When food is fermented how is it ensured that the right type of fermentation occurs so that you don’t make pickles when you want alcohol and vice versa?

Question

When food is fermented how is it ensured that the right type of fermentation occurs so that you don’t make pickles when you want alcohol and vice versa?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

The two big factors are precise environment control and known good samples of the microbes you want.

For example, Yogurt. Making yogurt involves first pasteurizing the milk to remove the existing microbes, adding your own microbes, and then keeping the milk at a temperature that those germs like more than any other germ.

You can also adjust things like acidity and salinity and several lines of yeast have been maintained for centuries.