Small Wooden Cabbage Tamper for sauerkraut and more - Handmade In The USA

Should last for years if properly maintained. Before exposing the tamper to any water, I performed a little light sanding on any rough spots (especially on the ends where it was attached to a lathe. Then, I coated it with food-grade linseed oil several times. The oil soaked right in and there wasn't much excess, if any, left on the surface of the wood to wipe off after multiple applications. I let the tamper sit for an hour or so between applications. Tamper is perfect for 1/2 gallon ball jars, which is my choice for fermenting sauerkraut. Just rinse tamper with water and towel dry. DO NOT put it in a sink of hot soapy water, or, the dishwasher. Reapply linseed oil between uses and it should last a very long time.

This is a beautiful kitchen tool! Its very well made. (I’m assuming handmade). I’ve used it very successfully to tamp down cabbage for sauerkraut and look forward to many more years of easier-to-make homemade sauerkraut because of this tool. It helps the process of squeezing out the juice of the cabbage to create the brine. Yay!

I have not used this tamper yet but I am sure it will will do it's job well. I did not give it 5 stars because I had to spend about 15 minutes with 320 grit sand paper to get the silky-smooth finish that I feel it should of already had. Also, the tamping end had a squared-off edge, not a beveled edge like one of the manufacturer's pictures show. I sanded a slight radiused-edge on mine. The manufacturer could have done these finishing touches in less than a minute, when the wood was still on the lathe. Overall, good product.

I make 3.3 pound batches of sauerkraut in 1/2 gallon jars and this is great tool for batches of that size, more or less. The tool is good for pounding and for packing. Before I was using a wooden mallet (one end to pound and the other end to pack), but this tool is more appropriate. The wood shows a nice grain. I coated it using coconut oil. The item I received does not look exactly like the pictures. The top of mine is more rounded or oval shaped, and the bottom end of mine is squared off, the edge not rounded as shown in the picture. Perhaps there are multiple suppliers with slightly different designs?I have only made one batch with this tool, but intend to use it from now on.

This was a gift for someone who makes sauerkraut. They loved it!

The tamper delivered is not the tamper that is pictured. The tamper delivered has a much smaller diameter "neck" topped off by a small knob vs. the flared neck and larger, contoured hand-grip shown. This small diameter neck means I will always have to be concerned about how much force I am applying to it. For most people this is not a concern since they are not capable of generating a working force sufficient to break the tamper neck. But for those of us who have gone through our adult lives needing to be aware of that sort of thing, receiving a frail tamper was a disappointment. The little knob at the top of the delivered item is too small for large hands to use effectively for getting a good "cabbage crush." Additionally, the pictured item has a contoured cabbage-contact area whereas the delivered item does not—it is just a straight cut. Next time I will save some $ by cutting a hardwood dowel to length.

This is an indispensable tool for tamping down veggies for fermentation. I made a big batch of sauerkraut and this came in very handy. It's the perfect length for getting down into a deep crock (see my other review of the Harsch fermentation crock) and the thickness is easily adaptable for a mason jar or a large crock.I rubbed vegetable oil on it twice and let it dry. It gave it a good coating and brought out the beautiful lines of the wood.

This Cabbage Tamper was perfectly sized to tamp down cabbage into my tall wide mouth jars. Makes this job fun and so much easier.