On Sat, 22 Nov 2003 22:17:54 -0700, "Janet Bostwick"
> wrote:

>> http://www.discover.com/issues/sep-0...featscienceof/

>Excellent article. Thanks for sharing.

But does it resolve the issue of how "natural" starters become
activated initially? There appears to be some contorversy over whether
the initial organisms are found solely in the flour, solely in the
atmosphere, or both.

I can attest to the fact that I was unable to activate several
attempts with atmospheric organisms. My kitchen must be free of them -
or at least it was before I began using active starters.

I was, however, able to activate two starters with only flour. I tried
to maintain strict sanitation protocols, like chemists use in the lab,
so I believe the activation had to be the result of organisms in the
flour, especially since it appeared that there were none in the
atmosphere back then.

Does that mean when people expose a flour-water mixture to the
atmosphere, they are being deceived as to the source of activation?