Food fermentation in space: Opportunities and challenges
10 comments
·April 7, 2025amluto
blacksmith_tb
Yes, and for lots of anaerobic processes like lactofermenting veggies, you would need some way to keep the pickles in the brine (without just being able to put a weight on them), maybe a sort of inner lid with some holes.
Galatians4_16
Coat one side of the container with mentos® surface, to encourage bubble forming on that side, or maybe use capillary wicks? Just spitballing.
luqtas
they purposefully chose miso... no one is making carbonated drinks on space because nasty stuff like CO2 floating in the stomach, without needing to go upwards)
why you need a airlock? just burb regularly by opening the can. you can also press the miso towards the bottom with some spring mechanism attached to the lid
RoryH
Mmmmm, space Kimchi!
sybercecurity
In the 70's we started putting Pigs in Space(https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Pigs_in_Space), so now we need the rest of the ingredients for pork and kimchi stew.
thenthenthen
Cheers!
ihsw
[dead]
Barely discussed in the paper: bubbles.
Many fermentation processes produce gas, and some aerobic fermentation processes happen while fully exposed to the air. Gravity provides quite a bit of assistance separating gas bubbles from solids and liquids.
In space, how do you build a fermentation airlock? With a centrifuge? Can you safely punch down dough? How do you open a sealed, pressurized container of anything carbonated? Can you easily remove enough dissolved CO2 from your kimchi so that eating it won’t make you burp?