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Other from Northern China

Jar seasoning before fermentation (塗甕)塗甕

A 6th-century Qimin Yaoshu method for sealing a pottery jar before any ferment goes in. The jar is heated upside down over a charcoal pit, hot fat is swirled inside until the wall stops soaking it up, and the jar is scoured and soaked in cold water for a few days. It is a vessel preparation, not a ferment, and the text says a jar that seeps spoils everything made in it.

Fully documentedOther

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedOne jar at a time, of any size. The text gives no amounts of fat.
Pottery jarJar blanks (坯, the unfired body) of the 7th month are best, the 8th month next, other months worst[qmys-ws]
Beef or mutton fat, melted hotPork fat also works; the text calls hemp-seed oil a mistake[qmys-ws]
Hot water, for scouringseveral dou[qmys-ws]
Cold water, to fill the jar[qmys-ws]
Starternone (vessel preparation)
Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: A jar blank made in the seventh month is picked first

Step 1 of 6
Choose a jar blank
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The text ranks jar blanks (坯) made in the 7th month best, the 8th month next, and other months worst. Output: jar of the best season.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

A 6th-century Qimin Yaoshu method for sealing a pottery jar before any ferment goes in. The jar is heated upside down over a charcoal pit, hot fat is swirled inside until the wall stops soaking it up, and the jar is scoured and soaked in cold water for a few days. It is a vessel preparation, not a ferment, and the text says a jar that seeps spoils everything made in it.

What makes this one different

Unlike the recipes around it, nothing ferments here. The text says every jar, large or small, must be treated this way, sealing the porous pottery wall with animal fat.

Related ferments

Safety

The text warns that a seeping jar (甕津) spoils every ferment made in it, and that a jar bought at market should be sealed before it holds water; an unsealed jar caught in rain is also spoiled.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Qimin Yaoshu (completed 544, or between 533 and 544 on another account), vol. 7, ch. 63, 塗甕, placed just before the chapters on qu and wine. The book was written by Jia Sixie, a Northern Wei official.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
Process times
The sources we found give no figure for how long any of its steps take.
Temperature, salt and pH
The 6th-century Qimin Yaoshu gives heat only in words, and no study we found has measured this recipe.
  1. [qmys-ws] Jia Sixie, Qimin Yaoshu (6th century), vol. 7, ch. 63 塗甕; Chinese text on Wikisource (齊民要術/卷第七), read 2026-10archive
  2. [zhwiki-qmys] Chinese Wikipedia, 齊民要術 (read 2026-10; date of the book and its table of contents)wiki