Masontops Fermentation Kit Reviews: Our Honest Verdict

The short version

If you want the verdict before the detail, here's where the Masontops kit lands after reading a few hundred owner comments. It's the easiest on-ramp to fermenting in a mason jar, with a couple of honest caveats you should go in knowing about.

What's good:

• Waterless self-burping Pickle Pipes mean no daily burping and no airlock moat to keep topped up.
• Simple enough that first-time fermenters get clean kraut, kimchi, and pickles without babysitting.
• Uses mason jars you probably already own, so the buy-in is small if you are already a canner.
• Glass Pickle Pebbles hold food under the brine, which is the single biggest defense against surface mold.

What's not:

• The silicone valve is where trouble clusters: some owners report mold or ferments that never take off.
• The Pickle Pebbles weights can crack, and they sometimes wedge into the jar mouth and refuse to come out.
• Silicone is porous and hard to fully sanitize, and the pipes warp, discolor, and go missing over time.
• It only fits Masontops-brand wide-mouth jars well, and it is a small-batch tool, not a bulk one.

Who it's for

The Masontops kit fits a specific beginner well and frustrates a different fermenter. Sort yourself before you buy.

Buy it for:

• A first small-batch of sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles, or hot sauce in jars you already have on the shelf.
• A low-maintenance routine where you never want to burp a jar or refill a water airlock.
• Canners with a cupboard of wide-mouth mason jars who want the cheapest way to start fermenting.

Skip it if:

• You want to ferment gallons at a time; a stoneware crock like the TOMO handles bulk kraut the jars cannot.
• You have already fought pipe-seal mold and want a sturdier waterless valve; the Easy Fermenter lids are the closest swap.
• You only need weights, not lids; a dedicated glass-weight 4-pack covers more jars for less than a full kit.

The specs that matter

The kit is a few simple parts, and each one maps to something you will actually care about at the counter:

Pickle Pipes, waterless silicone airlock lids: a one-way valve burps carbon dioxide out as the ferment builds pressure, so you never open the jar to release gas and never risk pulling oxygen back in. That is the whole no-burp promise, and it works best while the ferment is active and pushing positive pressure.

Pickle Pebbles, wide-mouth glass weights: flat glass discs that sit on the food and keep it submerged under the brine. Anything floating above the brine is where mold starts, so a weight that actually holds the cabbage down is doing the most important job in the jar.

Wide-mouth mason jars, supplied by you: the kit fits standard wide-mouth jars, so a canner with a full cupboard spends almost nothing to start. The flip side is fit; owners find it seats cleanly on Masontops-style jars and more fussily on some off-brand rims.

How well it preserves

For small batches, the Masontops kit does the core job, and plenty of beginners get clean, tasty ferments with it. The waterless valve keeps out dust while venting gas, and owners who have run it across many jars report a strong hit rate on the everyday ferments people actually start with.

Normal. Ive only ever used pickle pipes, never had 1 bad ferment out of 9 so far. Once the ferment starts slowing down, this is what happens. Currently, one of my ferments that is no longer bubbling (for around a week)has had the same sucked in lid. Its normal

Once a batch slows down, the lid often gets sucked inward as the pressure drops, and experienced users read that as a finished-and-safe signal rather than a fault. It is one of the more reassuring things about living with the valve:

It’s an indicator that your vigorous ferment is done and you can safely put a solid cap on that and keep it almost indefinitely either in the fridge or on your shelf in the basement. Works that way for me for kraut, pepper ferments, beets, green tomatoes……

For most vegetable ferments the results are clean, with the occasional patch of harmless kahm yeast on livelier batches like peppers:

I exclusively use them and nothing bad happens to my ferment other than occasional kahm with pepper ferments.

The honest limit is the valve itself. The Pickle Pipe only acts as a true one-way seal while the ferment pushes positive pressure, so a slow or stalled batch can let oxygen creep back in, and that is exactly when mold shows up. Some owners running side-by-side comparisons had every pipe-sealed jar underperform:

I recently started 6 new ferments... 2 with traditional water locks and 4 with pickle pipes. It was my first time with pickle pipes. As always, my water lock ferments were fine... but every single jar sealed with pickle pipes failed. The pH never dropped below 6... Personally I wouldn't bother... just my 2 cents

Others hit the same wall and simply moved on to a water-filled airlock for anything they wanted to trust:

This is why I no longer use pickle pipes. I’ve had mold because of this, they only work as one way valves when there is positive pressure in the jar. I’ve switched to airlocks and no longer have this issue.

None of this makes the kit a failure. For a first batch of kraut or kimchi eaten within a few weeks, it performs. But it is a small-batch tool with a valve that rewards an active ferment, and it is fair to treat the seal as the part to watch.

Built to last

This is the softest axis, and it splits into two parts: the silicone lids and the glass weights. The silicone is porous, which is why owners describe it as hard to fully clean and prone to warping, discoloring, and eventually going missing in a drawer. On the plus side, when a part does fail early, the company has a good reputation for making it right:

I'm also new to fermenting, but have completed at batch with Masontops. They're great and the company is very responsive. One of my weights somehow got damaged the very first time I used it. I emailed them about it and they said they'll mail me a new one at no cost.

The Pickle Pebbles are the more physical worry. Glass weights crack, and more than one owner has had a weight wedge itself into the jar mouth and refuse to come back out, turning a jar of finished ferment into a puzzle. Sometimes it ends fine:

And sometimes it does not. When a weight jams, the fixes people reach for involve heat, cold, or a mallet, and any of those can cost you the jar and the batch:

Zoom out and the durability picture is a design one as much as a materials one. A vocal group of long-time fermenters consider the valve itself the weak link, not just an unlucky unit:

It's not just you my friend, those have known issues for sure and not just on Reddit but a few other social media fermentation groups I know of. I think they are a terrible design and it's just a matter of time before every user seems to experience an issue. The fact that almost all of the complaints are related to issues that have to do with O2 is telling.

So go in expecting consumables, not heirlooms. Buy spare weights so a crack or a stuck disc never sidelines a jar, keep the pipes clean and replace them when the valve slit starts to degrade, and lean on the company's responsive support if something fails early. Treated that way, the kit lasts fine; treated as forever-hardware, it will disappoint.

Living with it

Day to day is where the Masontops kit earns its fans, and it is the reason it keeps getting recommended to beginners. The buy-in is small if you already own mason jars, and the design is about as simple as fermenting gets:

It's good to know that the company is very responsive! I bought the kit from them since I'm already an avid canner, and I have tons of mason jars. The investment was minimal. Plus, I like the simplicity of the design.

The everyday routine is genuinely low-effort. There is no water airlock to refill and no daily burping, and the valve quietly keeps dust and debris out while it vents:

I use them! My pickling setup is very basic, but I've had good luck. Keeps dust and debris out and safely releases gasses.

The no-burp part is the headline. Because the pipe lets carbon dioxide escape without letting oxygen in, you skip the twice-a-day ritual that a sealed jar demands, and there is no pressure to build up and surprise you:

Airtight meaning that no air can get in. The mason tops are designed to let CO2 out to prevent pressure buildup, without letting oxygen in that would jeopardize the batch. They’re just fine, and make brewing easier, since they don’t need to be burped to prevent explosions.

The gripes that do come up are about cleaning and sealing, and they are worth naming. Silicone is hard to sanitize, and some owners felt the pipes never sealed tightly enough for longer ferments:

I saw you used Mason Tops. I've had the same issue. I don't think they seal well enough and they're nearly impossible sanitize. I switched to using a water filled airlock lid and had better success.

The internal baffle that makes the valve work is also a nook that some fermenters distrust, and a few keep the kit for quick batches but reach for a two-piece lid and a cloth when they want maximum control:

I don't like pickle pipes because they have a baffle in then that can harbor bacteria and yeast. I just use the mason jar two stage lids and either place a cheesecloth/paper towel/etc. over the top and screw on the ring (if the veg is nicely submerged already or I'm using a glass weiht), or put on both parts loosely and secure a kitchen towel around the top of the jar with a rubber band (same), or I put a smaller jar inside the neck to submerge everything and just secure a kitchen towel with a rubberband. I don't burp.

How it compares

The Masontops kit does not exist in a vacuum, and three setups come up most often when people cross-shop it. Here's how it stacks up against each.

Versus a stoneware fermentation crock like the TOMO: the crock is the bulk-and-reliability upgrade. A water-moat seal and heavy stones let it hold gallons of kraut or kimchi in one vessel, and the ceramic blocks light and stays put where a silicone valve cannot. You trade the jar-sized convenience and shelf footprint for capacity and a sturdier seal.

Versus the Easy Fermenter waterless lids: this is the closest like-for-like. Same no-burp, waterless one-way valve idea, but as a screw-on lid with a built-in airlock and a date dial. It's the set to price against Masontops when you want the same daily routine but have already been burned by a pipe that would not seal.

Versus a cheaper generic complete kit: a budget full set gives you the same layout, silicone lids plus glass weights plus a tamper, for less outlay, which makes it a low-risk way to test the hobby. You may accept rougher fit and finish, but if you are not sure fermenting will stick, it is a sensible way in before spending more.

Using it well

Get the most out of a Masontops kit with a few habits. Pack the jar so everything sits below the brine and set a Pickle Pebble on top so nothing floats, since floaters above the brine are where mold starts. Leave headspace so an active ferment does not push brine out through the pipe. Keep the valve slit clean, and if a ferment stalls or slows for days, consider moving it to a tighter lid or the fridge rather than trusting the one-way seal on a batch with no pressure behind it. Ease weights out gently and never force a stuck one; a spare weight is cheaper than a broken jar.

If you are still deciding whether jar lids or a crock suit your kitchen, it's worth reading the format tradeoffs first. Our guide to the best fermentation kit for beginners walks through weights, valves, and crocks in more depth, with the Masontops kit in context against the alternatives.

The bottom line

The Masontops kit is an easy setup to recommend for exactly what most people want from it: a first small batch of sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles, or hot sauce in jars you already own, with no water airlock to refill and nothing to burp. Ease of use is its real strength, the buy-in is small for a canner, and for active, eaten-soon ferments it does the job that turns a curious beginner into a regular one.

What keeps this from a straight rave is the seal and the weights, and those are real, not nitpicks. The Pickle Pipe only guards a jar while the ferment is pushing pressure, so slow batches can invite mold, and the glass Pebbles crack or jam often enough that a spare set is money well spent. Go in treating the silicone and the weights as consumables, watch the seal on anything long or slow, and the Masontops kit is a genuinely good place to start fermenting.