SCIENCE OF SOURDOUGH AND FERMENTATION

In this 90-minute class, we're cracking open the living world inside your jar: wild yeast,

lactic acid bacteria, and fermentation.

You'll learn how a sourdough starter actually works (and why it does weird things), how to

read it instead of fear it, and what's really going on during fermentation. We'll walk

through a sourdough loaf demo from mix to bake, and you'll leave with class notes, a

take-home recipe, and the confidence to stop Googling "is my starter dead?"

No experience necessary. Curiosity required.

Program Overview

This class uses sourdough as a lens for exploring fermentation science: how wild yeast and

lactic acid bacteria work, what they need to thrive, and why bread made with a living

culture behaves so differently from commercially yeasted bread. Participants will move

through the science conceptually, observe a sourdough loaf at multiple stages of

development, and leave with the tools to continue the experiment at home.

Each participant receives a portion of active starter, a take-home recipe, and the

Breaducated Science of Fermentation class guide with everything needed to attempt their

first loaf independently.

Learning Objectives

By the end of class, participants will be able to identify what a sourdough starter is and

what lives inside it, understand the basic stages of fermentation and what drives them,

read their starter's visual and aromatic cues, and feel confident enough to feed and

maintain a starter at home.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Culinary Literacy Center