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

Not having a successful experience with this product. I followed the direction . No rise in bubbling. Tonight I read 1 reviewer who said try 100 degree water bath. I’m trying to that now. 2 suggestion use warm water 3 suggestion add water first. This company must think everyone lives in warm climates. I live in Ohio and I am struggling. Our weather has been terrible cold . I’m going to ask for my money back if this product does not work.save your money if you live in north east Ohio.

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 starter came alive quickly and easily, no struggling to get it active like some starters can be. The San Francisco-style flavor is noticeably more tangy and complex than a starter I made from scratch, real depth of flavor in the finished bread. Instructions included were clear, easy to follow even if you’re newer to maintaining a sourdough starter long-term. Packaging kept it well-preserved during shipping, no issues getting it going once it arrived. Great option if you want that classic tangy sourdough flavor without years of building your own starter culture from nothing. Pairs perfectly with a full starter kit if you’re just getting into sourdough baking.

after many (6+) failed attempts at making my own sourdough starter , i started a sourdough starter on july 25th, 2026 with this dehydrated sourdough starter. the directions were simple very simple and i stayed doing the suggested consistent feedings per the directions. it does say ready to bake in 5 days, however it’s not that quick lol. mine was usable for baking after about 2 weeks. i also used 50/50 whole wheat & all purpose king arthur flour for its entire life span. once it doubled for the 1st time , i let it double 4 days consistently before baking. after about a month of doubling i changed my feeding ratios from the ones on the instructions to a 1:3:3 ratio and it has only gotten better ! i’m so happy i purchased this , i was slowly giving up on being able to bake sourdough until i bought this ! highly recommend!! included some loaves & other things i have been able to bake because of this starter !

I got a sour tang with this starter without a super long proof to get it when I finally was able to bake a couple loaves of sourdough with this starter. It took so long for this San Francisco style starter to get going I was surprised. I received it Jan 13, mixed it up and started feeding it the next day, and yesterday, Jan 20 I finally baked with it. Meanwhile a starter I mixed up myself with all-purpose flour and water was ready at the same time. So it really didn't save me time as I had hoped but it did have a sour taste to it and it did work the first time. I wouldn't buy it again because it was so slow to get going. Long ago I ordered for free by sending a SASE to Friends of Carl Oregon Trail for sourdough flakes and that one came super robust and ready to use within a couple days. This San Francisco one gives such a tiny amount I had to use all of it in one go and I was stressing the whole time it wouldn't succeed which is why I made my own starter alongside it. If I were to order a starter from Amazon I'd look into another company. But hopefully I'll be able to keep this one alive for a long time. I also sent a SASE to Oregon Trail Sourdough P. O. Box 337602 Greeley, CO 80633 USA so hopefully I will have backup starter sent to me in a few weeks should I need it. I don't know where I first heard of Friends of Carl's Oregon Trail Sourdough but it is legit and a robust starter and I'm grateful for something like that still existing in this world. Happy baking!

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!

I followed the instructions and have been feeding the starter as directed, but after 7 days I still haven’t seen much growth or activity. I was really excited to start making sourdough, so this has been disappointing. I’ll give it a little more time, but so far it hasn’t worked for me.

When I finally got to using the starter (which had a 2027 expiration date), I followed the instructions exactly. I got barely any rise, but did get a few bubbles. After a week and a half I tried baking with it. The loaf was dense and gummy, and didn’t rise. I tried with the remaining starter, and was never able to bake with it. I even tried adding rye flour, whole wheat flour, less water, etc, and it never got past a horrible smell and a runny liquid mess. I tried for almost a month, and didn’t get anywhere. I trashed it. I’m now trying with my own starter, and I should be baking in a couple of days. That was my long story to say it didn’t work. I’m very disappointed with this product.

Excelente producto

Made lots of loaves so far

UPDATE: seriously…. This starter is amazing. Have a look at my latest! About a 2 years ago I started my own starter, researched it to death and became very good. Accidentally threw all of it away (thought I had one in fridge). Oh well. So I ordered this San Francisco sourdough starter as I figured it would get me going again much faster than starting one from scratch. Well it arrived exactly 7 days ago. I followed the strange instructions included in the package (trust me….they are not typical). After the 5th day of their instructions, I decided to abandon their method …as all I had was a soupy starter that did not grow even a smidge. I also noticed something else….during day 3-5, every time I went to feed it, it had hooch on the top! Now, for those experienced bakers, you know this means it’s HUNGRY. (Hooch, for those who don’t know, is a pale/yellowy liquid that forms when your starter isn’t getting enough to eat. Just stir it in and follow the next set of instructions) The manufacturers instructions were 1 part water and 1 part flour by volume (eg 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup flour). The hooch made it clear it wanted more flour to eat. So I pulled out my scale. Dumped out all but about 1/4 cup of the starter. WEIGHED out 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water. Stirred it in and BOOM. She took off. :) 24 hours later, I dumped a bunch out leaving about 40 grams in the jar and fed it 50g/50g again. The picture you see above is my started 6 hours after I fed it. (The line is where it was after I fed it) You see the typical instructions for feeding and maintaining a starter calls for 1:1:1 ratio by WEIGHT. Their instructions meant it wasn’t getting enough flour. Anyway, don’t worry…This starter is clearly very active and worked fast. If you are new to sourdough, do the research so you understand the science and you’ll be fine. Note: if you don’t have a filtered water pitcher, pour water into a jar and let it sit in the counter overnight to get rid of the chlorine AND so the water comes up to room temp. Also important to use UNbleached flour. Good luck! I will update after my first bake. :) UPDATE: Did a bake with the starter and attached results

El precio de este producto es 4 veces mas alto que lo que se consigue en EEUU

Did not go well. Failed the activation process. My beginner starter went more well instead of this one. I wasted my 22$ for this. And i watched all of the videos, instructions and everything.