USA Glass Water Bottle Dispensing Crock Protective Ring Solution

For those who have been looking for a plastic ring protector to fit the top of a USA made water bottle dispensing crock you will be happy to know the solution is at your local hardware store.

In many areas the glass water jugs are still available to use on the water dispensing crocks. While plenty of imported ceramic water bottle crocks are sold to fit these bottles there’s much concern of them containing lead and other impurities. This concern sends people looking for an old fashioned USA made water bottle dispenser containing no lead or cadmium like the ones sold at Cottage Craft Works.com

The old fashioned USA made water bottle crocks at Cottage Craft Works.com are still hand turned and do not have the standard measurements as the imported water bottle crocks. Plastic glass bottle protector rings sold online for the imported crocks will not fit these larger unique USA versions.

This is not an issue for those using the plastic water jugs as they do not need the protector ring. On the old style glass jugs the plastic protector serves as a buffer to keep the glass and pottery glaze from scratching off into the water reservoir during water bottle changes.

If you have a Cottage Craft Works water bottle crock or another USA one made to also use a lid it will have a lid ledge inside the top. This lid ledge perfectly holds a 20 ¼" coiled length of 1” O.D. clear plastic tube sold by the foot in hardware stores.

The plastic tubing is sold for water lines and other applications.  It comes off the roll somewhat flatten.  When coiled inside the lid ledge it sticks up just enough to balance the neck of a full water bottle on and then seals around it when the bottle is lifted up into place.  The ring stays snugly in place when replacing water bottles and will lift out easy for cleaning.

The clear tubing blends in well with the clear glass jug and is not as noticeable as the plastic rings. Price wise at less than $4, this protector ring is much cheaper than the plastic rings as well.

Cottage Craft Works.com is a unique back-to-basics online store selling a wide variety of USA old fashioned products. Touring the site is like taking a step back in time into an old time general merchandise store.l

Sunrise Maple Syrup Evaporators direct from the Amish Sunrise Metal Shop

Sunrise has developed into a full line supplier of high quality wood fired maple syrup evaporators and stainless maple syrup products.

In the Northern Indiana Amish country Sunrise Metal Shop a family operated Amish shop has been developing and manufacturing some of the best stainless steel maple syrup evaporators available.

Since 1972 when their first maple syrup evaporator was manufactured for the local maple syrup production, Sunrise has developed into a full line supplier of high quality wood fired maple syrup evaporators and stainless maple syrup products.

Many in the maple Syrup industry have seen or know of Sunrise evaporators, or actually own them, but because they are mainly marketed to other Amish communities, the general public has not had the Internet or commercial exposure of other manufacturers in the maple syrup industry.

The Sunrise Maple Syrup Evaporators are now available online at Cottage Craft Works .com

We visited one of the Sunrise demonstrations in February of 2012 as the Amish gathered into a barn bringing in their fresh maple sap for cooking down into the wonderful maple syrup.

From the road it looked like any other Amish gathering but as we entered we found a giant Sunrise cooker being stoked with firewood and manned by several Amish in an assembly line process.

What makes Sunrise evaporators so intriguing is they are all made in an Amish shop by skilled Amish workers. Just about everything made in the shop uses heaver gauge steel and stainless. Stainless Joints and seams are welded with a tig welder. Sunrise uses 20 ga Stainless while others use 22 ga.

These evaporators are being built with long life spans in mind, as the Amish build things that they will use hard and last for a very long time.

Fire boxes are larger and built using heaver grates and thicker sidewalls than other factory built units. Fire boxes also come lined with fire brick for a longer firebox life span.

We expected to find a dark shop, with antiquated equipment. To our surprise we found a modern factory with the most modern equipment that was built just in 2009.

While the evaporators featured on the Cottage Craft Works website are geared more to the hobby farm and small commercial producer, larger commercial sized evaporators like the one we saw in operation are also available.

Hobby sized evaporators range in size from a 2 X 3- 35 tap 10 Gallon per Hour model, to a 2 X 6- 250 tap 35 Gallons per hour. Prices range from $1495 to $3600. Fairly competitive to others on the market.

Probably the best buy for the large hobby/small commercial producer is the Sunrise 2 X 6 Spitfire model. It is designed to handle up to 250 taps. It’s a wood fired cooker with a 2 x 2 flat finishing pan and a 4 x 4 flue pan.

Overall cooking surface is 9088 sq inches. The 2 x 6 Spitfire will process approximately 35 gal of syrup per hour.

The flue pans built by Sunrise are also of exceptional quality. The 2 X 6 Spitfire flue pan is built with 8” deep flues. This provides additional cooking surface, which means the Sunrise Evaporators are very efficient. The 2 X 6 Spitfire has an overall cooking surface of 9088 sq inches.

Building this type of flue pan using heavy gauge Stainless Steel is probably one of the key attributes of the Sunrise Evaporators. It’s very expensive and labor intensive to build a flue pan this way, but again the Amish don’t build things to just sell they build things to use and last.

Gas fired hobby finishers are also available in both a two and three burner models. Sunrise also makes Stainless filtering tanks, finishing pans, scoops and skimmers.

Sunrise makes their own unique heavy stainless sap bag holder. They are easy to use and keeps the top closed for less rainwater and debris to enter during the sap collection process.

Working closely with the Amish cottage based industries, for the past 30 years Cottage Craft Works has developed an online general store filled with hard to find Amish products.

No Boil Maple Syrup Finishing Cooker

One of the most difficult processes in making quality maple syrup comes down to the finishing process. Maintaining maple syrup just below the boiling point throughout the finishing process is part skill and part the right equipment.

Maintaining even heat without hot spots in large cooking pans is the most difficult. Most cookers using single pans will concentrate the heat right over the top of the burners leaving a high potential for that area to succeed the boiling point while the rest of the batch doesn't.

Even the most experienced maple syrup processors fear the dreaded sugar sand. Sugar sand occurs when the maple syrup is allowed to boil during the finishing process. Sugar sand is like honey that has sat on the pantry shelf too long and turned to sugar.

The creative Amish at Sunrise has developed a no boil maple syrup finishing cooker in two models to fit on top of a two or three burner LP Gas stove.

The cooker uses a double wall water jacket stainless cooking pan that can be filled with water. Much like a double stove top boiler used to make candy or melt wax for canning the water may reach boiling the point but the contents inside will never boil.

These cookers can be used on a camp style LP gas cooker or Sunrise makes a complete portable stainless steel cooking stand that is easy to knock down and assemble.

These professional LP cookers can also be used for other outdoor cooking and the double wall pan can be used for other cooking applications.

These cookers will also process small batches of maple syrup for the small hobby and individual family. The process just takes longer than firing over a wood fired cooker and then using a finish cooker to finalize the process.

No boil finishing pans are also available through Cottage Craft Works .com

Cottage Craft works is a unique back to basics store featuring many Amish made products from across the many Amish communities. Many of these products are difficult to find.

Buggy Blanket | Carriage Blanket | Amish buggy blanket

Keep warm this winter with an authentic Amish buggy blanket from Cottage Craft Works

If you're going out in an open romantic buggy, sleigh ride or just to your favorite outdoor sporting event you need an authentic Amish Buggy Blanket to keep you warm and snug.

These blankets are perfect for RVs and campers, as well as all types of cold weather events. Keep one in the car in case you become stranded.

The Amish are well known for their horse and buggy transportation. Have you ever wonder how they can stand taking those long buggy trips to town on some of the coldest days and nights? The authentic Amish buggy blanket has a wind barrier built inside to help keep the cold wind chill out. The outer layers are soft plush fabric to maintain the body heat.

These plush blankets measure 58” X 78” and are available at Cottage Craft Works .COM. for $69.95. The buggy blanket ships directly from an Amish shop in Northern Indiana.

Cottage Craft Works at http://www.cottagecraftworks.com is a unique on line old time general store featuring all types of old time goodies from the past. Old fashioned products still American made with the pride and quality that built America are still available for our fast pace and crazy world we live in.

So take a step back in time and tour the many pages this nostalgic website offers. Not only can you order the buggy blanket you can even custom order your own full size buggy to go with it.

Water Hydrant Frost/Freeze Proof Stainless HD Faucet | Corrosion Resistant

Why go through another long cold winter dealing with a cantankerous hydrant when you are so dependent on getting out fresh outside running water?

If your farm, ranch or business depends on having plenty of outside running water when the temperature drops and stays below zero, you might want to take a look at this one of a kind outdoor Stainless Steel water hydrant, especially if you live close to salt water.

Made from Stainless Steel the top will not rust or corrode, inside push rod is made of Stainless and even the outside pipe can be upgraded from standard galvanized to stainless with a stainless foot valve.

Unlike the traditional frost proof hydrants sold in hardware and farm stores this outdoor hydrant has a unique rocker arm design. The handle is smooth operating, providing additional leverage to make it so much easier to use.

Even the lady ranchers, farm wives and small children will appreciate having no problems turning the water on and off when doing the outside winter chores.

The hydrant is also perfect to use in remote summer cottages and outdoor pavilions for when the season ends to quickly winterize the property.

An excellent hydrant for commercial, municipalities, camp grounds, service stations and etc. Also perfect for coastal areas near saltwater such, as beach cottages, parks, aquariums, fish and seafood processing plants, fishing piers, and fishing boats.

The bottom brass foot valve is equipped with 1” piped thread to provide excellent water pressure. The top unscrews allowing the rod and valve seat to be removed for repair.

USA Amish manufactured the 401 Freezless Hydrant was designed by a plumber and has been tested for years through the coldest Ohio winters on farms and dairy farms.

The 401 Freezless Hydrant is only available online at the sustainable living store,Cottage Craft Works .com

It is available in both 2’ and 3’ bury models. The 3’ bury ships UPS Dimensional Weight.

These water hydrants are about three times the cost of a regular frostproof hydrant, but considering the chances of failure when you need it the most or having to bust up a concrete slab and dig out the cheaper one, the extra investment is well worth saving the expense and headaches down the road.

Cottage Craft Works overs a full range of sustainable self-sufficient back-to-basics products for the farm, home and ranch.