Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Fermentation Atlas

How this atlas is made

The Fermentation Atlas is compiled by Loft Tools. It brings together what published sources say about how each ferment is made, puts the numbers in the same units and fields so ferments can be compared, and draws each step so you can see what changes.

What is in it

2,854 ferments, with 1,158 documented well enough to have their own page with animated steps. The rest are listed in full on theirkind and regionpages, and each gets its own page once its sources give enough detail. The entries cite 5,512 distinct sources.

How the research is done

AI research assistants search and read published sources: protected-origin specifications, Codex and national standards, tested recipes from food-safety agencies and university extension services, peer-reviewed studies, theses and archives, in many languages. They record each step, each number with its unit, and where it came from. Encyclopedias are used as an outline, never as the only source for a number on a full page.

Every entry is then checked before it is published:

  • Every DOI, PubMed Central id and web link a source gives is looked up to confirm it exists and matches the citation.
  • A validator checks every value's units and ranges, and that each temperature, salt and pH number matches the text recorded with it.
  • Samples of values are checked by hand against their sources, and safety limits such as starting pH and salt for fish need a food-safety authority as the source.
  • An automatic audit checks every drawn step, so the scene shows what the step describes.

What the labels mean

Measured
Measured in a study.
Set
Fixed by a specification or tested recipe.
Reported
One source reports it.
Typical
A general value, not sourced for this ferment.
Unconfirmed
Not yet checked against a source.

Unconfirmed values are shown as text, not as numbers, so you can see what is still missing.

What it is not

The atlas describes how ferments are traditionally and commercially made. It is not a food-safety guide. For home preserving, follow a tested recipe from a food-safety authority such as the USDA National Center for Home Food Preservation.

Found an error?

Write to us through the contact page, naming the ferment and the value. Corrections are checked against the source and fixed.