Saratoga Jacks Sourdough Live Starter

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!. I received the starter in beautiful packaging, with directions on making the "mother" and a recipe. I was worried i would have to nurse the starter back because my package was delayed due to covid. But no it took off on first shot. I am new to making bread but even my first attempt came out perfect. So goo my family devoured it before it even cooled. No one even wanted butter or olive oil to add. Crust was perfect and inside was soft and beautifull. I have made bread every day since. I bought a loaf of our normal bread for sandwiches AND MY KIDS TURNED IT DOWN! they wanted mine. I am a customer and was not even asked to write this review. It is a great buy and an incredible starter. If i ever lose my "mother" i would not hesitate to re order instantly. My friends have already asked me what starter i ordered. I shared so they can make their own and not steal my bread!!!

Great starter! I wish the instructions for feeding were more clear. This makes a lot of starter, and was very active! It took off like a rocket ship. I did have to discard but that’s typical so you don’t get overwhelmed with starter. I’m feeding by weight 1:1:1 ratio. So an example is to weigh out 4 ounces starter, 4 ounces water, 4 ounces flour. I started with whole wheat but ran out and I’m using All Purpose unbleached. If you use measuring cups you use 1-1/2 cups of flour. It made really nice bread, great flavor and just chewy enough. I would highly recommend this product.

So, this teeny little bag, with a quarter size dollop of starter, will come to you in a cute little tin with all of the instructions on feeding it, and that will be in a plastic case with a few recipes. You DO NOT need a "ton" of starter, to get your starter started... but this will life hack save you about 2-3 weeks from trying to harvest your own starter. After feed #2, this was rising, bubbling, and ready to go. I literally started this thing a day and a half ago, and have my first sourdough in the works. I mean. You're paying for the pristine packaging, the time of the company, and your saved time. The only thing I'm docking this down to 4 stars is for value for the money. I really do feel like there could have been a tad more starter... it was hecka hard to get "most" of it out of the tiny bag.

I generally do not write reviews, but had to do it on this product. The starter yeast was apparently not live. I followed directions exactly. I knew by the 2nd feeding that it was not live. I continued anyway thinking I may be wrong. I even took the next step to make the dough. Still no activity.I feel the directions were clear but didn’t make toomuch sense with regard to storing in a canning jar. Directions for making the actual dough were vague and required quite a bit of flour. It was quite a waste for no benefit at all.I have made bread plenty of times, regular and sourdough. Don’t waste your money or time on this

I've never (as in never) baked before. No pouring powder out of a box and stirring in milk and eggs does not count. I wanted to learn something new so I got a Sourdough starter. My wife made sourdough bread in the '70s and I loved it. I remember the jar of starter mix on the counter bubbling away... but I digress.So I got out the recipe and my wife (who bakes a lot) says "read the instructions three times and tell me what they say from memory." I got some of them right. I started anyway. The instructions said we had to "feed" the starter immediately as it would "die" (somehow) before noon tomorrow--or that's how I interpreted the instructions. And yeah, there were a LOT of instructions and they were friggen t i n y . So, we began by finding a BIG mason jar as it said to add quite a bit of water and flour. It barely fit. We left it set the required time in the fridge and began again a few days later. The recipe called for ONE CUP of starter. When I told my daughter, she said "that's crazy. We just made bread and it called for a tablespoon of starter." Too bad she didn't share this before we got started. And thank goodness we had acquired a LOT of flour beforehand. It took 5 lbs to get the mixture to the consistency described in the recipe. Five pounds. The ball of dough was the size of a soccerball. We then let it sit and rise. Overnight it had not risen to my wife's expectations, so she suggested we somehow make the bowl warmer. I swaddled it in an electric blanket. That worked great and a couple of hours later it was ready to knead. We broke it into four big loaves and let those rise. And then we baked--they were done right on time and reached the right temperature but I noticed that the loaves on the bottom rack did not brown on top like those on the top. Note to self, swap the trays mid-bake. Oh, another note to self: quarter the recipe. Now we have four loaves of delicious bread--enough to feed the faithful at the loaves and fishes sermon--five times over.So, yes, we liked the bread. The recipe should have been clearer about how much bread it was going to produce and it should have been in a type large enough for us old people to read without a magnifying glass.Anyone want some extra starter? We now have a full quart left and my daughter gave me more of hers. Apparently, it gets out of hand all on its own. We're going to freeze the baked bread, but I'm told by a pro you can freeze the unbaked dough (at one stage or another).

The packaging and the tin, etc... could have done without it. Just a small sealed package would have been fine. Feels like have of the cost is the delivery. The instructions were confusing (because I didn't automatically open the tin without reading instructions and they are hidden inside). That was a stupid idea by someone. Anyway, if this were better thought out it would get a 5 outta 5 stars because it does make great bread.

Excellent customer service! I ordered 2 live starters. When I first received my package there was only one. I simply emailed the seller and no questions asked they put the other one in the mail to me! They are a fantastic and easy to deal with seller. This sourdough starter is amazing! Has excellent taste, easy to use and easy to follow instructions. I highly recommend!!