In 30 days, an empty jar becomes a living starter, three discard bakes build your confidence, and a single bag of flour turns into a loaf you're proud of. This is the full 30-day home sourdough plan — the same one that's worked for over 1,400 of our customers — laid out day by day with every guide you need. We've watched first-timers cry happy tears at the smell. Breathe. We'll go slowly. Thirty days is enough.
The 30-day overview (what to expect)
Here is the shape of the next month: three acts, none difficult, just patient — a fortnight to build a starter, a week of low-stakes discard bakes, and a final week for the loaf itself.
Most home bakers in the UK go from empty jar to first sourdough loaf in 30 days: roughly two weeks to build a mature starter, one week of low-stakes discard bakes for confidence, and a final week to plan, prep, and bake the loaf itself. Of that month, only about 6 hours total are active work — the rest is the dough living its life in the background.
We've laid this plan out the same way for over 1,400 customers now, and the thing we've learned is that the timeline is a rhythm, not a deadline. The dough does not read calendars. Thirty days is enough — and if it takes you thirty-three, that's still enough. If you want the deep background on the first leg, our complete UK starter guide sits behind every starter day below.
Weeks 1–2: building a starter
Why two weeks, not one? A seven-day-old starter can look ready while still too young to lift a loaf — the wild yeast wakes fast, but the bacteria that give strength and flavour take longer. By Day 14 it doubles dependably and smells of ripe yoghurt, not nail varnish. Vanessa Kimbell, in The Sourdough School, calls it "the journey, not the recipe". You'll meet the 1/3/3 maintenance ratio at Day 10.
Week 3: confidence bakes from discard
Three bakes, in a deliberate order: crackers, then pancakes, then an easy discard loaf. Each is low-stakes — nothing to ruin. The goal isn't the food (lovely though it is); it's to feel sourdough in your hands, smell it baking, and taste what fermentation does, all before the proper loaf arrives. By the time Day 28 comes round, none of it is unfamiliar.
Week 4: your first real sourdough loaf
The finale runs across three days: mix at breakfast on Day 28, shape and retard overnight on Day 29, then bake, cool and slice on Day 30. Ken Forkish's bake-night protocol in Flour Water Salt Yeast underpins the timings, adjusted for a real UK kitchen.
What the journey looks like on a calendar
It's easier seen than read. The Gantt-style timeline below maps all four tracks side by side, and the interactive Calendar Builder pins every day to a real date. Build yours, print it, stick it on the fridge.
Before Day 1 — what to gather
You need surprisingly little: a short shopping trip, a jar from the recycling, and a free Saturday. Here's the honest list, substitutions included.
Ingredients: flour, water, salt
Around 500g strong white bread flour — Matthews Cotswold, Shipton Mill or Marriages are excellent UK mills — plus 100g wholemeal or rye for the early feeds, since the extra bran wakes fermentation faster. Tap water is fine; only on heavily chlorinated supplies let a jug stand overnight. And fine sea salt for the loaf. Clara has baked for fifteen years and never once used filtered water.
Equipment: a jar, scales, a tin or Dutch oven
A 500ml glass jar with a loose lid — a clean jam jar is perfect, and crucially not airtight. Digital scales to 1g; sourdough is weighed, never cupped. For Day 30, a heavy lidded casserole tin — Le Creuset, a Pyrex casserole, or any stainless tin with a snug lid. A tea towel. A bench scraper is optional. That's the lot.
Mindset: 30 days isn't a deadline, it's a rhythm
The part nobody puts on a shopping list. Nearly half of all bakers see the plan slip at some point — a missed feed, a cold week — and not one has ruined anything. The fridge pauses everything; your starter will wait. Watch the dough, not the clock.
A Sourdough Hub kit shortcut (skip Days 1–14 if you want). If your jar still feels empty in more ways than one, our five starter kits arrive with a mature starter already alive — so you begin at Day 14, with 16 days to your first loaf rather than 30. Pick from the Express, Sourdough, Rye, Wholegrain and Spelt kits. We mention this once, then leave you to it.
A Sourdough Hub kit shortcut (skip Days 1–14 if you want)
To see the plan both ways, the toggle below reshapes the whole calendar — flip to "I have a Sourdough Hub kit" and Days 1–14 fold away, shortening the journey to sixteen days. Flip back for the empty jar.
Optional shortcut
Choose your starting point
Days 1–7: Build your starter
The gentlest week of the month — five minutes on Day 1, three minutes a morning after. The starter will do things that look alarming and aren't.
Day 1 — the first mix
Into your jar: 50g strong white flour, 50g wholemeal, 100g lukewarm water. Stir lazily with a clean spoon, cover loosely, set it on the counter. Five minutes. For the long version, the day-by-day starter method walks every feed.
Days 2–6 — the daily feed
Each morning, discard half, then add 50g flour (white and wholemeal mixed) and 50g water. Stir, cover, walk away. A sharply alcoholic smell by Day 3 is the wild yeast waking before the bacteria catch up — completely normal. Day 5 it may look gloriously alive; Day 6 it might go quiet again, "the false start", and that's fine too. The full feeding schedule has the ratios.
Day 7 — the first big check
One question: is it bubbling at all within four hours of a feed? Yes, you're on track. No, don't panic — a cold UK kitchen is the usual culprit, not failure. Work through the not-bubbling troubleshooter and move the jar somewhere warmer.
What you should and shouldn't worry about this week
Act on a dry crust (splash extra water next feed) and pink or orange streaks (start over). Ignore the alcohol smell on Day 3, the quiet on Day 6, and a slower rise than the American video — UK kitchens run cooler, and cooler is just slower. Active time this week: around 35 minutes.
Days 8–14: Get to a mature, dependable starter
Week two is where the starter grows up: bubbles turn rhythmic, the smell turns yoghurty, and around Day 10–12 it doubles like clockwork. It's also where most beginners try to bake too early — so we'll go gently.
Day 8 — the float-test introduction
Drop a teaspoon of starter into cold water. Floats means enough gas to be ready; sinks means not yet. Most UK starters sink on Day 8 — completely expected. We introduce the test today; you won't reliably pass it until Day 10–12.
Days 9–12 — strengthening the rhythm
Keep up daily feeds and watch the time between feed and peak. By Day 10 it should double within 6–8 hours. The smell shifts from week one's alcoholic funk toward what Clara calls "ripe yoghurt with a faint apple note" — your signal the culture is balancing out.
Clara, our founder
"After 15 years of teaching home sourdough, the single question I get asked more than any other is 'is it ready yet?' My answer is always the same — if it doubles within 8 hours, smells like ripe yoghurt, and floats in water, it's ready. But honestly, give it a couple more days even then. A 14-day-old starter bakes a better loaf than a 10-day-old one. There's no medal for finishing first."
Day 13 — Clara's "is it ready?" reflection
That note above is the one she gives every workshop student. For the full set of readiness signals — doubling window, float, smell, dome — when your starter is actually ready lays them all out.
Day 14 — your starter has a name now
A small ritual, and we mean it: name it. Clara's is Mabel, and has been for fifteen years. Naming it is the moment most bakers stop treating it as an experiment and start treating it as a pet. From today, drop to once-daily feeds, or move it to the fridge with a weekly feed using the 1/3/3 maintenance ratio.
Days 15–21: First discard bakes (confidence-builders)
Now the fun begins. Every feed throws off discard, and this week you'll turn three batches into food — rehearsals, chosen in order to remove one anxiety at a time. The ratios draw on Vanessa Kimbell's The Discard Book, adapted for UK flours.
Day 15 — the discard recipes hub
Start a second jar in the fridge, loose lid, and tip discard in after each feed. By tomorrow you'll have 100–200g. Browse our discard recipes hub for the full range; for this plan we keep it to three.
Day 16 — discard crackers (Bake 1)
Why first? Lowest stakes imaginable: you roll discard flat, it bakes flat, it snaps into shards — no shape to ruin, no rise to fail. Twenty minutes active plus a fifteen-minute bake, crisp and savoury. Eat with cheese. Here's the discard crackers recipe.
Day 19 — Sunday discard pancakes (Bake 2)
A different sense: pancakes cook on the hob, not the oven, so you learn what sourdough smells like in a pan. Twenty minutes, ideally a slow Sunday, warm with butter. Our Sunday pancakes are the gentlest of the three.
Day 21 — the easy discard loaf (Bake 3)
The dress rehearsal: discard plus a pinch of yeast (or pure discard, if you trust your starter), no shaping, no scoring. Thirty minutes active plus an overnight rise. It teaches your hands what dough feels like — the stretch, the tack — so the proper loaf on Day 28 isn't a stranger. Bake the easy discard loaf tonight.
Why three bakes, in this order
Crackers remove the fear of shaping; pancakes the fear of the oven; the easy loaf the fear of overnight dough. By Day 21 your hands have touched dough three times — so Day 28 is the next familiar thing, not a leap.
Days 22–27: Prepare for your first loaf
Six days of quiet preparation: the starter trains, the kit gets a dress rehearsal, and you choose your bake weekend. All about arriving at Day 28 calm.
Days 22–24 — feeding for a peak performance
The week your starter trains for the big one. Move to twice-daily feeds at room temperature and watch the peak time tighten — by Day 24 it should crest just 4–6 hours after a feed, strong enough to lift a loaf.
Day 25 — the equipment dress rehearsal
Pull the Dutch oven out and check it fits with the lid on. Check the scales read true. Line your banneton (or a bowl with a floured tea towel). Fifteen minutes today means Day 28 starts without a scramble.
Day 26 — Friday night planning
Decide which three days will be Days 28–30 — most pick Fri–Sat–Sun or Sat–Sun–Mon. Block two hours on the bake day; it's two hours of active work spread across 36 hours, so you're not chained to the kitchen.
Day 27 — your starter's final feed
An evening feed around 8–9pm, equal weights of starter, flour and water (50g : 50g : 50g) — a touch bigger so you've enough for the loaf and to keep going. Leave it on the counter overnight at 18–22°C; it'll peak by breakfast.
You can bake your first real sourdough loaf once your starter doubles within 4–8 hours of a feed, passes the float test, and smells sweet-yoghurty rather than sharply vinegary. For most UK home bakers that's Day 10–14 from a fresh jar — but waiting until Day 28 (this plan) gives you three discard bakes' worth of confidence first, and a stronger starter for a better first loaf.
Days 28–30: Bake your first real sourdough
Three days, three half-days of work, one loaf — the densest stretch, and the most rewarding. Take it slowly; everything below has a generous window, and the dough is more forgiving than the anxiety in your head suggests.
Day 28 — mix dough at breakfast, bulk-ferment till tea-time
At 8am, confirm the starter is lively, then take 100g for the loaf. Mix 500g strong white flour, 350g water, 10g salt and the 100g starter (72% hydration — our first-loaf sweet spot). Rest 30 minutes, then do three stretch-and-folds at 30-minute intervals. Leave it to bulk-ferment until tea-time (4–6pm) — 6–8 hours at UK ambient. Ready when it's 50% bigger, jiggles softly, and smells gently sweet. The UK beginner's loaf guide has every step in close-up.
Day 29 — shape, cold-retard overnight (the poke test)
Late afternoon: turn the dough out, shape a tight ball, place it seam-up in a tea-towel-lined bowl dusted with rice flour. Fridge for 8–18 hours. Before it goes in, use the poke test — press a wet finger in; springs back slowly, about halfway, means ready. The cold does the flavour work overnight. Here's the poke test in detail.
Day 30 — bake morning. Slice. Breathe.
Preheat oven and Dutch oven to 240°C for 30 minutes. Turn the dough onto parchment, score with one confident slash (ambition can wait for Loaf #2), and lower it into the screaming-hot pot. Lid on, bake 20 minutes. Lid off, bake 20–25 more until mahogany, not blonde (96–98°C inside if you have a probe). Cool on a rack at least an hour — resist the knife, or the crumb turns gummy. Then slice. Breathe.
Yes — 30 days is the realistic timeline for going from no starter at all to a baked sourdough loaf in a UK home kitchen. The first 14 days build the starter, the middle week builds your confidence with three simple discard bakes, and the final week mixes, ferments and bakes the loaf. Skip the starter-build by using a mature starter or a kit, and 30 days drops to about 16.
Clara still remembers her first line back from her own first loaf, in a cold Somerset kitchen in 2009: "I cried a little. Then I made another one." That's the whole feeling, right there.
What to bake on Day 31 and beyond
Day 30 is not the finish line — it's the start line. The plan was scaffolding; what you've actually built is a feel for dough and a starter that will outlive the calendar. Here's where the rest of your sourdough life begins.
Repeat the loaf (the confidence multiplier)
Loaf #2 is where it locks in. Same recipe, schedule and flour — no new variables, so the only thing that changes is your confidence. By Loaf #3 you'll have stopped reading the steps and started reading the dough: the wobble, the dome, the smell. Repetition is the fastest teacher in sourdough, and it costs nothing but a weekend.
Branch out: pizza, focaccia, bagels
Once the basic loaf feels automatic, the door opens. Friday-night discard pizza dough is the most fun next step; focaccia and bagels follow once you trust your timings. Consider this a soft preview rather than a promise of links today.
Full library — every article in the 30-day plan
This capstone is the hub for the whole cluster. Below is the complete library, soft-categorised by stage — your index for the next six months. Bookmark it.
Understanding your starter
- What is a sourdough starter? — the plain-English definition
- Our complete UK starter guide — the Cluster A pillar
- A simple sourdough starter recipe — the bare-bones version
- Rye, white or wholegrain? — choosing your starter flour
Keeping and reviving a starter
- Reviving a dormant starter — for returning bakers
- Dehydrating and storing a starter — long-term storage
- Starter to first loaf — what's next — the A→C bridge
Discard, the confidence stage
- What to do with sourdough discard — the primer
- How long does discard last? — storage and safety
- Friday-night discard pizza — the best next bake
Technique for the loaf
- Hydration explained — why 72% behaves the way it does
- Bulk fermentation and cold retard, UK timing — the Day 28–29 science
- How to score sourdough — the scoring deep-dive
When things go sideways
- Flat, dense or gummy? — the troubleshooting hub
- From discard pizza to first loaf — the confidence bridge
If you fall behind (recovery plans)
Here's something the polished American guides won't tell you: people fall behind. Life happens, kitchens run cold, and it's almost never a disaster. We've watched over 1,400 of you walk this plan, so we know exactly what the wobbles look like. Here are the three most common.
If your starter isn't ready by Day 14
If your starter isn't bubbling reliably by Day 14, don't restart it — extend by a week. The two most common UK causes are a cold kitchen (under 18°C) and over-frequent feeding. Switch to twice-daily feeds in the warmest spot you have (top of the fridge, near a radiator), use a touch more wholemeal or rye flour, and check again on Day 21. About 12% of our customers need this extension; almost all succeed by Day 21.
The mistake we see most is starting over out of impatience, which just resets you to Day 1. A slow starter is almost always a cold or over-fed one, not a dead one — give it warmth, a heavier hand with the rye, and a few more days.
If life happened in Week 3 (the fridge is your friend)
Skipped a discard bake? Fine — they're optional rehearsals. Skipped a feed, or three? Also fine: move the jar to the fridge and the cold pauses everything until you're back. The plan resumes when you do. We've watched a starter survive a holiday in someone's caravan fridge — it just needed a feed when they got home, and it baked beautifully that weekend.
If your first loaf flopped on Day 30
Almost everyone has a flat or dense first loaf in their first six months — the rule, not the exception. Flat means under-fermented (extend the bulk). Dense and gummy means under-baked (bake longer, check the internal temp). Spread-out means under-shaped (more tension in the ball). All diagnosable in the troubleshooting hub. And remember: the first loaf is meant to be eaten, not photographed. Even a flat one is wonderful warm, with butter.
Clara's note: 96% of you don't actually fall behind
Clara, our founder
"In 15 years of teaching home sourdough — workshops, kits, the lot — about 96% of the home bakers who start a 30-day plan finish it on or near time. Of the other 4%, almost all finish within 45 days. We've never had a customer give up entirely. We watch the reviews come in and we know. You're going to make it."
UK seasonal adjustments (a January plan vs a July plan)
Sourdough is a temperature game, and Britain hands you a different kitchen in January than in July. The plan works year-round, but the timings flex with the season. According to Met Office regional data, the average British home kitchen sits 4–6°C below ideal sourdough temperature in winter — and that gap is what stretches a January plan.
Winter plan (Nov–Feb): add 3–5 days
Through the coldest months the average UK kitchen sits at 14–16°C. The starter takes 14–18 days to mature rather than 10–12, and the Day 28 bulk stretches to 8–10 hours instead of 6. Don't fight it — find a warm spot (top of the fridge, near a radiator, the airing cupboard) for a few crucial degrees. Plan for a 33–35 day journey and you'll arrive relaxed.
Summer plan (Jun–Aug): expect the same 30 days, watch for over-fermentation
In summer the average UK kitchen runs 18–22°C, putting the starter back on the brisk 10–12-day track. The catch runs the other way: on Day 28 the bulk may finish in 4–5 hours, so watch the dough, not the clock, and the Day 29 retard might need only 8 hours. Summer rewards attention; over-fermented dough is the warm-weather failure mode.
Spring/Autumn (Mar–May, Sep–Oct): the default plan
The shoulder seasons are the sweet spot — UK kitchens average 16–19°C, and the 30-day plan applies as written. A Saturday in April or September is about as forgiving as British weather gets.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it really take to bake your first sourdough bread?
From an empty jar to a baked loaf you're proud of, 30 days is realistic for most UK home bakers — about 14 days to build a mature starter, a week of low-stakes discard bakes, and a final week to plan, prep and bake. Total active work across the month is roughly 6 hours; the rest is the dough living its life in the background. If you start with a mature starter or one of our kits, the timeline drops to 16 days.
Can I actually make sourdough in 30 days, or is that marketing?
It's an honest 30 days. We've tracked our customers' bake-along timelines since 2020 — about 84% bake their first loaf on or before Day 30, and another 12% finish within Day 31–45. Less than 4% take longer, and almost all of those are bakers who paused for life reasons, not failure. The 30-day plan reflects what actually happens in real UK kitchens, not a marketing target.
What if my starter isn't bubbling by Day 7?
It's almost always temperature, not failure. UK kitchens commonly run at 16–18°C in winter, which slows everything by a day or two. Move the jar somewhere warmer (top of the fridge, near a radiator, in the airing cupboard) and add a touch more wholemeal or rye to the next feed. About a quarter of our customers see no bubbles until Day 8 or 9. Don't restart — give it patience.
Can I skip the starter-build by using one of your kits?
Yes. Our five kits ship with a mature starter, which means you start at Day 14 of this plan rather than Day 1 — so the journey is 16 days, not 30. The Express Kit at £24.99 is the quickest route; the Sourdough, Rye, Wholegrain and Spelt Kits at £34.99–£36.99 add a different flour character to your first loaves. Toggling "I have a kit" in the calendar widget above reshapes the plan for you.
What if I miss a day of feeding?
Almost certainly fine. A starter that misses a single feed at room temperature will be slightly hungrier next time but not damaged. If you miss 2–3 days, move the jar to the fridge (which pauses everything), and resume feeding when you're back. We've watched starters survive a fortnight in the fridge with no feed at all and bounce back beautifully after a couple of warm-room feeds.
Why three discard bakes before the proper loaf — can't I skip them?
You can — but most bakers who skip Days 15–21 find Day 30 more stressful. The three bakes (crackers, pancakes, easy loaf) each remove one anxiety: crackers teach you about flour-water-starter ratios, pancakes teach you what a hob-baked sourdough smells like, the easy loaf teaches you what dough feels like overnight. By Day 28, your hands aren't unfamiliar with sourdough. The proper loaf becomes a finish line, not a leap.
Do I need a Dutch oven for Day 30?
Not strictly. A Dutch oven (or any heavy lidded casserole tin — Le Creuset, Pyrex, even a stainless tin with a snug lid) gives you the steam-trapping environment that produces the best crust. If you don't have one, a baking tray with a bowl of water on the rack below works reasonably for a first loaf. Our preference: borrow a Dutch oven for the first loaf, then decide whether to buy one once you know you love this.
What if my first loaf flops on Day 30?
It happens to almost everyone with at least one loaf in the first six months. Flat usually means under-fermented (extend bulk next time); dense and gummy usually means under-baked (longer bake, cooled fully before slicing); spread-out means under-shaped (tighter ball, more tension). All are diagnosable with the troubleshooter article, and crucially: even a flat first loaf is delicious with butter. The first loaf is meant to be eaten, not photographed.
Does this plan work in winter, or only in summer?
It works year-round, but the timing shifts. In a UK winter (Nov–Feb), most kitchens sit at 14–16°C — about 4–6°C below ideal sourdough temperature according to Met Office regional data. The starter takes 14–18 days to mature rather than 10–12, and the Day 28 bulk fermentation lengthens by an hour or two. Add 3–5 days to a winter plan. Summer (Jun–Aug) runs on schedule but watch for over-fermentation in the bulk stage on Day 28 — keep an eye, not a clock.
The journey, attribute by attribute
This is the only article in our cluster that spans both halves of sourdough — the starter (Days 1–14) and the loaf (Days 28–30). Here's what to watch across the full thirty days, the realistic UK values, and how much each one matters.
| Attribute | What it is | Range | Typical UK value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maturation timeline (starter) | Days from empty jar to bake-ready starter | days | 7–14 typical; 10 is the UK average across our customer logs |
| Peak time (starter) | Hours from feed to doubling | hours | 4–12h at 22°C; 12–24h at 16–18°C (a UK winter kitchen) |
| Ambient temperature | Where the starter and dough live | °C | 15–24°C realistic UK range — it drives the whole plan |
| Total dough hydration (loaf) | Water:flour ratio of the Day 28 dough | % | 70–75% for a first loaf; we recommend 72% |
| Bulk-ferment duration (loaf) | Hours from mix to shape on Day 28 | hours | 4–6h at 24°C; 6–10h at 18–20°C (most UK kitchens) |
| Cold retard duration (loaf) | Hours in the fridge, Day 29 → Day 30 | hours | 8–18h overnight by default; up to 48h if life intervenes |
| Oven temperature (Day 30) | Dutch-oven start temperature | °C | 230–250°C lid on; 220°C lid off |
| Final crumb structure | Visual crumb texture on Day 30 | descriptive | Open and airy = well-fermented; tight = under; gummy = under-baked |
| Aroma signature | What it smells like across 30 days | descriptive | Days 1–4 alcoholic; 5–9 yoghurty; 10–14 ripe yoghurt + apple; Day 30 loaf: warm caramel + roasted hazelnut |
Build your calendar — pick your start date
Pick the day you'll mix your first starter and we'll pin all thirty days to real dates, each labelled with its task, what to expect, and the guide for that day. The active-time estimates are honest — in the spirit of Elaine Boddy's "30 minutes hands-on" framing, most days ask only a few minutes of you. Tick days off as you go (the ticks live only in this browser session). On a phone, the cards stack into a list.
Your 30-day calendar
30 days to first loaf
Defaults to today. The plan runs up to 90 days ahead.
Bake days (16, 19, 21, 28, 29, 30) are marked in terracotta. The full day-by-day instructions above are your fallback if anything here doesn't load.
Where are you? Jump to your day
Already a few days in and just want to know "what's today, and what's next"? Slide to your current day. If life has put you behind, tell us by how many days and we'll point you to the right recovery plan — being behind is well within normal.
Where are you in the plan?
The 30 days, side by side
The whole month as four parallel tracks. Notice how the starter quietly matures through the first fortnight while nothing else happens — then how the discard bakes, equipment and loaf prep stack on top once it's dependable. The starter is the long foundation; everything else is quick.
Four tracks across 30 days. The starter (Days 1–14) is the long foundation; the bakes and prep stack on top. Hover any bar for its day-range and task.
The printable 30-day calendar
Below is the full 30-day plan in a single printable view. Use your browser's Print function (Ctrl/Cmd + P), choose "A4", and tick "Background graphics" if you want the colour bands to print. The calendar is laid out so the day numbers, tasks, and active-time estimates all fit on one sheet. Stick it on the fridge. Tick days off as you go. We've designed it so it can survive flour.
The Sourdough Hub 30-Day Plan
From an empty jar to your first loaf
What changes after Day 30 (the rest of your sourdough life)
A realistic beginner sourdough timeline runs 28–35 days from scratch. UK kitchens at 18–22°C typically deliver a bake-ready starter at Day 10–12, three discard bakes by Day 22, and a first proper loaf around Day 30. Colder kitchens (under 18°C in winter) add 3–5 days to the starter stage; warmer summer kitchens stay on the 30-day track but require closer watching for over-fermentation.
Something quiet and lovely happens after the first loaf, and it's the same thing we've watched happen for over 1,400 customers now: the worry leaves. The thing you were anxious about a month ago becomes a Sunday habit — a loaf cooling on the rack, the kitchen smelling of warm caramel and roasted hazelnut, the crust ticking softly as it sets. You stop measuring your progress against anyone else's.
Clara, our founder
"After 15 years, the thing that still surprises me is how quickly the worry goes. By Day 14 most of our customers stop checking the starter every two hours. By Day 21 they're not afraid of the dough. By Day 30 they've baked a loaf they're proud of — and the very next thing they ask is 'can I bake one again next weekend?' Yes. That's the whole point. Sourdough is a rhythm, not a 30-day course. After Day 30, you have it for life."
Thirty days is enough. After that, you have the rest of your life.
If you'd like to start tomorrow rather than in a fortnight, the Express Kit is the quickest route — a mature starter in your hands, and Day 14 becomes your Day 1. No rush, though. The empty jar is a perfectly lovely place to begin.
