# Crock Repair



## bassmaster17327 (Apr 6, 2011)

I want to try either making brine pickles or sauerkraut for the first time. I have a ten gallon crock but it has a crack in it from the top to about halfway, is there anyway to repair it? Does not have to be pretty just functional, I was thinking maybe a waterproof food safe wood glue?


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## dygaar (Jul 16, 2010)

You could try super glue to fill the crack. It is very thin, flows to fill the crack and would be food safe when cured. Let it fill the crack and you could scrape the excess off with a razor blade. Then fill the crock with water to make sure it's sealed.


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## Karen (Apr 17, 2002)

Super glue is not food safe, and I don't know of anything that you could do at home that would be. You could send it out for repair. They fill in the crack with new slip then reglaze it. How about just lining it with a food grade bag?


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## bassmaster17327 (Apr 6, 2011)

I could try a food safe bag if I could find any that big, I have food safe wood glue that I use to make cutting boards but I do not know if that would hold


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## Lucy (May 15, 2006)

For a large food grade bag you can use a roasting bag for turkeys.


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## bassmaster17327 (Apr 6, 2011)

Thanks, will they have them at a normal grocery store that will fit in my ten gallon crock? Also will the bag hold up to the acidic vinegar for a long period


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## Just Cliff (Nov 27, 2008)

Why don't you use a 5 gallon bucket? It's cheap,easy to clean and if it breaks on you, you probably have bigger things to worry about at the time. You can even get a lid fo it to keep "stuff" out. Not the liquid tight lid. Just a regular one that will be easy to get off. You can go to Lowes and get a terracotta flower pot base to weigh down your wares so they will be under the brine. Just make sure to soak the base first in water for a few hours to get it good and saturated.

My 3cents worth


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## bassmaster17327 (Apr 6, 2011)

The lowes and home depot buckets are not listed as food safe plastic


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

Wallmart bakery and some grocery stores have free bucketts!


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## Just Cliff (Nov 27, 2008)

As long as it has the number 2 in the recycleing triangle on the bottom, your good. It denotes HDPE, High density polyethylene. Watch out for the freebees. They can impart flavor to your batch of goodies. No matter how good you think you washed it out. (experience)

I get mine from ACE Hardware for about $7 for bucket and non watertight lid.


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## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

Silicon would be the thing. Run a tight bead along the crack and smooth it down.


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## Dandish (Feb 8, 2007)

Just Cliff said:


> As long as it has the number 2 in the recycleing triangle on the bottom, your good. It denotes HDPE, High density polyethylene. Watch out for the freebees. They can impart flavor to your batch of goodies. No matter how good you think you washed it out. (experience)
> 
> I get mine from ACE Hardware for about $7 for bucket and non watertight lid.


Not all HDPE is food grade ...see about half way down the page on this link:

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/plastics.html

I'd be extra careful with acidic/salty pickle brine. The buckets are great, as long as they are food grade.


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## Just Cliff (Nov 27, 2008)

Dandish said:


> Not all HDPE is food grade ...see about half way down the page on this link:
> 
> http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/plastics.html
> 
> I'd be extra careful with acidic/salty pickle brine. The buckets are great, as long as they are food grade.


Thank you for that link. I states exactly what I said in a post up the page.

This is my previous post from last year

_The code is there for a reason. It is also used as a standard manufacturing code. 
2 is for High Density Polyethylene. By the nature of it's manufacture it is food grade. 
Not all companies can or will confirm with a manufacturer of a product (plastic container) of it's specific molecular structure, therefore they have codes to go by. A container may change hands many times through middlemen/ wholesalers before it gets to the end user. The code enables the end user the information that the specific container is what they want (HDPE)

You will be hard pressed to find a 1,2,3,5,6,7 gallon plastic bucket that is not HDPE #2. 
The reason is simple economics.
Example:
As a pastic bucket manufacturer I have 5 different customers. 3 of those customers want buckets for a food grade application, the other two for non food application. I buy my plastic by the ton. If I buy 10 tons of HDPE plastic, I get a price break as opposed to 7 tons of HDPE and 3 tons of vinyl. I have less labor costs in set up and change over of equipment, less down time for the change over and I can sell my over run to other potential customers, food grade or non food grade. This makes the buckets cheaper for all 5 customers.

Food grade being the higher quality of plastic is more desirable since I can't make that plastic any better but a non food grade customer can still use it. Added pigment is only for asthetic purposes. Most 5 gallon buckets are white for the same reasons. I can sell a white bucket to anyone cheaper because it is not a special color. My run can be longer saving me money in time and labor. 
Colored buckets, take Lowes Home Improvement 5 gallon buckets for example, are done in the silver/gray for advertising purposes. Silver/gray and blue are the company color scheme. It doesn't change the molecular structure of the bucket, just the color. If the manufacturer would have an over run and Lowes would not buy them they have to be able to sell them at the highest quality that they can.....a food grade bucket. That way they can hit any customer from food grade on down to non food grade. 
I hope this has cleared up any confusion.
_


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## Karen (Apr 17, 2002)

RedDirt Cowgirl said:


> Silicon would be the thing. Run a tight bead along the crack and smooth it down.


Silicone, like you get at Lowes in the tube is not food safe. The only food safe silicone there is are from a special clay/liquid form that is used to make bakeware, silicone pot holders, etc.


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## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

Thank you Karen, you do need to get food safe silicone sealant. Brewers often use it in their works, you need the kind for constant contact, not just intermittant. Didn't mean to imply one should hit the caulking shelf at Lowes.


Karen said:


> Silicone, like you get at Lowes in the tube is not food safe. The only food safe silicone there is are from a special clay/liquid form that is used to make bakeware, silicone pot holders, etc.


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

I bought some food grade silicone adhesive a couple of years ago for a Victorio food strainer housing that had cracked. I searched quite a while before finding exactly what I needed, but it worked great and I've had no problems with it. 

I have it here in front of me, and it says it adheres to glass, non-oily woods, metal, ceramic, porcelain, painted surfaces, many plastics and rubbers. So it sounds to me like it might work for your crock.

I couldn't find it locally anywhere and had to order it over the internet. I can't remember the exact price, but it was less than $5 (plus shipping) for a tube. The one I have is made by Silicones Unlimited, Inc. and is named Silicone Adhesive Sealant 5005. Here's a link to where I bought mine:

http://www.emisupply.com/catalog/su5005-food-grade-adhesive-silicone-sealant-black-103oz-p-2282.html

Here's another link that describes more about it:

http://www.rmoreau.com/item/su5005-food-grade-rtv-silicone-adhesive-sealant/120

Hope this helps and good luck!


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## dragonchick (Oct 10, 2007)

A common misconception here, Food GRADE and Food SAFE are worlds apart. Most food grade preps are NOT edible or used in food contact locations.


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

Dragonchick, the information for this adhesive says:

Applications
Any Incidental Food Contact application in:

Meat and Poultry Processing Facilities

Food & Beverage Processing

Restaurant and Commercial Kitchen Applications

So that sounds to me like it's safe to contact food. Am I reading it wrong? Now you have me worried about my Victorio, lol, and I use it a LOT!


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## dragonchick (Oct 10, 2007)

It sounds like your reading it correctly as long as you understand that incidental doesn't mean constant. Repairing a crock for pickles would be constant contact.

I work in a facility that manufactures one of the worlds number one plastic containers. You wouldn't believe the number of folks that think food grade grease is edible.


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

Ah, okay then. Sorry for the misinformation everyone!

The crack I sealed is bigger on the outside and just barely visible on the inside, so it sounds like it's okay for what I do, which is basically run fruit or vegetables through in just a minute or so, but not for something that would soak in contact with it, right? Or should I quit using it altogether? Thanks so much!


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## dragonchick (Oct 10, 2007)

I think your safe callie


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

Whew, lol! Thanks!


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## TNHermit (Jul 14, 2005)

Bet you could take a band clamp and put on that thing and it wouldn't leak at all if the crack is smaller on the inside. (Get a couple 12 in screw band clamps like they use for radiator hose from Lowes or Hd) Been trying to find a thing where you use milk or Casein Glue
Glue and clamp. Old guy stuff


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