Sunday · 10:00am–approximately 5:00pm
Sourdough
Starter care, fermentation, shaping, scoring and baking with confidence.
The course
Sourdough rewards patience but can be difficult to diagnose from a recipe alone. We work through the complete process, explain how to read the dough and show you how to maintain a starter that fits around life at home.
What you will make
- White sourdough
- Country sourdough
- Eight-grain sourdough
What you will learn
- Maintaining, refreshing and using a sourdough starter
- Mixing, dough development and long fermentation
- Reading fermentation rather than relying only on a clock
- Shaping, proving, scoring and baking with confidence
What the day looks like
- Welcome, tea and coffee, followed by getting set up at your bakery station.
- Ingredients, flour and how the sourdough day is organised around long fermentation.
- Bench rest, shaping and proving with prepared dough so every stage can be practised.
- Keeping, refreshing and using a sourdough culture at home.
- Practical weighing and mixing your own sourdough.
- Developing gluten and understanding fermentation.
- Sandwich lunch and refreshments at your workstation.
- Scoring and baking the prepared loaves.
- Baking equipment and practical ways to create good sourdough at home.
- Bake timings, troubleshooting and fitting sourdough around your routine.
- Tasting, questions and packing your bakes to take home.
We normally finish at around 5:00pm. Dough works to its own timetable, so the day can finish a little earlier or later; we will give you a clearer indication after lunch if you need to arrange a lift or evening plans.
Everything included
Good to know
- Complete beginners are welcome on every course. Matt and Garry teach the day together and keep the group small enough for practical help.
- Dietary, allergy and accessibility information is collected for each participant during booking and checked again on arrival. Serious allergies may need to be reviewed before the booking is accepted.
- There is no fixed minimum age, but younger participants must attend with an adult participant.
- Any course-specific item to bring, arrival information and final practical details are included in the Monday reminder email.
