I don't think it is overkill at all, 'Linc.
If you want to make something closer to sauerkraut than compost, pack it down and exclude the air. Silage on a farm is something quite well preserved, the farmer hopes. Sauerkraut and silage aren't what we are hoping for in garden soil.
In my own handling of compostables, I have to be aware of that. The last couple of years, I probably have a respectable compost pile by most gardeners' standards. There is probably that 4' by 4' mass that we are told should be a minimum for good composting. However, I have large gardens and can generate much more material than that. What I do is bury it.
The result is probably a good deal of anaerobic decomposition. That's slow and I probably only get away with it because I move a good deal of soil, which loosens and aerates it, then bury only about 4" to 6" of compostables, and the soil has an
awful amount of gravel in it - which, at least, allows good water movement. But, 12 months later, organic material in that ground could only be found with a microscope -- so, that works for me.
Most gardeners like to compost material in a matter of weeks not months. They even like a good deal of heat so that weed seeds and plant pathogens are killed. That takes air.
You can take your pitchfork and turn, turn, turn. But, a more efficient way is to reduce the particle size of the material.
The fields beside my larger veggie garden have just been cut and the plant material baled. If I was to toss a couple of those bales in the back of the pickup, they wouldn't take up 10% of the space under the canopy. If I brought them home and ran them thru a good shredder, that same plant material would fill my carport. I could add some water to that alfalfa & grass and there should be rapid decomposition.
BTW, if I could somehow grind that material small enough so that if filled a 3 car garage - then tossed a match in there - I'd burn that garage down in a matter of minutes! If I could turn that plant material to fine enuf dust to fill a 6 car garage - then tossed a match in there - I could make a very significant contribution to the neighborhood fireworks display this 4th of July!! Anything left of that garage would probably be in the next county!
Talk about your rapid decomposition of material
!!!
Steve
Edited to add:
i've already begun burying some plant material in the garden. soon, the potatoes will be dug and all of the soil will be moved out of those beds to a depth of about 8" in the process. that harvesting will take a few weeks and i will refill those potato beds with compostables behind me, as i go thru the beds. maybe my work there could be called, "composting underkill." 
! You can run stuff over with a mower to get it smaller, although this would work best with leaves and straw and twigs, might get too messy with kitchen compost.
