WHY DID THE SAUERKRAUT FERMENTATION FAILED?- A LESSON IN IGNORANCE!

This is a true story of a food microbiology practical being conducted in one of the outstanding universities in the country which has gone awry, not due to the lack of instructions how to prepare sauerkraut but due to ignorance and poor understanding of fermentation technology

Although the steps are clear and all the components needed to produce the sauerkraut fermentation are followed, the practical failed.

Why the practical failed is easily understood if one understand the concept of fermentation technology. The lecturer who instructed the class in preparing the sauerkraut fermentation made two key mistakes:

1 Using a large Kilner jar to hold the fermentation process but it only contain very little food substrate and a large volume of head space
2 The kilner jars were regularly opened up and stirred like an open pot cooking

In such situations the fermentation will fail because of too much exposure to air and oxygen which will prevent proper fermentation of sauerkraut from taking place

It is hoped that lecturers or teachers intending to carry out such fermentation studies learn from their mistakes :)). It is very embarrassing to note lecturers with PhD still failed to carry out fermentation when their uneducated ancestors can do the fermentation properly