Sourdough: The Art of Fermentation
Like Duolingo, but for Sourdough: The Art of Fermentation. 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.
A short one: 12 levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes end to end, roughly 5 days at five minutes a day. It moves through The Life Support System and The Lift and the Crumb. It assumes you already know the basics.
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Key ideas in Sourdough: The Art of Fermentation
- A 1:1:1 ratio peaks quickly because the yeast population is high relative to food
- Cooler water temperatures extend the timeline by slowing yeast metabolism
- Higher ratios like 1:5:5 provide more fresh food to slow down the peak
- Warm water (80-90°F) is the 'sweet spot' for rapid microbial activity
- Predicting peak time based on feeding ratios
- Using water temperature to control fermentation speed
- The nutritional role of whole grains in starter health
- The importance of oxygenation during the feeding process
- Discarding prevents the buildup of acetic and lactic acids that can weaken yeast
- Without discarding, the amount of flour needed to feed the growing colony becomes unmanageable
- The purpose of discarding starter during feeding
- Floating indicates the gluten network is strong enough to trap fermentation gases
- A starter can sink if the gas is knocked out, even if it is at peak activity
- Warmer, wetter starters favor lactic acid for a milder, yogurt-like profile
- Cooler, stiffer starters encourage acetic acid for a sharp sourdough tang
- The float test measures gas retention rather than just the age of the starter
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Sourdough: The Art of Fermentation 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.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
If you want to slow down your starter's activity for a long ferment, what should you do with the water?
Get it right to open this lesson and 11 more in the app.
Where Sourdough: The Art of Fermentation takes you
Move beyond the basic recipe and learn to manage the living ecosystem of your starter for a reliable, airy rise every time.
- 1
The Life Support System
- Tuning Your Starter's Metabolism
- Reading the Fermentation Signs
- 2
The Lift and the Crumb
- Mastering the Bulk Ferment
- Troubleshooting the Rise
2 sections · 4 units · 12 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
Sourdough: The Art of Fermentation 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.
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Start Sourdough: The Art of Fermentation today.
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