Are those packaged “XXX sourdough culture” the same as the traditional Sourdough? 究竟市面買到的包裝好的”XXX天然酵母”是否天然酵母?

傳統所指的天然酵母，所指的是過百款不同的微生物共生在麵團中，它們在不同環境下各有不同的活躍程度。例如將天然酵母長時間放在低溫下，能釋放二氧化碳的微生物便會越來越少，製作醋酸的微生物會越來越多，最後便會成為只會做酸味的麵團不能用來製作麵包了。絕大部分的天然酵母之中的微生物都是不能被冷凍或乾燥保存的。

The sourdough we use traditionally refers to over hundreds of different microorganisms coexisting in the same dough. Every different strains have different behavior in different environment. For example, when the sourdough is fermented at a cold environment, the microorganism that can produce carbon dioxide is getting relatively fewer and the one that can produce acetic acid is getting more. In the end the sourdough will only be able to produce acid and become unsuitable in bread making. Most of the microorganisms will not survive throughout the freezing or dehydrating process.

基於上述原因，當面對以”方便易用的XXX天然酵母”為賣點的推銷時，不妨問一問對方：第一，產品預先發酵後是否能保存在雪櫃使用數天? 第二，產品在不同溫度下發酵會否有不同風味?

Therefore, whenever you come across the “easy-to-use-ready-made-XXX sourdough culture”, why not ask the following questions: First, after activation of such product will it be able to keep in refrigerator and be ready to use for several days? Second, will such product yield different flavor when proofing at different temperature?

那些”方便易用的XXX天然酵母”其實只是”另類的乾酵母”，而得到方便的不是顧客而是不良的商人。

The easy to use “XXX sourdough culture” is just another type of dried yeast. The convenience is for the salesperson not for the customers.