Fermentation

Fermentation is a living process, not a style. Microbes transform a food’s sugars into gas, acid, alcohol, and flavor compounds. Wild yeast and Lactic acid bacteria are two of the workers. Bread, cheese, and wine hire them for different jobs. They are not the same job.

Bread. In dough, fermentation is timed against gluten strength and oven schedule ¹. Flour paste is the habitat. Application: Bulk fermentation and Sourdough.

Cheese. Milk is the habitat; lactose is the sugar; cultures acidify and help the curd. The related applications are Cheese and Cheese cultures, where fermentation is part of a dairy make rather than a dough or beverage ferment.

Wine. Grape must is the habitat; glucose and fructose are the sugars; yeast makes ethanol. Application: Wine. Spontaneous wine yeast and a sourdough starter are cousins, not twins. Honey, apples, and malt hire the same kingdom for Drinks.

Jam is usually not a ferment. Heat, sugar, and pectin are a different preservation chemistry — Preserving. Sour vegetables are Pickling and Lacto-fermentation; bottled acid is Vinegar. Wine’s alcoholic ferment is Wine fermentation.

What to observe in any ferment: bubbles or gas, a sour or alcoholic smell, a change in taste, and whether the smell is clean. Time is a proxy. Temperature, inoculation, and the food’s composition move the clock.