Sourdough Starter - 106+ Year Old French

Yes. Your starter includes a double-sided, full-colour instruction sheet with step-by-step guidance to get started. You’ll also have access to our ongoing support if you need help.

No. The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Sourdough is available to purchase separately. Your starter already includes getting-started instructions; the eBook offers a more comprehensive reference covering starter care, the full bread-making process, recipes and troubleshooting.

The illustrated 48-page digital guide covers rehydrating your starter, feeding ratios, recognising baking readiness, ongoing care and storage. It also walks you through mixing, folding, bulk fermentation, shaping, proofing, scoring, baking and cooling your first loaf, with six recipes, troubleshooting and quick-reference charts. It’s a useful companion if you’d like the full process explained in one place. Explore the Sourdough eBook here.

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 last a lifetime and be shared, split, or built up for larger bakes.

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

On average, you’ll be ready to bake your first loaf in about 4–6 days, although some starters take longer. 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. Follow its activity rather than the calendar alone.

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 a similar unbleached wheat flour is a good choice.

Yes. You can gradually shift your starter to rye, spelt or wholemeal by feeding a little more of the new flour at each feed. Give it a few feeds to adapt and monitor how the change affects its rise and consistency.

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. Before baking, give it enough feeds at room temperature to restore a reliable rise.

No. This is a wheat-based sourdough culture and contains gluten. Using it with alternative flours does not make it gluten-free, so it is not suitable for people who need to avoid gluten.

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 included instructions, get in touch — our Arrive Alive Guarantee means we’ll help troubleshoot or send a replacement if needed.

Yes! You can use your starter to make pizza dough, focaccia, pancakes, waffles, brioche, cinnamon scrolls and more.

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 fine with normal postal timeframes — just follow the activation instructions once it arrives.