Understanding Sourdough Class

From the winners of the Observer Food Monthly “Best Producer” award 2022 comes a five-hour deep dive into everything you need to know about sourdough. Myths busted, skills shared and a great day out on the Suffolk coast.

Pump Street’s journey started with a quest to master the art of making sourdough bread. After a decade of trials, tribulations and many thousands of loaves later - we are finally sharing everything we have learned along the way.

This is the perfect course for someone who has tried baking sourdough at home and wants to understand the process better, allowing them to make delicious bread for themselves, friends and family. That said, no experience is necessary and if you want to start your sourdough journey here then it’s an excellent place to do so.

We will cover everything from grain, flour and fermentation to shaping, proving and baking. A comprehensive course delivered from our bakery on the Suffolk coast with a delicious lunch, copious coffee and fresh pastries.

What to expect:

Through a range of tasks you will delve into the magic of sourdough bread making and we will help you to understand it better. The flavour is the only aspect that should be complex. You will leave with a sourdough starter, two baked loaves, some fermented dough to shape at home, some freshly milled flour and enough knowledge to bake whenever you choose.

Stages of the day:

Arrival.
Don’t be late as you won’t want to miss out on fresh pastries from the bakery and Monmouth coffee.

Stage 1: Shaping.
We will go through why and how to shape our dough.

Stage 2: Back to the Beginning: Growing, Milling and Mixing Grain.
Discover the characteristics of different types of flour and how to use them to boost the nutrition, appearance and activity of your bread.

Stage 3: Fermentation: Form and Flavour.
Explore the murky world of microbes, how they function and how we can keep them busy in our bread dough.

Lunch.
We will break for a family style meal with time to let the morning’s work settle in. Copious amounts of bread guaranteed. All our meals are vegetarian as standard, alternatives will be provided for anyone with dietary requirements.

Stage 4: Proving.
We will discover how our dough prepares itself for the final transformation into bread. You will learn what to look out for and how to control the speed of the final proof to fit in with your schedule.

Stage 5: Baking.
We will bake the loaves that were shaped at the beginning of the day. The course leader will go through the science and practicalities of the baking stage so that students can improve their baking at home.

End.
You’ll walk out with armfuls of warm bread and plenty of knowledge to take home.

You can learn more about our Workshop here.