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

Excellent product and the perfect sourdough flavor! Within a few days of activating this starter I was using it to bake up basic sour dough bread, pizza dough, breakfast calzones, and even sourdough banana bread. It gives the breads a delicious and delightful moist flavor. I am using it in some no-knead recipes from "Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day" also with success, even though those recipes have added yeast. But no added yeast in anything else, for this starter has developed into a starter that has a hefty lift. For the first couple of weeks I fed it at least twice a day to build it. It mildly bubbled and foamed the first several days, then suddenly I woke up that morning to find an overflowing starter all over my kitchen counter (see picture). I realized then it was ready to "roll". I also made a homemade starter using rye flour initially at the same time so I could compare the two. This SF one from Cultures for Health is superior in flavor and strength. It was definitely worth the money! Already I have dried some out and frozen it to make sure I don't accidentally lose this starter. It lives in the refrigerator now in its liter sized Fido jar. If I leave it out on the counter for more than an hour I make sure there is a bowl under the jar as it will suddenly over flow if it has been fed that day. I need to name it because it is almost like a pet. At least two to three times a week I take it out of the refrigerator and feed it. I shudder at the thought that it might ever form hooch if ignored too long. Definitely frequent feedings keep it strong, healthy and vital. Also, I am very particular about only using filtered water and making sure my utensils and jars are kept clean. A couple of coffee filters over the jar top work well to help protect it. Mostly I feed it with King Arthur's Bread Flour, but periodically I will use some whole wheat and that keeps it versatile. It is rare that any starter goes down the drain here. I use it to keep a tub of pizza/calzone dough going in the refrigerator so it is always available and ready. I highly recommend this starter! The flavor is certainly reminiscent of the Bay Area breads and much better than my homegrown starter.

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.

This is so much easier than scratch. Saw bubbles after 24 hours. Followed the direction for the first 2 days. After used a scale for 1-1-1 feedings Tips: Do not discard anything for 5-6 days. Use 1/2 bread flower and 1/2 whole wheat. First 2 days wait a full 24 hour, after that feed when starter hits its peak. It will be tiny on day 3. Pics are of day 6.

The quality of the culture is GREAT! Directions are not accurate on how to properly start the culture on the packaging. BE SURE TO CHECK THE WEBSITE for proper activation of your sourdough starter! Be prepared to read the directions and plan for what to do with the discard. You definitely don't want to waste it! It does take some work and dedication to get great results but it's worth it. Be SURE to PREPARE before embarking on the starter "journey". It's like having a baby in the house or a new puppy. You have to be sure you have the time to watch it and attend to it for many days before use. We are first time starter makers and now we have a ton of discard to use and share with friends! The company is very attentive and responds VERY quickly to support your sourdough journey... EVEN THO it's just kind of disappointing to start a culture with the packaging directions that are not together, The folks at, "Cultures For Health", are going to address the packaging directions, so I give them 5 STARS! This company has a lot of other really great fermentation options like Kefir and more to choose from as well. A good resource for folks looking for quality! WE LOVE CULTURES FOR HEALTH!

The culture did not grow in spite of following the directions exactly for several days. The packet has a sell by date of Jan 1, 2027 so it should contain cultures that would be activated. I'm going to request the manufacturer to send me a replacement. I'm not going to spend more money on a potentially non-functional product. Photo shows sourdough culture after 3 days incubated at 78 degrees F. I will modify review if I obtain a replacement that is functional. I notified the seller of my issue with the culture not growing as expected. The seller responded within a day and offered possible reasons for why the culture may have not performed and offered to send me a replacement at no cost. In all fairness, I did continue to feed the culture as directed and in three more days the culture did begin to grow normally. So, for those who do not get rapid growth, I suggest just giving the culture a few extra days with the standard feeding process and temperatures. Once I receive the replacement culture, I will run a test comparison between using our well water and the recommended bottled natural spring water to determine if the water source was the issue. At this stage, I'm still leaning toward the dehydrated sourdough culture as having a lower than standard viable cell density. Because of the fast response, helpful suggestions, offering a no cost replacement culture and fact that the culture did ultimately grow and produce good bread, I'm revising my rating to 4 stars.

This is a great starter for your sour dough bread! Use with a quality bread flour and you will love it! Remember to save some starter so you can continue to make fresh delicious bread or pizza dough. That’s what I use it for

I have used this starter for many years, I have fed the starter and grown the starter from this co . many times! When I mentioned that I am familiar with their starter and I use it in my bakery, that this one specifically did not work and would not come alive no matter how much I fed it, given the fact that I have used all the same water, temperature etc. before, I figured they would understand that I was very educated on baking with their starter. I figured I would get a refund given that, their starter did not work. Their product was bad. When I mentioned this I got the runaround, I was asked 1 million questions, told that if I didn't answer the questions that nothing would be done, I told them I already answered your question When I mentioned that I am familiar with their starter and I use it in my bakery, that this one specifically did not work and would not come alive no matter how much I said it, given the fact that I have used all the same water, temperature etc. before, I figured they would understand that I was very educated on baking with their starter. I figured I would get a refund given that, their starter did not work. Their product was bad. When I mentioned this I got the runaround, I was asked 1 million questions, told that if I didn't answer the questions that nothing would be done, I told them I already answered your questions as I've used your starter before. That should be the biggest answer to your question, I'm not ignorant I know what I'm doing here and I do the same thing every time with your starter. This starter is dead. They still would not give me a refund, harassed me a little more and said just this one time they're gonna send me another starter! I would never order from this company again. And I sent them a lot of business through my bakery! Horrible customer service. When somebody simply asks for a refund and shows you proof that your starter doesn't work. You just do it or you're gonna lose a lot of business!

The sour dough starter I ordered came on time and, as promised, rejuvenated in a fewest days. It has responded easily to a switch from being fed red rice flour to a diet of gluten free flour and has already been used to make chocolate chip cookies as well as loaf of sourdough bread. I am every satisfied with this product.