Cultures for Health San Francisco Sourdough Style Starter Culture | Homemade Artisan Bread | Heirloom, non-GMO | Live Culture Bread Mix | Easy to Follow Recipe

*UPDATE* 14 Jan (less than a week since my first review)My starter finally doubled in size yesterday. I started feeding it every 12 hours, swapped my flour for whole wheat and started putting the starter in the oven with proofing mode on. I think something to keep in mind is that this is a dehydrated starter, not an active one. So it takes time. The flavor is great. Coming from NorCal, it's the sourdough I've been missing. Eating updated to 5*This is my first time establishing a sourdough starter so I can't say much other than my experience.I started my starter, a week ago from today and I just did a float test and it failed. For the first 3 days, I was barely getting any surface bubbles, much less growth. So I decided to go against the instructions and switched to bread flour instead of the suggested AP flour and finally saw some results. It worked since bread flour has more protein than AP flour. The growth doubled compared to before the switch but the starter itself still has not doubled in size.I am now in the process of feeding every 12 hrs instead of every 24 to see if it'll help. Otherwise I will come back in a week and update my review as necessary.I am giving it 3 stars instead of less since taking care of a sourdough starter is complicated and may not be an indication of the product itself.

Final update: Seller had actually sent a message saying “reply to this message with ‘full refund’ if you would like a full refund.” I replied as such. Seller asked for details about my sourdough process. After multiple back and forths and my prompting they said they actually were not issuing a refund because I’m still working on my starter… what? lol. Huge waste of time and personally I’m never ordering from them again.Update: Seller gave me a refund :,( I feel terrible but I did try my best with it. I’m going to buy it again so I can hopefully get it started and give this five stars.I’ve been really hesitant to write a review, because it could be something on my end. However, I feel I’ve tried EVERYTHING and haven’t gotten this starter to work. I followed the directions exactly and didn’t have a working starter after a week. At a certain point (after the week) I added less water so it could hold bubbles better and I could see if it was growing. I’ve since tried two different bottled waters, mainly spring, multiple flours, including whole wheat and multiple methods of warming the starter. Currently I’ve been using unbleached AP at a 1:1:1 ratio, with the proofing setting on my toaster at 85 degrees and feeding consistently at either the 12 hour mark or the 24 hour mark (trying to figure out when it would like to be fed). It bubbles a little bit and bubbles reach the surface eventually, say around the 12 hour mark and by that point it’s basically more liquid than solid, I can pour it like liquid into the trash when it’s time to discard (starts out like thick pancake batter). However, in that 12 hours it grows maybe a fifth (and that’s after like 6 hours and also where it stops). I’m now adding rye to see if that will get it going. Anyways, POINT IS: It’s been over a month now and even if it eventually starts growing properly (which I’m hoping it will) I can’t say the starter I originally purchased had anything to do with it. I’m pretty sure I just created my own starter for $13.One thing I will say is it never went through the early doubling phase that happens when starting your own starter and it never smelled bad. So maybe it was alive, I don’t know - but it didn’t work as advertised and I’m pretty annoyed at this point thinking I probably could’ve had more luck starting my own fresh starter three weeks ago… I don’t know.

was nervous to try sourdough at home, but this culture made it easy! The instructions were super clear, and within days I had a bubbly, active starter. My bread turned out flavorful with that classic tangy sourdough taste. Love that it’s non-GMO and heirloom quality too!

After 13 days of trying to grow a good culture, I still DO NOT have sourdough! All I have right now is sweet smelling flour & water which might be starting to get moldy. This was a waste of money. I do not recommend.Update 9/28/24 - shortly after posting a one star review, I was contacted by customer service to share information regarding what I had done with the starter? After trading some emails, it appears that the reason the starter did not work is due to my using RO water instead of spring water. Customer service is sending a replacement kit at no charge, so I can try again. The customer service response was excellent, so I have changed my review to three stars pending another try with a second starter kit.Update 10/22/24 - The second packet arrived. I used mineral water and it worked!

Following the instructions I was able to grow up my starter and get it to make bread. My first loaf was a disaster as my bread machine recipe was a total farce. It expanded so much it squeezed out of the bread pan all over the place and only the outside got cooked. I modified it and the second loaf turned out real nice. I am making more and tweaking the recipe a bit to make a more dense bread.My only complaint is that the breads I have made do not have a strong 'sour' taste like some sourdough breads I have tried. I was hoping for more oomph. It is possible that the stronger 'sour' profile will develop but so far it is rather mild. Noticeable, but mild. If that is your preference then this is for you. If you want stronger this is a great way to get initiated into making sourdough bread but I'm not sure some other brands might not be stronger. The experimenting is half the fun.Just an FYI/opinion, the instructions also state to maintain the starter to use 1/2 cp starter, 1/2 cp water, and 1 cp flour and mix to a pancake batter thickness. I'm not sure what pancakes these guys make, but the batter was too thick, more like a making a panbrick. After the first full "maintenance" starter I switched to 1/2 cp starter, 3/4 cp water, and 3/4 cp flour. This made a starter consistency more like the pancake batter I make and the starter still worked great.

This is an easy way to get your sourdough starter going - easy to follow instructions and makes delicious bread.