Brod & Taylor Sourdough Home

Amazing, it brings your sourdough making process to another level

Vivo en el norte de México, donde la temperatura media es muy por arriba de la ideal para cultivar masa madre. El refrigerador esta bien pero no ideal para el crecimiento óptimo de la masa. Lastimosamente mi cultivo principal no sobrevivió el calor, pero guardé descarte con el cuál pude revivir mi cultivo. Es una chulada, tal cuál una incubadora, para mi caso donde vivo en climas extremos, esta es la mejor opción para tener un cultivo saludable.

It kept a constant temperature and was able to change quickly between warm and cold. I wish it was larger but should work for most cases. Their customer support is also top notch, always great to know companies care about their customers!

This is an excellent appliance. I made sourdough starter for the first time in my life and it worked first time perfectly. Set to 23C I was able to get a nice reactive sourdough starter in 5 days and was making pizza and naan bread with the discard after this time. After 7 days feeding and fermenting the starter, I made my first sourdough bread (using a Brod and Taylor folding proofing oven to proof the dough) and it was perfect and delicious. I use milled whole grain spelt for the starter and for the bread. After baking I put my left over starter in the fridge (top shelf at 4 degrees C) and revive it (feed/ferment) weekly for 24 hours with the "sourdough house" before baking bread. This really is how bread should be, it's just flour, water and some salt and tastes better than the commercial bread you buy in the supermarket. My stomach can't really tolerate the commercial breads but this home-made pure sourdough bread is no problem for me to eat.

I've been using the Brød & Taylor Sourdough Home for almost two months, and I'm very pleased with its performance. Some reviewers have complained that it is noisy, but at my unit is very quiet. My sourdough starter has been very happy living in this, and is essentially always ready for use, on my baking schedule. This along with the Brød & Taylor folding dough proofer have been 'game changers' for me, allowing for precise control of temperatures, and much improved consistency. For recipes that I've worked out, I get excellent and predictable results each time now, where I struggled a bit with consistency before. As a number of baking experts have stated, time & temperature are important 'ingredients' in sourdough (and yeast) baked goods. My reason for purchasing was that I typically only bake 1-2 times a week, and did not want to maintain a starter at room temperature because of the inconvenience and waste from all the required feedings. And, to store my starter in the refrigerator, after feeding I'd let it expand at room temperature to about 1.5x, and then refrigerate. Problem was that starter from these cold conditions (~34degF) was sluggish, and needed at least one feeding at room temp to 'revive' it. Using the starter maintenance guidelines from the instructions & 'The Fresh Loaf' blog site, I keep the starter at 45degF, and feed it every 5-6 days with a 1:4:4 (SD starter:water:flour) ratio, never bothering to ever warm it to room temperature. This fits my baking schedule, but higher temperatures can be used if one wants to bake more often. At 45degF, I see good fermentation activity and bubbles by about 24-hours post feeding, and I've had excellent results using this to inoculate a levain from 24 hours to 6 days post feeding. I'll incubate the levain (typically 40% starter + flour & water for a 75-100% hydration levain) at 78degF in the Brød & Taylor Folding Proofer (also an excellent unit) and get doubling to tripling of levain volume in 3.5-4.5 hours. Thus, starter feeding is simplified, my starter is essentially always ready for use, and I think the consistent regime of starter feeding & maintenance has been beneficial for starter health. I keep just small amounts of starter (~180g) in a pint mason jar that works well for me, and minimizes generation of the useful 'sourdough discard'. Unit also holds quart jars if your starter needs are greater. I most often employ a levain, so my active starter needs are modest. Higher temperatures can also be dialed in to adjust to how frequent you want to feed, and your baking schedule. Unit is a bit pricey, but for a serious sourdough bread baker who can manage it, well worth the price in my opinion.

This was a Christmas gift and it’s an absolute game changer. It’s freezing here at this time of the year but I now know when my starter will be ready. I now know when my levain will be ready. I can now properly plan baking my sourdough bread. Best gift ever.