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sourdough baking kit containing sourdough starter, banneton, lame, danish dough whisk and bench scraper on wooden board

sourdough baking kit containing sourdough starter, banneton, lame, danish dough whisk and bench scraper flat lay on wooden board

San Franciscan sourdough starter and packaging and promotional material on a wooden surface

top down view of a bubbling sourdough starter on a wooden board

Sourdough Baking Kit

Price:

$74.95

Product Info
Sourdough Baking Kit – Organic Starter, Banneton, Baking Tools & FREE eBook

Bake sourdough at home with confidence with our Sourdough Baking Kit — including an organic dried heritage starter, handmade banneton, essential baking tools, printed guides and a FREE 48-page Sourdough digital eBook.

Whether you’re making your first loaf or building your baking skills, this kit brings together the tools and guidance to help you mix, shape, proof and score your dough. Choose your starter and banneton shape, then follow the clear instructions from rehydrating your culture through to slicing your first loaf.

FREE 48-Page Sourdough eBook Included
Every baking kit includes The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Sourdough digital eBook at no additional cost. This beautifully illustrated guide covers starter rehydration, feeding, ongoing care, your first loaf, troubleshooting and six recipes, with quick-reference charts to keep handy as you bake.

Choosing Your Starter: French or San Franciscan?

French Sourdough Starter: Mild, fruity and lightly tangy with a soft crumb. Perfect for everyday loaves and our most popular choice for beginners and families.

San Franciscan Sourdough Starter: Bold, complex and distinctly tangy — the classic San Franciscan bakery flavour with a chewier, rustic texture.

Not sure which to pick? You can’t go wrong with either, and many bakers eventually try both to explore the different flavours and textures they produce.

What’s Included?
- Organic Dried Sourdough Starter (15g): A robust, heritage culture fed on chlorine-free water and organic stoneground flour for many years — designed to last a lifetime.
- Handmade unbleached cane banneton with organic linen liner: choose from 20 cm round or 25 cm oval for perfectly shaped loaves.
- Danish dough whisk: Ideal for mixing sticky sourdough dough.
- Bench scraper: For clean shaping and handling of dough.
- Wooden-handled lame with 5 blades: Professional scoring tool for beautiful loaf patterns.
- Full-colour, double-sided quick-start & starter information guide: An easy-reference introduction to your selected heritage sourdough starter, including its history and essential getting-started information.
- Full-colour 6-page Sourdough Baking Guide: A beautifully printed, comprehensive guide with detailed, step-by-step instructions covering activation, feeding, ongoing maintenance and baking your own sourdough bread at home — making the kit both easy to follow and a lovely gift for a new sourdough baker.
- FREE The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Sourdough Digital eBook: A beautifully presented 48-page guide covering rehydration, feeding ratios, starter care, mixing, folding, bulk fermentation, shaping, proofing, scoring and baking. Includes illustrated first-loaf stages, six recipes, troubleshooting and quick-reference charts. Supplied as a digital PDF alongside your printed guides.
- Ongoing Support: Personal help whenever you need it to get the best results from your starter — email, chat or phone.
Why Choose This Baking Kit?
- A complete baking setup with the essential tools needed to mix, shape, proof and score beautiful artisan loaves.
- Includes a premium banneton and quality tools for reliable results, whether you're new to sourdough or levelling up your skills.
- A versatile heritage starter perfect for sourdough bread, pizza dough, focaccia, brioche, pancakes, and more.
- Printed guides and a FREE 48-page digital eBook give you clear, step-by-step support for your first loaf and future bakes.
- The perfect mid-tier kit for bakers who want professional tools without the extra accessories included in our Master Kit.
Delivery Details

Starters are shipped in their dry state and are shelf-stable for at least 6 months — activate and bake whenever you’re ready.

Arrive Alive Guarantee

We want you to order with confidence. In the rare event your organic sourdough starter doesn’t activate after rehydration, we’ll send a free replacement straight away. Your success is guaranteed.

Why Choose The Fermentation Station?

With over 20 years of experience and thousands of happy customers, we guarantee fresh, active cultures, fast shipping, and full support every step of your fermentation journey.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Sourdough eBook included?

Yes. Every Sourdough Baking Kit includes The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Sourdough digital eBook FREE, at no additional cost. The 48-page guide covers starter rehydration, feeding, ongoing care, illustrated first-loaf instructions, six recipes, troubleshooting and quick-reference charts.

Is the eBook printed or digital?

The eBook is a digital PDF you can read on your phone, tablet or computer. Your kit also includes the printed quick-start and starter information guide and full-colour 6-page Sourdough Baking Guide, so you have both printed instructions and a more detailed digital reference.

How much sourdough starter do I get, and how long will it last?

You’ll receive 15 g of dried heritage sourdough starter. Once activated and fed regularly, this becomes a living culture that can be maintained indefinitely. With simple care, your starter can literally last a lifetime and be shared, split, or built up for larger bakes.

How do I activate the dried starter?

Activation is simple: you’ll mix the dried starter with water and flour and feed it over several days, following the step-by-step instructions included in your kit. Most people see good activity within 3–5 days, depending on room temperature and feeding schedule.

How long until I can bake my first loaf?

On average, you’ll be ready to bake your first loaf in about 4–6 days. You’ll know your starter is ready when it reliably rises and falls between feeds, smells pleasantly yeasty or slightly fruity, and can at least double in size after a feeding.

What flour should I use to feed the starter?

We recommend feeding with a good quality bread flour or plain (all-purpose) wheat flour. You can also use a mix of white and wholemeal. Our mother culture is maintained on organic stoneground flour, so any similar unbleached wheat flour will keep it happy and strong.

Can I change flours later (e.g. to rye or wholemeal)?

Yes. You can gradually shift your starter to rye, spelt or wholemeal by feeding a little more of the new flour at each feed. Just avoid sudden changes and give it a few feeds to fully adapt.

How do I store my starter between bakes?

If you bake often, you can keep your starter at room temperature and feed it daily. If you bake less frequently, store it in the fridge and feed it about once a week. Simply take it out, give it one or two feeds at room temperature, and it will be ready to bake again.

Is this starter gluten-free?

No. This is a wheat-based sourdough culture and contains gluten. While you can use the active starter to help leaven some alternative-flour recipes, it’s not suitable for people who need to avoid gluten entirely.

What if my starter isn’t bubbling or rising properly?

Don’t worry — there’s often a “quiet” phase during activation. Make sure you’re feeding at the right ratio, keeping it warm (around 20–25 °C), and using chlorine-free water. If it still doesn’t show signs of life after following the instructions, just get in touch — our Arrive Alive Guarantee means we’ll help troubleshoot or send a replacement if needed.

Can I use this starter for more than just bread?

Yes! Your sourdough starter is incredibly versatile. You can use it to make pizza dough, focaccia, pancakes, waffles, brioche, cinnamon scrolls, and more.

Is it safe for the starter to be shipped dry in the post?

Yes. In its dried form, the starter is very stable and shelf-stable for at least 6 months. We ship via Australia Post Priority, and the culture is absolutely fine with normal postal timeframes — just follow the activation instructions once it arrives.
Collection:

Fermenting Equipment

5 stars: 916 (99%)
4 stars: 7 (1%)
3 stars: 0 (0%)
2 stars: 0 (0%)
1 star: 0 (0%)

Some of the reviews shown are from related products the merchant grouped with this one.

First sourdough bread

Great starter (San Francisco), and the instructions were clear in the e-book. I’m about to bake my second sourdough bread, the first was a resounding success! Yet to try the French starter.

The best way to start a sourdough lifestyle

Easy to follow, and detailed instructions. It’s a lot of work and a change of lifestyle, but once you adapt you won’t be able to stop the sourdough lifestyle!

Great starter and fantastic service

Fantastic service, with prompt response to follow up questions following rehydration of the starter. Starter is now active and very happy!

The sourdough starter arrived and it didn’t tske too long to wake it up with the help of the

The sourdough starter arrived and it didn’t tske too long to wake it up with the help of the friendly and fast responses from your representatives. I’m now making the most delicious sourdough loaves that my friends and family are saying is the best they’ve ever had!!! It has a distinctive delicious flavour!!

Thanks, Lynne! We’re so pleased we could help you get your starter going. Your loaves look lovely, and hearing they’re a hit with friends and family makes our day. Thanks for sharing your photos—happy baking!

My 5 stars for their chat/help - super friendly & helpful

My 5 stars are for the chat/help I got from my questions, always prompt, always helpful. You dont get this with most companies. The product itself does as advertised and I had starter but I had questions and the person who manages the online chat was friendly and fast. Thank you

Thank you, Lorraine! We’re glad we could help with your questions—it’s lovely to hear you felt well looked after. Thanks for sharing your photos too, and happy baking!

Amazing flavour and quick to start baking

Amazing flavour and quick to start baking

Thank you so much for the lovely review! Your sourdough looks fantastic. We’re so pleased to hear the starter got going quickly and that you’re enjoying the flavour. Happy baking!

Sandy
The Fermentation Station

My Fermentation Station Obsession

First came the milk kefir, bubbling away,
Then cheese kefir joined in the very next day.
Now sourdough’s arrived, with starter to feed,
The Fermentation Station has everything I need.

I’m culturing milk and making fresh cheese,
And dreaming of sourdough whenever I please.
Great kits, great service — I’m clearly a fan,
Five stars for expanding my fermentation plan! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hi Meredith,
What a wonderful review—and in verse too! We’re delighted to be part of your milk kefir, cheese and sourdough adventures. Thank you for your support, and we hope your fermentation obsession keeps bubbling along!

You need this starter in your life

I have attempted to make my own starter before but purchasing this starter has been a game changer. While I am still mastering the whole starter, sourdough world and learning g to to make said sourdough. purchasing this starter has made it so much easier

Thank you so much for the lovely review! We’re so glad the starter has made your sourdough journey that little bit easier. There’s definitely a learning curve with sourdough, but it sounds like you’re well on your way. Happy baking!

The beginning of my new hobby!

This sourdough master kit is amazing. The starter was very straightforward to activate, it came with all the tools I need to make sourdough and the steps are easy to follow! I’ve made four loaves so far, absolutely loving my new hobby. So glad I was able to buy everything I needed in one go without shopping around

Hi Mikayla,
Thank you so much for the wonderful review! We’re thrilled to hear you found the Master Kit easy to get started with and that you’re already four loaves in! It’s so lovely to hear that sourdough has become a new hobby for you. Happy baking!
Sandy
The Fermentation Station

Successful sourdough starter

I was able to activate the San Francisco sourdough starter, even in the middle of winter in Melbourne, with some excellent follow-up advice from Sandy. Thanks, everyone. My first couple of sourdough loaves have been a great success, and everyone here is looking forward to many more.

Starter arrived as described with clear instructions for activation

Starter arrived as described with clear instructions for activation. Didn't take too long to see the activation come to life and now i have a bubbly, vigorous starter mix. I absolutely love this smell of this sourdough starter and the first bake was perfect for a beginner!
If you're looking for an authentic sourdough starter with genuine heritage and excellent performance, I highly recommend this one.

Quality product and excellent support

Quality product and excellent support, highly recommend, after sale support was exceptional.

Thank you so much, Josh! We’re really glad you’ve been happy with both your sourdough starter and the support you received. We’re always here to help along the way, so it means a lot to hear that. Thanks for the recommendation and happy baking!

Very happy

Quick delivery and starter activated no problems, good taste. Very happy.

Hi Mark, we're thrilled to hear you're happy with the sourdough kit! Thanks for sharing your experience. Enjoy baking!

Great taste

Great taste and has developed nicely.

Hi there! We're so glad you enjoyed the sourdough starter and that it's developing well. Thanks for sharing your experience!

Works so well every time

The order was well packed and arrived very quickly. The sourdough fired up really active and has since made 3 nice loaves. I keep it in the fridge and it activates from a small amount every time. Great service from this vendor.

Thank you so much Darby, that’s wonderful to hear. I’m really glad the starter became active quickly and has already helped you make some lovely loaves.

It’s great that it’s working well from the fridge too, as that makes it much easier to maintain long term without constant feeding. Please feel free to reach out if you ever need any help or have questions at any stage.