go together!
That sounds like fun!
I’ll email you later…..
~Jami
Ahhh, I have been wanting a kraut pounder. I also have been doing it the hard way and therefore haven’t continued because it takes a lot more effort using a wooden spoon etc.
Thanks for telling me about this!
Tiffany – you will like it! It feels really good to use it.
Hi Wardeh. Hope your class is going well! So exciting. I’m happy to see you post about kraut. I made a batch of cortido several days ago. Tried it today, and I must say it is very tasty! Even my boys (3ish and 1 1/2 ish) loved it! I’ve got another batch fermenting away as I type- purple cabbage and carrots with caraway seeds kraut. Yum! Do you drain your kraut once it reaches your desired strength or do you store it with all/or part of its liquid? I love the pounder. I pushed mine down into the jar with another glass. This would’ve been handy!
Erin – Yumm to your cortido! I don’t drain the kraut – I store it as is.
I ordered one of these about a week ago after seeing it on your Resources page. Haven’t heard from them but am expecting it to show up in the mail any day now. Thanks for the link!
I am also kicking myself in the head for not registering for your class. I had only just discovered your site days before registration ended so just wasn’t sure. Then I saw that a couple I listen to quite often (John and Cathy Payne from Our Natural Life) mentioned taking part but it was too late to join. Only wished they’d podcasted about it sooner, my loss I look forward to your second iteration in the fall.
jed
p.s. Love your site!
I ordered one of these about a week ago after seeing it on your Resources page. Haven’t heard from them but am expecting it to show up in the mail any day now. Thanks for the link!
I am also kicking myself in the head for not registering for your class. I had only just discovered your site days before registration ended so just wasn’t sure. Then I saw that a couple I listen to quite often (John and Cathy Payne from Our Natural Life) mentioned taking part but it was too late to join. Only wished they’d podcasted about it sooner, my loss and I look forward to your second iteration in the fall.
jed
p.s. Love your site!
Jed – You’ll really like it! I will look forward to you taking part in the Fall, too. Thanks for commenting today – I’m glad to know you!
I understand similar sized & shaped objects used to be carried around for personal protection.
On Sunday mornings, they would all be stood up in a group to symbolize people’s fears, and be symbolically knocked over with a ball.
Hence, bowling
HA! Jami you crack me up!
Amy – Can you tell I’m catching up on comments?
Didn’t mean to miss you! You would like it!
Wardeh,
Thanks for the picture and dimensions. Looks like a fun turning project. My husband is the instructor at The Vermont Woodworking School and just taught me how to turn. I made a bunch of french rolling pins for Christmas gifts, and this looks like something I could do!!
Connie – That is SO cool. Get really good at it – so we can do a giveaway of it one day. Want to?
I forgot to ask….if there were any dimensional changes you could make, what would they be? 11 inches long? Is that long enough?
Connie – It is plenty long. I only just got it, but I would not make any changes so far.
What a great item! If/when I can buy one of those, I can quit using my fist!
.-= Yolanda´s last blog post… Cookies in a Hurry =-.
I would be honored to do so (make one for a give away). I made my first one yesterday and it looks sooooo cool!!!!! Can’t wait to try it!!! I love the work you are doing, Wardeh!!
By the way, I finally found a fair use for my ginormous microwave. If I boil water in in, throw the water out, but keep the steam in the microwave, it makes a great place to rise bread dough!!!!
I have a meat mallet that I use sometimes, but mostly, I do what I have affectionately dubbed “the salt sweat.” Okay, maybe not totally original, but I’ve yet to see someone else call it that! I might have to put one of these on my wishlist, but surely it will be behind a few other things, including the pressure release valves for fermenting.
Connie, regarding the microwave–ours suddenly “died” about a month ago–just quit heating (although the lights and fans come on as if it’s working, it just won’t heat food), and then I found out how dangerous they are. We now store all our cast iron in it–it’s handy, because since it’s a SpaceSaver (over the stove), the pans are out of sight but quite convenient to grab in a jiffy. YEP: we now have extra cabinet space in our microwave!
I haven’t used my microwave for heating food for almost 2 years now. The thing is so HUGE though, I’m still trying to find a use for it. I love the idea of a storage cabinet, but I really want to get rid of it. We have dorms going up for the woodworking school and I am going to donate my microwave to the kitchen. I feel kinda guilty about it since I know how bad it is for heating food, but I know they will put one in anyway. Mine isn’t a spacesaver….it’s just this gigantic white elephant that sits on the counter!!!