Food & DrinkThe BestieBeginner
Sourdough from Scratch course icon

Sourdough from Scratch

Like Duolingo, but for Sourdough from Scratch. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.

For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.

9 bite-size levelsAbout 5 minutes each

Free during early access · No credit card · iPhone & Android

Sammy the Starter
Sourdough from Scratch
with Sammy the Starter
9
Levels
2
Sections
5
Min/day
What you'll learn

Key ideas in Sourdough from Scratch

  • The starter contains live wild yeast and bacteria
  • Living organisms in the starter require regular maintenance to stay alive
  • Unlike commercial dry yeast, a starter is a wet, active culture
  • Flour provides the sugars and starches that the yeast colony eats
  • Regular feeding prevents the colony from starving or becoming overly acidic
  • Feeding 'refreshes' the activity level of the microbes
  • Understanding that a starter is a living ecosystem requiring care rather than an inert ingredient
  • Recognizing the purpose of feeding a starter
  • Visible bubbles indicate carbon dioxide production by the yeast
  • A pleasant, tangy, or fruity aroma is a sign of healthy fermentation
  • Cold temperatures slow down the metabolism of the yeast and bacteria
  • A significant increase in volume (rising) shows the starter has strength
  • Identifying sensory cues for a healthy, active starter
  • Keeping all the old starter would require exponentially more flour to feed it properly
  • Discarding keeps the total volume of the starter manageable for home kitchens
  • Applying the refrigerator 'pause' strategy for low-frequency baking
Why not just Google it

You've tried the other tabs

Wikipedia

Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.

YouTube

You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.

ChatGPT

One answer, then back to scrolling.

Online courses

Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.

Tomo gives Sourdough from Scratch the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.

Try a question

Here's what playing it feels like

A real question from this course. Take your best guess.

A Living Kitchen Companion

Why can't you just leave a sourdough starter in the pantry for months without touching it?

Get it right to open this lesson and 8 more in the app.

Course map

Where Sourdough from Scratch takes you

Stop buying expensive loaves and start baking your own. Learn to keep a wild yeast 'pet' alive and turn three simple ingredients into professional-grade bread.

  1. 1

    Meet Your Wild Yeast

    • Keeping Your Starter Alive
    • The First No-Knead Loaf
  2. 2

    Mastering the Bake

    • Reading the Dough's Mood
    • The Magic of Heat and Steam

2 sections · 4 units · 9 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.

How it's taught

You pick the voice

This course
The Bestie

Sourdough from Scratch is taught in the The Bestie style: your friend who just gets it. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.

Start free

Start Sourdough from Scratch today.

Download Tomo, search Sourdough from Scratch, and play your first lesson in under a minute.