Explore the life of a Sourdough: by Didier Rosada

For a long time , this method of baking remained mysterious to bakers.  With the evolution of baking science and microbiology in particular, this natural fermentation process has become more understood.  Whether you use scratch methods, bases or frozen dough, a clear understanding of the science and production steps in the sourdough process is essential to create variety, quality and consistency in your artisan bread line.
The sourdough process consists of three parts-starting a culture of microorganisms, cultivating them to increase their quantity, and using the resulting levain to ferment the final dough.  After using the levain, the baker perpetuates the culture by adding more flour and water to maintain its activity.

Rest of article from Didier Rosada.

http://www.bakerconnection.com/artisanbaker/article_02.htm

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