“What can you expect when you come to a course?
You can expect a warm welcome and to work hard and learn a lot. It’s fun, and small groups make friends. However, it is a big commitment both financially and in terms of time, so it’s important for you to research your week thoroughly. We are always happy to answer questions, but there are a few things we can share to fill in any gaps.
What do we expect from you?
We hope for lovely people who want to learn everything we can teach you about sourdough. We need you to be punctual, well prepared, with long hair tied back, short fingernails, wearing a full apron and raring to go.
We also expect our students to continue their baking when they get home, which is why we have The Sourdough Club and provide feedback and support long after the course has finished.
What should you expect from a course?
While the teaching will centre on every aspect of sourdough bread, there will still be time to savour your bread, relax, breathe deeply and just lose yourself in long, slow fermentation and in the beauty of winter in our rural Northamptonshire setting. We will try to incorporate a walk into each day’s schedule, weather permitting.
You will have some free time in the evenings, and there is the opportunity to walk, cycle, visit the local pubs, or pop into the local cheese mongers and bakery, and we arrange a visit to the local vineyard. The course aims to give you the confidence and know-how to bake your own homemade, artisan, sourdough loaves. It will be a fun week full of information, demonstrations, and baking. All participants will receive a certificate of attendance. Once you have booked, a full schedule will be sent to you.
Will you make the perfect loaf?
Probably not.
Something to bear in mind: It took many years to master sourdough. It is an art, and sourdough is wild. Fermentation is unpredictable at times, and many students often arrive with very high expectations. Often, people show me loaves they want to make by bakers who have baked over 500,000 loaves. Yes, they are amazing. However, it takes years to really master sourdough. It is like learning to play a musical instrument, and although you will attend a course for a few days or even a week, it takes most bakers a three-year apprenticeship to learn to bake sourdough, and even now, 35 years on, I am still learning every time I bake.
Be ready to learn. Sometimes things don’t always go according to plan… although mostly they do; it is somewhat ironic, but we learn more from our mistakes than we do from our successes.
What you will learn here is not just to follow a recipe; you will learn core principles and to trust your senses, to have an understanding and a sense of rhythm, timing, and connection to the dough and the process of making bread. You will make great bread and learn everything you need to know to be in a position to practice with knowledge.
Then it is up to you to bake. Over and over again.
That is the joy – the journey
