Organic Sourdough Starter, 30 Year Mature Culture
This starter is taken straight from an organic mother culture that has been fed and maintained for over 30 years. It is fully established and reliably active, so you are not spending a fortnight coaxing a jar of flour and water into life. Choose Live if you want to bake this week, or Dehydrated if you want something that keeps in the cupboard. Both come from the same culture.
We feed it on Marriage's Organic Strong White Bread Flour, which we also sell. Feeding yours on the same flour is the simplest way to keep the culture behaving the way it did when it left us.
Live or dehydrated?
Live culture arrives wet, active and fermenting. You get 10 to 20g, which is plenty: a starter is grown by feeding, not by the size of the sample. Give it a feed and a short adjustment period and it will leaven a loaf. This is the quickest route to baking with an established starter.
Dehydrated culture is the same organic culture, dried for long storage. Rehydrate it and feed it, and it comes back to life in about 72 hours. It keeps in a cupboard, which makes it the sensible choice for a gift or a backup jar in case something happens to your working starter.
Still deciding, or want the questions answered first? Our sourdough starters page covers posting, activation and the difference between the two forms.
Why this starter
- Organic, from a 30-year mature culture
- Live (ready to use) or dehydrated (keeps in the cupboard)
- Fed on Marriage's organic strong white bread flour, at 100% hydration
- Balanced acidity and strong, predictable fermentation
- Handles bread, pizza, focaccia and enriched doughs
- Full step-by-step instructions included
- Ordered before 2pm on a weekday, it leaves our UK warehouse the same day
Adding a jar
You can add a WECK jar to the order and have somewhere to keep it from the first feed. The 580ml inverted jar holds a working starter with room to double. The 850ml inverted jar gives more headroom if you build a bigger starter or keep a backup alongside it. Both come with the lid, seal and clips, so there is nothing else to buy.
One thing to expect with the live culture
Your live starter is an active culture, and it carries on fermenting in transit. Sometimes it climbs out of its pot and into the sealed bag. That is normal and it does not affect the culture. Scrape it back into a clean container. You only need a small amount of healthy starter, and once it is fed it will be active again within a day or two.
Details
Type: Organic sourdough starter culture, live or dehydrated
Quantity: 10 to 20g
Culture age: 30 years
Hydration: 100% (live)
Fed on: Marriage's Organic Strong White Bread Flour
Storage: refrigerate the live starter on arrival if you are not feeding it straight away. Keep the dehydrated culture somewhere cool and dry
Use: feed before baking, and rehydrate first if dehydrated
Full activation and feeding instructions come with every starter.
Order by 2pm Monday to Friday and your order is dispatched the same day.
- Free UK delivery on orders over £50.
- Standard UK delivery: 1-2 working days.
- You will receive tracking by email as soon as your order is dispatched.
30-day returns. You have 30 days from receiving your item to request a return. Items must be unused, with tags, and in the original packaging.
- Approved refunds are issued to your original payment method within 10 business days.
- Return postage is paid by the customer unless the item is faulty or we sent the wrong item.
- Starter cultures, perishable goods, custom items, gift cards and sale items cannot be returned.
- To start a return, email support@sourdoughsupply.co.uk. Returns sent without approval cannot be accepted.
Get everything your starter needs
Organic flour to feed it and a WECK jar to live in, complete with glass lid, seal and clips.
Live
Dry
Both
580ml
×2
WECK 580ml Jar, Lid, Seal & Clips2 × 1kg Organic Strong White Flour £15.94 0
LiveDryBoth
850ml×2
Free
WECK 850ml Jar, Lid, Seal & Clips2 × 1kg Organic Strong White Flour + Free Jar Scraper £18.44 0
LiveDryBoth850ml×2
WECK 850ml Jar, Lid, Seal & Clips2 × 1kg Organic Strong White Flour + Starter Stirrer £34.43 0
Bakers also add
Our best sellers, sent in the same parcel.
Matthews Strong White Flour, 1.5kgStoneground, for feeding your starter
£3.99
0
Walnut bread lame with leather caseOur best-selling lame, with replaceable blades
£7.99
0
Silicone bread sling, roundLowers your loaf into a hot pot
£6.99
0
Oak Danish dough whisk, 33cmMixes stiff dough without clogging
£7.49
0
What will you feed it?
Each feed is 50g of strong white flour and 50g of water.
Organic strong white flour, 1kgAbout 20 feeds. You'll use extra each time you bake.
£2.99
0
Finest strong white flour, 1.5kgAbout 30 feeds. You'll use extra each time you bake.
£3.25
0
Organic wholemeal flour, 1kgAbout 20 feeds. You'll use extra each time you bake.
£2.99
0
Regenerative stoneground strong white, 1.5kgAbout 30 feeds. You'll use extra each time you bake.
£3.99
0
Matthews dark rye flour, 1.5kgAbout 30 feeds. You'll use extra each time you bake.
£3.49
0
Matthews wholemeal spelt, 1.5kgAbout 30 feeds. You'll use extra each time you bake.
£4.49
0
Matthews organic wholemeal, 1.5kgAbout 30 feeds. You'll use extra each time you bake.
£3.99
0
Matthews organic strong white, 1.5kgAbout 30 feeds. You'll use extra each time you bake.
£3.99
0
Matthews Canadian strong white, 1.5kgAbout 30 feeds. You'll use extra each time you bake.
£3.49
0
Your starter needs somewhere to live
Every jar comes complete with its glass lid, rubber seal and clips.
WECK 580ml jar, completeThe size we sell most of
£9.96
0
WECK 850ml jar, completeRoom to climb if you feed generously
£12.46
0
WECK 1000ml jar, completeA full litre, for big feeds and big bakes
£13.46
0
WECK 1050ml tulip jar, completeThe largest jar, in the tulip shape
£12.96
0
Do you have a stirrer?
A stiff starter needs a sturdy stirrer. A looser one is fine with a whisk.
Starter stirrerReaches the bottom of the jar, and wipes clean
£15.99
0
Jar scraperClears the sides of the jar so the starter stays tidy
£2.50
0
Starter whisk, 20cmThe cheap way to do it
£2.99
0
Wooden spurtleStirs a stiff starter without bending
£6.99
0
You're all set
Ready for your first bake?
Live or dehydrated?
Same 30-year culture either way. The difference is the dehydrated culture takes a little longer to wake up. Great bread guaranteed whichever form you choose.
- Quantity
- 10 to 20g
- Culture age
- 30 years
- Hydration
- 100% (live)
- Fed on
- Marriage's Organic Strong White Bread Flour
- Options
- Live or dehydrated, with or without a WECK jar
- Storage
- Fridge for live, cool and dry for dehydrated
30-year culture
Fed and maintained continuously since the 1990s. Robust, active & forgiving.
Arrives alive
Guaranteed to arrive alive and ready to feed, or we replace it for free.
Posted same day
Order by 2pm Monday to Friday and it leaves our UK warehouse that day.
Beginner friendly
Feeding instructions in the box and a real person on email if you get stuck.
Bread forever
Every starter is shared straight from our mother culture the day it ships. Feed it flour and water when it arrives, leave it somewhere warm, and within a day or two it will be bubbling and ready for you to bake your first loaf. Keep maintaining it and you will never need to buy a loaf of bread again.
Order by 2pm Mon-Fri for same day postage
Your starter is prepared and posted by tracked Royal Mail from our UK warehouse the same day. The live culture stays active in transit, so it may look a little lifeless on arrival. That is normal, it is just hungry.
Frequently asked questions
Everything people ask us before their first loaf: live versus dehydrated, what happens in the post, and what to do once it arrives.
Read the starter guideCan you buy a sourdough starter, or do you have to make your own?
Where can I buy an active sourdough starter in the UK?
Can I buy a sourdough starter near me, or in London?
Can you buy a sourdough starter in a supermarket?
How soon can I bake?
What flour should I feed it?
It looks flat with no bubbles, is it dead?
Do I have to feed it every day?
There's grey liquid on top, is that bad?
Pairs well with
Super easy and convenient. Able to start baking pretty much straight away. Delicious sourdough bread has been made!
Worked perfectly after only a couple of days
brilliant, my first attempt was really good.
7 days on fed and watered ill let you know
I bought this as this is my 1st time trying to make sourdough bread the instructions were clear and very useful it works and is easy to keep going to I am on loaf number 3 now
Absolutely fantastic, after attempting to make sourdough a few years ago I felt a little disheartened but decided to give it another go, bought the mature starter and after only a couple of days it was ready to bake with ! Excellent results from my first bake , one very happy customer.
Starter is excellent you could say it’s proving itself!
Hi Linda, thanks for sharing; we love to see the results!! The bread looks delicious.
Happy baking
Stacey @ Sourdough Supply
Excellent starter. Was able to use and make sufficient levain within two days to make bread. It’s very active and therefore creates a blight crumb and delicious bread.
Bought for husband starting sourdough journey. Process and loaf was interesting and great for first go! But with practice am sure it will get better and better
This is the best, most active starter I have bought, and this is my fourth!! It has produced the best sourdough yet.
Excellent would highly recommend
Came badly packed. I could not use it
Hi Danielle,
I’m really sorry to see this review. I know we spoke on email a couple of weeks ago I had thought everything was resolved. We do offer a guarantee on our starter and as I had not heard back from you I had assumed that everything was ok. Please feel free to get in touch again via email if you want to allow me to put this right, as I really do value every order and I don’t want anyone to have a negative experience.
Stacey
Really good product! I was using it a few days after receiving it. Activation was easy and the bread tastes lovely.
Fantastic starter . Made multiple batches …
Made a very tasty bread. We fed it with white flour to start with. It's activity was OK. However, when we added rye flour it's activity was much better and this resulted in an excellent loaf.
Brilliant stuff made a couple of loaves so far,well received. It's feeding well,christened her Phyllis.
Its great, beat my attempt hands down 😀
Fantastic service, super-fast delivery, and perfectly packaged. The bread I’ve made from this starter has an amazing flavour. I’d absolutely recommend this company.
Hi Sheree
Thank you for taking the time to leave us this review! I'm glad I have left a positive impression on you and it's great to hear that you love the bread (although you did the hard work here!)
Stacey
Love it
Bought this as a present for my Dad who bakes his own bread. He is delighted with it and has been dutifully feeding it and is going to make bread this week!
Amazing quality , great starter read advice/ instructions & worked fab doubled in size would buy again & recommend thanks
It arrived earlier than expected.
I fed it for 5 days and it grew everyday. Baked a good loaf on the 6th day.
Pleased with my purchase.
Hi Bill - she really is a lively one! So pleased you are happily baking using our wonderful starter. Thank you for the review Stacey @ Sourdough Supply
Great instructions and did what it said. The bread has been amazing!
It worked brilliantly. I’ve made 2 loaves with it already
We love to hear this! Thank you for taking the time to review
Thank you for the starter..it’s so bubbly and alive! I have started to enjoy making bread again after struggling with my sour miserable starter for too long!
This is amazing to hear, so pleased you have found your love for baking again. Thank you for your purchase :)
Hi there I love this item I purchased from you she is thriving nicely and making beautiful bread so thankyou very much and if I need to re stock I will definitely be back. I was a little concerned when she arrived as she had escaped her bottle but it was easy to rescue ☺️🫣😬
Hi Tansie - she certainly is very lively! So pleased to hear you are making some lovely bread with her. Thanks for the feedback :)
