Live Sourdough Starter

from A$35.00
Sold Out

It's great fun to culture your own sourdough starter. We learn heaps, and it really is an experience - tending the baby, worrying if it will die from one of a million possible issues. Eventually, if we get through it all, we end up with our very own baby starter, which will become stronger as it ages.

It'll be a quarter of a century (or more) before your home made starter is as powerful as this one.

Back in 1990, beginner baker Warwick Quinton decided to get serious about his baking obsession, and made this starter using organically grown whole grains and pure water sourced directly from a spring in the Blue Mountains of NSW. Gradually, with lots of hits and misses, he cultured this fermentation to be ‘viable’ in his tiny kitchen in Waverley, NSW.

His starter took many forms in the years between then and now. It began as a  fermentation of cooked grains, a different grain for each day of the week, sitting in a window sill in the East Coast Sydney sun. The different grains would show varying effects in the way they fermented, and Warwick keenly observed the process as a scientist might. He had to. There was no internet at the time, so getting information about fermented bread and sourdough starters was fairly difficult.

There were failures, There were explosions ( seriously! ). There were more questions than answers. And then, there was life.

If you are interested in the full story of Papa, you can read it here.

A dough starter has a number of advantages over a liquid. It has a different mix of enzymes, and as such gives the bread a superior flavour and texture. It is also more stable, needing to be fed only occasionally. Typically, the starter is fed once every two weeks, though it will live quite happily for a month or more between feeds.

Freight:

It's great fun to culture your own sourdough starter. We learn heaps, and it really is an experience - tending the baby, worrying if it will die from one of a million possible issues. Eventually, if we get through it all, we end up with our very own baby starter, which will become stronger as it ages.

It'll be a quarter of a century (or more) before your home made starter is as powerful as this one.

Back in 1990, beginner baker Warwick Quinton decided to get serious about his baking obsession, and made this starter using organically grown whole grains and pure water sourced directly from a spring in the Blue Mountains of NSW. Gradually, with lots of hits and misses, he cultured this fermentation to be ‘viable’ in his tiny kitchen in Waverley, NSW.

His starter took many forms in the years between then and now. It began as a  fermentation of cooked grains, a different grain for each day of the week, sitting in a window sill in the East Coast Sydney sun. The different grains would show varying effects in the way they fermented, and Warwick keenly observed the process as a scientist might. He had to. There was no internet at the time, so getting information about fermented bread and sourdough starters was fairly difficult.

There were failures, There were explosions ( seriously! ). There were more questions than answers. And then, there was life.

If you are interested in the full story of Papa, you can read it here.

A dough starter has a number of advantages over a liquid. It has a different mix of enzymes, and as such gives the bread a superior flavour and texture. It is also more stable, needing to be fed only occasionally. Typically, the starter is fed once every two weeks, though it will live quite happily for a month or more between feeds.

Our Live Sourdough Starter is over 30 years old. It was originally cultured from scratch by the SourdoughBaker himself, Warwick Quinton. During that time, this starter has leavened millions of loaves of bread. It has been the sourdough backbone to all of Warwick's bakeries, as well as the backbone of many other bakeries (home and professional) that Warwick has collaborated with over the years.

The starter is in the DESEM style, meaning that it is thick, like a dough. For transport reasons, the Desem has been rolled into a sheet and may require a feed before use. Full instructions are with the package.

In addition, the starter comes with the 'Sourdough Fermentation Mini Guide, V2', a very useful e book to help to demystify the sourdough process. This book is valued at $5, and is included free of charge. A link will be sent via email before the starter is freighted, so make sure your email address is correct!

Please note: Freight is included in the price to anywhere in Australia. We can't post overseas due to varying customs laws. Please don't order this product if you live outside Australia.

STOP PRESS MAY 2025

Starter will be out of stock for a short period while we relocate. Apologies for any inconvenience.

For commercial quantities of starter for small to medium sized bakeries, follow this link to order

Bulk Starter Supply

We freight most days. When you receive a fulfillment email, that means we’ve freighted your starter.

  • Choose the Standard option for delivery within 3 weeks of packing via Australia Post.

  • Choose the Express option for delivery within 7 days of packing.

    We freight with the only nationwide small parcels carrier, Australia Post. Delivery times, especially in rural or isolated areas are out of our control, and times quoted here are based on recent averages only.

  • We make fresh sourdough starter each week, so short delays can occur when order volumes are higher.

You Might Also Like