Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I’m relatively new to home fermenting, and I was excited to step up my game with this crock. The cost was better than competitors, so I took a chance. Out of the box, this crock arrived as described, although it was a little bit uneven on the bottom, so it wobbled a bit on the counter. No biggie. Contrary to what other negative reviews found, the glaze was in good shape. I ferment in my basement so the temperature stays relatively stable. I made my first batch of kraut, filled the crock, and waited. I noticed throughout the fermentation process the water well would suddenly disappear. I attributed it to evaporation, checked it every day, and refilled if necessary. When the batch was finished something had clearly gone wrong. The batch had a decent flavor, but was mushy...a problem I had never had before. I assumed I had done something wrong and set about making my second batch, a bit smaller than the last. It was late winter and changing into spring. I noticed again that the water would disappear, so I checked it every day and refilled as needed. One evening I noticed it was a little low, so I refilled it. The next morning I awoke, and happened to be in my basement, so I checked on it: completely empty. There was no way that much water could have evaporated in that time frame. In fact the temp had dropped the night before. Out of curiosity, I lifted the lid to inspect the ferment and discover the liquid was about double of what I had originally started with. Normally, the liquid reduces as the fermentation progresses. Then I wondered: were atmospheric pressure changes causing my water to be pressed/pulled in to the crock? YES. I decided to investigate further online and found others have had the exact problem. Some have complained that the crock “leaks” into the ferment, but I suspect that pressure fluctuations are probably the real culprit. This is a pretty crock, and I suppose that if you lived where the barometric pressure is pretty stable it may work, but Cleveland isn’t that place(Don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes). So for me, this was a waste of money, and I would not recommend.