AFAIK it isn't possible at home although from what I have read (no personal experience with it) adding various cultures allows you to reduce the amount of salt used. Perhaps they use lactic acid, whey, or a similar culture? You might want to do some reading on the Wild Fermentation website for more info. Sorry I can't be more help. Perhaps pthers who have experience using various natural cultures to ferment with will chime in. Dave

by opening the jar did I ruin the fermentation? Not at all. Many folks use a type of semi-open fermentation where it is not fully sealed from the air. Think of pickle barrels or some kraut crocks. All it means is that once opened to air exposure bacteria are allowed in and now you will have to skim off any scum that develops every couple of days. Next time you won't want to fill your container nearly as full as you apparently did this time and weights are usually only used when solids (not liquids) are fermented. If it blew the airlock and the lock was the correct size for the container then too much gas was allowed to build up inside the container. Cracking the lid open a bit every couple of days prevents that. That usually means too much kefir was added or the air temps are too warm. Dave

Two things—paper really does burn at 451 degrees. Because of the coating, parchment singes but rarely ignites, but it and make a bad smell. If you trim it to fit the pizza, the coolth of the dough will protect the paper, but you lose the "handles" that make it easier to slide the peel under. Silicone mats also top out around there. Also, if you have a porous stone, rather than a steel or other mass, it will absorb liquid, giving a good crunch, whereas parchment is non-absorbent and will steam your crust, for more of a hard and chewy texture. Some people are very particular about the texture, some preferring each to their tastes. I often double cheat, using parchment on a thin aluminum pizza pan. That's just the easiest to manipulate and clean, not the best pizza. Sometimes pretty decent pizza now trumps really great pizza sometime unknown when one feels like dealing with thE bother. BTW, the full packet pizza dough, rose and rose all over, but instantly degassed, became a nice, stretchy dough that again rose nicely, and did well in the oven. I don't know how much of this was the flour and new yeast, and how much was the quantity. The recipe also called for starting the yeast in water. Not really proofing it—no flour or sugar to grow on—but activating it first. Kind of a hybrid recipe, between the standard cold ferment with little yeast and chill before rise, and quick ferment with activating a whole lot of yeast, and letting the rise start for half an hour before chilling.

That has happened. Fedco which is a local seed/bulb/tree company sells them most years. John Bunker is an amazing source of knowledge about local old varieties of fruit trees. Btw if you are in Maine in the spring in a non pandemic year - the Fedco tree sale is worth checking out. Or even just the catalog. Midwinter I can spend time imagining fantasy orchards with no blights, droughts or porcupines... https://fedcoseeds.com/trees/list-apples