Every ferment carries the same quiet anxiety: is it this kind of fuzz or that kind? Most of it goes away when the checkpoints have dates. The Ferment Wizard works in three steps — pick the ferment, weigh the batch, pick a start date — and the answer is a calendar, not a warning.
The defaults: 1,000 g of vegetables and a 2% salt target — 20 g of salt, weighed once. From there the plan is the NCHFP's checkpoint list (with UVM Extension's), and the wizard writes each one with your real dates: day 3, check it's under the brine and skim any film; day 7, check the brine and skim; day 14, taste it; day 21, ready when tart and still crunchy; day 28 — done at 70–75 °F, so refrigerate it.
Every plan sources itself on the sheet — the app's eight templates name their origins, and the printed bench sheet carries the same names: NCHFP, UVM Extension, NC State, America's Test Kitchen, USU Extension, Noma, CSU Extension, Pepper Geek across the lot.
Kombucha's plan ends differently: taste at day 7 and check it reads below pH 4.5; bottle by day 10 and drink within 30 days. Garum holds at 60 °C and checks in at ten weeks — done between ten and twelve (Noma's). Kimchi wants the fridge by day two. The wizard does not blend them; each plan keeps its own pace, and your sheet keeps its own dates.
Label the batch. — the cellar crew
