Live Sourdough Fermentation & Hearth Baking

From starter to oven spring, taught live so your dough gets looked at, not just the recipe.

Booking now
Each session2 hr 30 min a session
How oftenOnce a week
Cohort10–14 per cohort
SeasonYear-round · a new cohort starts each month

What you leave with

A reliable open-crumb loaf you can bake again in your own oven

An interactive baking progression for home bakers who want reliable, professional-quality loaves. Microbiology, baker's percentages, dough rheology, scoring and dutch-oven hearth baking.

It is live rather than recorded because the diagnosis is the value: an instructor watching your dough on camera can tell you it is under-fermented, and a video cannot.

What makes this one worth it

  • Starter Science, Inoculation & Autolyse
  • Bulk Fermentation, Coil Folds & Dough Extensibility
  • Preshape, Structural Bâtard Shaping & Cold Retardation
  • Lame Scoring, Steam Dynamics & Hearth Bake

What is included

  • All 4 sessions of the 4-week cohort — 10 hours of instruction
  • A place held for you for the whole run, in a cohort of 10–14
  • Every piece of equipment listed below, provided on the day
  • Your instructor, and their attention in a group this size

What to bring

  • Water, and something to eat if you want it
  • Nothing else — the kit is provided

How it runs

Once a week · 2 hr 30 min a session

Frequency
1x / week — 2.5 hours a session
Session length
2 hr 30 min
Each month
4 sessions, about 10 hours
Cohort size
10 – 14 participants
Where
Baking kitchen studio / live broadcast kitchen lab
Level
Beginner to Intermediate
Commitment
Monthly — stay as long as it is worth it

What you cover, in rotation

The group works through these in order and then begins again on fresh ground. Join at whatever stage it is on — nothing here assumes you were there for the last one, and nothing runs out — or drop in for a single session if that is all you can manage.

  1. Stage 1Starter Science, Inoculation & Autolyse
    • Culturing wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria.
    • Feed ratios — 1:2:2 against 1:5:5 — and peak activity indicators.
    • Stone-ground whole wheat, bread flour and rye, compared.
    • Autolyse: enzymatic sugar breakdown and gluten relaxation.
  2. Stage 2Bulk Fermentation, Coil Folds & Dough Extensibility
    • Measuring dough temperature and ambient fermentation kinetics.
    • Stretch-and-fold against coil folding for gluten structure.
    • Reading the aliquot jar rise and bubble cues before shaping.
  3. Stage 3Preshape, Structural Bâtard Shaping & Cold Retardation
    • Bench resting and building structural tension during preshape.
    • Shaping oblong bâtards and round boules with stitch techniques.
    • Dusting bannetons with rice flour, and overnight refrigeration.
  4. Stage 4Lame Scoring, Steam Dynamics & Hearth Bake
    • Razor scoring: ear creation against decorative wheat stalk patterns.
    • Oven spring: steam injection and heavy cast iron baking.
    • Crumb analysis and a sensory cooling evaluation.

4 sessions in the cycle, then it begins again on new ground.

Who leads it, and what is provided

Led by Master artisan baker / wild sourdough specialist.

Live fermentation feedback, dough diagnostic troubleshooting, and technique instruction.

On the table when you arrive

  • Bannetons
  • Curved scoring lames
  • Bench scrapers
  • Digital scales and starter jars

Before you book

Know before you go

  • You will need flour, water, salt and an oven at home — a full kit list is sent on booking

Cancellations and refunds follow our cancellation policy, which is the same for every activity on this site.

When it runs

August 2026

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Runs Not running

Tuesday 11 August

  • 10amup to 14 guests

Usually runs Tuesdays.

This is the operator’s schedule, not live seat availability. We check the date with them and come back to you — nothing is booked or paid for here.

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