Full Starter Kit with a Jar - Organic Wheat or Rye Sourdough

Our best sourdough starters now available with a perfect size wide-mouth jar

Tired of searching for the right new home for your starter culture? Want to ensure the right growth conditions? Looking for a convenient option, with wide mouth access for easy maintenance?

We can dispatch this fresh sourdough starter kit your way any moment. Comes with detailed maintenance instructions, and a sourdough bread recipe that is always the winner.

Choose either RYE or WHEAT which come both in LIVE and DEHYDRATED versions 

WHEAT STARTER:

Born in Australia in 2017, this live starter culture has been maintained with the best quality organic unbleached wheat (baker's) flour from Wholegrain Milling in Gunnedah, NSW, Australia. It has a creamy texture and an appealing creamy white colour, and a very distinct smell of vinegar, nail polish, or paint (all perfectly natural flavours in a wheat starter!).

RYE STARTER:

Re-born in Australia in 2014, and originating from Poland, this live starter culture has been maintained with the best quality organic whole rye flour from Wholegrain Milling in Gunnedah, NSW, Australia. It has a peanut butter texture, an appealing light brown colour, and a very distinct fruity flavour profile.

This starter is a genuine product that we use ourselves. The kit comes with printed maintenance instructions and our favourite sourdough step-by-step bread recipe. You can pin them on your fridge for easy access.

For extra support, we recommend browsing online and reading a few articles on sourdough baking. Watch Youtube videos on kneading, stretching, folding, and shaping techniques. Read a good book, like Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson, or Bread by Jeffrey Hamelman.

What's included in the kit:

• Zip-lock bag with 50-60g live starter

• Detailed Maintenance Instructions (A5)

• Our Best Sourdough Recipe (A5)

• Wide-mouth Mason Jar with a lid (500ml)

Preparation:

First Feeding

• Weigh an empty jar. Note its weight on the bottom.

• Cut one corner of the bag and squeeze out the contents into the jar.

• Mix with equal amounts of good quality wheat baker's flour or whole rye flour and lukewarm water (1 : 1 :1 ratio). Use the correct flour type to maintain purity of your starter culture. You may need to add slightly more flour (or less water) if texture is too runny, especially with the wheat starter.

• Example: If you recovered 50g of starter, feed it with 50g of flour and 50g of water (may need to use up to 60-70g of water for the desired texture, depending on the flour). You should then have about 150-170g available in total.

• Stir vigorously so that there are no dry lumps of flour and set aside in room temperature for 8 - 24 hours.

• Starter is revived once the first signs of fermentation are evident (bubbles) and the volume increases 1.5 - 3x. Usually starter will double its volume.

• Note it may take up to 48 hours to see the first signs. It will take longer in cooler temperatures.

• Use directly or prepare a leaven first. Leaven allows you to quickly amplify the amount of your starter for a recipe. Refer to our detailed instructions here.

• Leave on a kitchen bench for a few days until next feeding, or store in the fridge for up to 4 weeks. Make sure to allow it to warm up and feed before using in any recipe, as it needs to regain activity.

Leaven

• Prepare a separate container (a small bowl, a jar, etc) and add a large spoon of your ripe starter (about 40g). It is now also a good opportunity to replenish your mother starter.

• Add baker's flour and lukewarm water in 1-2-2 ratio (or higher) and mix thoroughly. We add baker's flour (wheat) as all leaven will end up in a recipe which usually calls for baker's flour. However, you can mix flour types as you like, and it will still work.

• Example: if you had 40g of ripe starter, add 80g of baker's flour and 80g of water. This will yield around 200g which will be more than enough for most recipes.

• We recommend using around 15-20% leaven in any given recipe as compared to the total amount of flour. 

• Example: if you're using 1000g of flour in total, leaven content should be 150-200g.

Shipping Notes:

• Live starters can easily survive without fresh food up to 2 weeks in mail, then they may get smelly and even mouldy. It doesn't mean they die! Feed immediately upon arrival or store in the fridge until you're ready to feed. Your starter will thank you with active fermentation within hours.

• If you're ordering for a gift, make sure you time your order accordingly (store the kit in the fridge for up to 3-4 weeks after receiving).

• A dehydrated version may be a better fit if you need more time and flexibility, or if you're ordering it as a gift

You can bake sourdough just as a professional baker. All it takes is a robust sourdough starter kit and dedicated accessories to help you. In our store, you can get a hold of everything you need. Explore our range of proofing baskets, bread lames, whisks and scrapers for the best experience here.

Please refer to our Starter Maintenance Instructions for more information