Is Buying A Sourdough Starter From A Bakery Worth It? Here's The Deal

Baking a homemade loaf of sourdough is definitely a labor of love, if not an exercise in patience. This isn't one of those tasks you can complete using shortcuts, but there is one key element you can purchase along the way: the sourdough starter. The starter, which is the gooey mixture of flour and yeast you'll need to leaven your bread, is something you can cultivate at home; but if you don't have a week to wait around for one to ripen, you can typically go to your local specialty baker and see if they'll be willing to sell you some. (In many cases, they will.)

But is it worth it? We spoke to Allyson Letal, recipe developer and food photographer at Crave The Good, to see what her take is on buying your starter as opposed to making your own. "A bakery is one of the best places to source a sourdough starter, especially for beginners. Starting a sourdough starter completely from scratch can be a frustrating and discouraging process, enough to turn some bakers off of sourdough before they even get to the baking part!"

Letal says that part of the benefit of buying a starter from a bakery is that they're almost always well-maintained due to the fact that the starter is one of the core ingredients to its business. The healthier the starter, the better foundation for success in your loaves. So yes, purchasing one can definitely be worth it. From my limited experience as a home baker (which is a skill I've sadly neglected), my first starter did take quite a while to mature; having an established one would have saved me loads of time and effort.

"The biggest difference I've found between starters comes down to health rather than where it came from or how it was created," explains Letal. "Any starter that is consistently fed and discarded will be a high-quality starter capable of leavening beautiful breads. The flour type, hydration level, and location can influence flavor and behavior but I believe those are secondary to the power of a well maintained starter." 

Even getting a starter from an experienced home baker can help. "I made my own starter from scratch, but I've since shared it with many other bakers," says Letal. "From what I've seen, receiving an active, healthy starter makes for a much smoother baking experience — almost like instant gratification, if anything about sourdough was instant." She also says that building your own starter takes consistency and dedication, and your initial results might not yield the best results right out the gate. "Knowing what I know now," Letal says, "If I was a newbie again, I'd seek out an established starter. The long term end result is comparable, but the journey to get to that point can be trying."