Canonical object
One input, one process, one outcome
A manual represents a transformation, such as cabbage to sauerkraut or cucumber to fermented dill pickle. An ingredient alone is not enough: the same ingredient may lead to several products through materially different organisms, formulations, temperatures, and endpoints.
Source selection
Prefer procedures that expose their controls
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Start with authoritative guidance
For home vegetable fermentation, prioritize USDA/NCHFP and university Extension food-preservation sources.
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Identify an actual procedure
A broad range or educational overview is not automatically a recipe for a specific vegetable.
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Record the displayed date
Store the page’s review/update date or the revision date named in its source note.
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Choose one procedure for execution
Other credible methods remain named alternatives; their numbers are never averaged.
Procedure first
Reconstruct before rendering
A manual records, at minimum:
Identity
Input, output, process family, selected procedure, and source date.
Formulation
Ingredients, quantities, units, denominators, preparation, and optional items.
Environment
Vessel, weight, oxygen/submersion method, temperature, and expected duration.
Decision states
Expected progression, endpoint, troubleshooting, stop conditions, and storage.
If the source does not define a value—such as a pH endpoint—we leave it unspecified rather than borrowing a number from another method.
Meaning, not just numbers
Classify each consequential instruction
| Type | Question it answers |
|---|---|
| Batch input | What quantity and preparation does this procedure begin with? |
| Fixed formulation | Which relationship must remain intact? |
| Operating range | Within which documented conditions does the method run? |
| Expected window | How long does the selected method usually take under those conditions? |
| Optional | Which addition does the source explicitly allow? |
| Endpoint | What conditions define completion? |
| Stop condition | What requires stopping, not improvising? |
Evidence state
Label what has actually been established
Documented
An authoritative procedure has been reconstructed and cited. No HowToFerment batch is implied.
Reproduced
HowToFerment has performed that exact procedure and can attach its own observations and media.
Compared
A purposeful, controlled comparison has investigated one defined question.
The current sauerkraut and dill-pickle manuals are Documented and not reproduced. That boundary appears on each page.
No false consensus
Explain differences instead of averaging them
NCHFP/Penn State, Colorado State, and the University of Minnesota publish differing sauerkraut temperature, duration, salt-expression, endpoint, and storage guidance. Each combination belongs to its own procedure. The manual names one selected route; comparison notes identify the others without producing a synthetic “average” method.
Visual boundary
Diagrams orient; observed runs provide evidence
If a manual is later reproduced, original photographs and measurements will be labeled as HowToFerment observations and kept distinct from what the underlying source states.
Maintenance
Keep canonical manuals current
A source change should trigger a fresh review of every consequential value and its scope. Material corrections should name what changed and why. A newer page is not silently blended with an older procedure; the selected method and evidence label must remain legible.