Cultures for Health San Francisco Sourdough Style Starter Culture | Homemade Artisan Bread | Heirloom, non-GMO | Live Culture Bread Mix | Easy to Follow Recipe

*UPDATE* 14 Jan (less than a week since my first review)My starter finally doubled in size yesterday. I started feeding it every 12 hours, swapped my flour for whole wheat and started putting the starter in the oven with proofing mode on. I think something to keep in mind is that this is a dehydrated starter, not an active one. So it takes time. The flavor is great. Coming from NorCal, it's the sourdough I've been missing. Eating updated to 5*This is my first time establishing a sourdough starter so I can't say much other than my experience.I started my starter, a week ago from today and I just did a float test and it failed. For the first 3 days, I was barely getting any surface bubbles, much less growth. So I decided to go against the instructions and switched to bread flour instead of the suggested AP flour and finally saw some results. It worked since bread flour has more protein than AP flour. The growth doubled compared to before the switch but the starter itself still has not doubled in size.I am now in the process of feeding every 12 hrs instead of every 24 to see if it'll help. Otherwise I will come back in a week and update my review as necessary.I am giving it 3 stars instead of less since taking care of a sourdough starter is complicated and may not be an indication of the product itself.

Final update: Seller had actually sent a message saying “reply to this message with ‘full refund’ if you would like a full refund.” I replied as such. Seller asked for details about my sourdough process. After multiple back and forths and my prompting they said they actually were not issuing a refund because I’m still working on my starter… what? lol. Huge waste of time and personally I’m never ordering from them again.Update: Seller gave me a refund :,( I feel terrible but I did try my best with it. I’m going to buy it again so I can hopefully get it started and give this five stars.I’ve been really hesitant to write a review, because it could be something on my end. However, I feel I’ve tried EVERYTHING and haven’t gotten this starter to work. I followed the directions exactly and didn’t have a working starter after a week. At a certain point (after the week) I added less water so it could hold bubbles better and I could see if it was growing. I’ve since tried two different bottled waters, mainly spring, multiple flours, including whole wheat and multiple methods of warming the starter. Currently I’ve been using unbleached AP at a 1:1:1 ratio, with the proofing setting on my toaster at 85 degrees and feeding consistently at either the 12 hour mark or the 24 hour mark (trying to figure out when it would like to be fed). It bubbles a little bit and bubbles reach the surface eventually, say around the 12 hour mark and by that point it’s basically more liquid than solid, I can pour it like liquid into the trash when it’s time to discard (starts out like thick pancake batter). However, in that 12 hours it grows maybe a fifth (and that’s after like 6 hours and also where it stops). I’m now adding rye to see if that will get it going. Anyways, POINT IS: It’s been over a month now and even if it eventually starts growing properly (which I’m hoping it will) I can’t say the starter I originally purchased had anything to do with it. I’m pretty sure I just created my own starter for $13.One thing I will say is it never went through the early doubling phase that happens when starting your own starter and it never smelled bad. So maybe it was alive, I don’t know - but it didn’t work as advertised and I’m pretty annoyed at this point thinking I probably could’ve had more luck starting my own fresh starter three weeks ago… I don’t know.

TLDR - Take your time, follow the instructions. Give it 10 days. This will make an EXCELLENT sourdough.Details -Patience is key.I sincerely thought my starter was a dud. Unlike the starter I've made here using what we locals like to call Wild Chicago Yeast...Lake County...this starter had a much different smell. It's not quite rancid, but it's different than other yeasts.I made two loaves last night and they were flat. I left them out and went to bed. This morning, I threw them in the oven at 500 degrees, then immediately lowered the oven to 450. I let the loaves cook for 22 minutes.I pulled them out and shrugged figuring it was a waste of time. I was wrong. These two "dud" loaves were better than anything I've made with my own starter. It was fluffy on the inside with a wonderful, crispy crust and that fantastic San Francisco sourdough flavor.I'm continuing to feed my starter and I can see it's more lively. It just takes time.

After 13 days of trying to grow a good culture, I still DO NOT have sourdough! All I have right now is sweet smelling flour & water which might be starting to get moldy. This was a waste of money. I do not recommend.Update 9/28/24 - shortly after posting a one star review, I was contacted by customer service to share information regarding what I had done with the starter? After trading some emails, it appears that the reason the starter did not work is due to my using RO water instead of spring water. Customer service is sending a replacement kit at no charge, so I can try again. The customer service response was excellent, so I have changed my review to three stars pending another try with a second starter kit.Update 10/22/24 - The second packet arrived. I used mineral water and it worked!