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Sourdough - transform your bread & your health

The Healthiest Bread in the World: Science-Backed Baking for a Better Gut Heath

Vanessa Kimbell is a time-served baker who specialises in gut health and trained in the art of sourdough bread in the Dordogne. A bestselling author, she holds a doctorate in Baking as Lifestyle Medicine and Preventative Health and is a member of BANT. Vanessa combines deep expertise in sourdough with unparalleled knowledge of the science of bread and digestion. At The Sourdough School, she teaches personalised artisan bread tailored to optimise gut health and genetics. Discover healthy bread recipes, tips, and techniques featuring sourdough fermentation, wholegrain benefits, and personalised baking advice—designed to inspire a slower, healthier approach to baking, eating, and sharing bread.

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Sourdough Courses

Sourdough course, with people in a sourdough workshop making bread. This is a baking class with lots of people that is the best sourdough course.
Not sure which course is right for you? Book a free 15-minute consultation to discuss your needs.

Top Tips on How to Choose a Great Sourdough Class

The top tip when booking a sourdough course is to ask to see the crumb structure of the bread they will be teaching you to bake. There are thousands of baking courses to choose from, but not all instructors will truly teach you the art of fermentation. Learning this skill is the key difference between a good sourdough course and a mediocre one, and it is their skill on fermentation that is what you are there to learn. In the photo below, you can see the kind of crumb structure you should be looking for from your course. Your course should teach you the nuances that transform bread into remarkable loaves, ensuring you leave with a genuine understanding of how to bake sourdough to this level. All of this comes form a mastery of each part of the technique and your teacher should be able to fully explain how you can get this at home yourself.

Many courses fail to teach bakes how they can get this kind of bread at home, so make sure you ask your teacher questions how they advise you to bring the details to your kitchen, using your flour and timing and temperatures in your class. at The Sourdough School we offer a 15 minute consultation to discuss your needs, and offer the most comprehensive online sourdough courses in the UK. Run by one of the worlds leading bread experts, Dr Kimbell, The school offers a range of sourdough courses from personalised sourdough 1:1 classes, to short sourdough workshops to longer sourdough courses that dig much deeper into nutrition and digestibility of bread, and teach you have to bake the healthiest sourdough breads. You can book a 15 minute free consultation to help you decide which course would best suit you or to find out more about current sourdough courses here.

The most popular sourdough courses are the 3 day courses. These are Specialised Nutrition Courses to learn the art and science of sourdough baking in a hands-on workshop designed for all levels. Perfect for mastering fermentation and crumb structure.

Dr Kimbell is recognised as being one of the best teachers in the world, teaching the art and science of sourdough and advanced sourdough techniques. She is also one of the leading experts in nutrition and digestibility of bread, making the sourdough courses she teaches unique, and highly regarded.

Our 7 top tips to help you decide which sourdough course to book:  

a slice of sourdough showing the nutrition via the crumb stucture
Technical brilliance is what you expect from a Sourdough Course.

There are thousands of sourdough courses, and we have a list of schools that offer sourdough courses.  What we suggest is that you make sure that the sourdough course is the right level for your experience and that you check the following:

  1. Reviews of the sourdough courses they have taught from previous students,
  2. Photos of the crumb structure of the bread that you will be baking, and don’t just look at the outside of the bread,
  3. Look at the follow up support for students to continue to learn after the course – such as the Sourdough Club membership we offer the Sourdough School Students. 
  4. We also suggests that you check the credentials and qualifications of your teacher. A good teacher will welcome your questions, and share how long they have been baking and if they have any formal training or depth of experience. Many teachers are enthusiastic domestic bakers who whilst ,making lovely bread in their own kitchen they may not necessarily have the depth and breadth of experience to teach you what you need to know in your kitchen.  This can be very frustrating, so do not be afraid to ask how their course recipes translate back to your flour, and to your environment. What really matters on a sourdough course is not the bread that you make o the day, it is that you can use what you have learned to apply to the bread that you make when you get home. 
  5. Ask to see if they provide you with extra materials to support the course, such as books to go with the sourdough course, or sourdough course material such as baking schedules and helpful course materials. 
  6. Check that as a venue that they have appropriate heath and safety in place to run a sourdough course, and their hygiene certificate, and their insurance covers you for any mishaps. 
  7. We suggest that if you are traveling that you check your own insurance to ensure that if your sourdough course is canceled that you are covered 

Whichever sourdough course you decide to attend, we’ve got some amazing equipment that will help you learn to bake sourdough, and bake amazing bread. 

If you want get going right now and start learning you can also join The Sourdough Club and begin learning today with instant aces to our Sourdough course today. 

Showing 1–18 of 91 results

  • Diversity 8 Seed Blend

    Diversity 8 Seed Blend

    £4.99
    Find out more
  • DoughBed by Sourhouse

    DoughBed by Sourhouse

    £191.99
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  • dough scraper

    The Sourdough School Dough Scraper – Limited Edition

    £69.99
    Find out more
  • marcato atlas 150 pasta machine

    Marcato Atlas 150 Pasta Machine

    £55.67
    Find out more
  • wooden lame

    The Sourdough School – Wooden Lame

    £39.98
    Find out more
  • wooden spatula

    The Sourdough School – Wooden Spatula

    £29.99
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  • wooden spurtle

    The Sourdough School – Wooden Spurtle

    £24.99
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  • All Day Baking: Savoury, Not Sweet by Michael James (signed copy)

    All Day Baking: Savoury, Not Sweet by Michael James (signed copy)

    £27
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  • Diversity Blend flour

    Diversity Blend No. 0+ Wholemeal Flour

    £4.79
    Find out more
  • sourdough baking kit

    ESSENTIAL SOURDOUGH BAKING KIT & VOUCHER

    £85
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  • Seeded sourdough loaf

    Seeded Big Poops Loaf Recipe Box

    £6.99
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  • sourdough baking kit

    Sourdough Boule Baking Kit & Voucher

    £99
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  • olive sourdough focaccia

    Sourdough Focaccia Kit

    £5.50
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  • Sourdough Starter Jar Ochre

    Sourdough Starter Jar

    £67.98
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  • Goldie by Sourhouse

    Goldie by Sourhouse

    £129.98
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  • Order Your Free Sourdough School Prospectus 2023-2024

    Order Your Free Sourdough School Prospectus 2023-2024

    £0
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  • Community Sourdough Club Membership - online learning from £99

    Community Sourdough Club Membership – online learning from £99

    Find out more
  • Certificate In Baking as Lifestyle Medicine

    Certificate In Baking as Lifestyle Medicine

    £1,499
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Todays live for diploma students will be on 'How t Todays live for diploma students will be on 'How to engage your patient in the lifestyle changes of the BALM' with @vanessakimbell 

In their 6pm live session, we help keep our students on track with the syllabus and discuss the application of Baking As Lifestyle Medicine to the 6 pillars of Lifestyle medicine, applying the research papers, application of the Research, and how this ties into prescribing, along with guest lecturers, discussions and sharing knowledge.

#lifestylemedicine #health #functionalmedicine #nutrition #integrativemedicine #healthylifestyle #wellness #lifestyle #rcgp #dietitian #nutritionist #healthcareprofessional #holistichealth #healthyliving #plantbased #guthealth #naturopathicmedicine #selfcare #functionalnutrition  #naturopathicdoctor #foodasmedicine #foodismedicine #lifestylegoals #cpd #lifestylechange #mentalhealth #sourdough #sourdoughschool #bakeforhealth
BAKE, ANALYSE, EAT; RECALIBRATE & REPEAT. 📆 Th BAKE, ANALYSE, EAT; RECALIBRATE & REPEAT.

📆 The Sourdough School Clinic - Thursdays 8pm - for students of The Sourdough School 

✏️ In this weekly live session, we cover technical baking questions. Students can submit their Baking Record Sheets in advance of the session.

📋 We look at the details of our student's bakes - the specifics of the flour, timings and temperatures. Using our sourdough record sheets Vanessa will make suggestions on how they might modify, or recalibrate the next time they bake.

Follow the link in the bio to learn more about becoming a student at The Sourdough School 👆

#sourdough #sourdoughschool #bread #sourdoughlove #sourdoughlover #naturalleavened #leavening #levain #realbread #breadmaking #bakebread #makebread #makerealbread #learntobakebread #breadmakingclass #sourdoughstories #bakingforlove #bakingtherapy #sourdoughbaking
IBS AWARENESS MONTH Do you suffer from irritable IBS AWARENESS MONTH

Do you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)? It can be tough to deal with the uncomfortable symptoms of stomach cramps, constipation, diarrhoea and bloating. But did you know that making dietary changes, such as incorporating sourdough bread into your diet, could help alleviate some of those symptoms?

Studies have shown that sourdough's long, slow fermentation process can reduce IBS symptoms. Plus, during #ibsawarenessmonth, we're exploring how adding different herbs and spices to your sourdough can further improve both the flavour and the digestion of your bread.

Let's talk about gut health, fermentation, and how sourdough can be a delicious and healthy addition to your diet. Join the conversation and share your experiences with IBS and sourdough.

#guthealth #healyourgut #healthygut #guthealing #guthealthmatters #letfoodbethymedicine #foodasmedicine #gutbrainconnection #nutrientdense #micronutrients #digestivehealth #nutritionfacts #microbiome #breadandguts #ibsawarenessmonth
THE SOURDOUGH SCHOOL – HAND CARVED WOODEN LAME THE SOURDOUGH SCHOOL – HAND CARVED WOODEN LAME

One of the biggest issues around using a plastic lame to score sourdough, of course, is that eventually the blade will become blunt and the lame could end up in landfill.  So several years ago I talked to my dear friend EJ about developing a lame with a replaceable blade. And he came up with this very beautiful hand carved wooden lame.

Very sadly EJ is no longer with us. Recently a friend of EJ’s who is also a wood turner and carver offered to make these again for us in remembrance of our dear friend.

Follow the link in the bio to our shop where you can find our full selection of wooden sourdough tools 👆

#sourdough #sourdoughschool #bread #sourdoughlove #sourdoughlover #naturalleavened #leavening #levain #realbread #breadmaking #bakebread #makebread #makerealbread #learntobakebread #breadmakingclass #sourdoughstories #bakingforlove #bakingtherapy #sourdoughbaking
The Baking As Lifestyle Medicine (BALM) Protocol The Baking As Lifestyle Medicine (BALM) Protocol

The current food system is broken at multiple levels, from the pesticides used in our soils to the emulsifiers and additives adulterating industrially-processed foods. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the bread we eat.  The figures reported by the UK Flour Millers say that bread is bought by a staggering “99.8% of British households” and that “the equivalent of nearly 11 million loaves are sold each day. Approximately 60-70% of the bread we eat is white and sandwiches are thought to account for 50% of overall bread consumption. Average bread purchases are the equivalent of 60.3 loaves per person per year.” 

Most bread sold is made by modern processing methods that strip heart-healthy whole grains of their nutrient contents, resulting in low-fibre bread with a high glycemic index. Over time, white processed bread can increase a person’s risk of insulin resistance alongside other lifestyle diseases.

We’re on a mission to revolutionise the bread making process at every level – from soil to slice. The rules governing this are laid out in our Baking As Lifestyle Medicine protocol. 

#lifestylemedicine #health #functionalmedicine #nutrition #integrativemedicine #healthylifestyle #wellness #lifestyle #rcgp #dietitian #nutritionist #healthcareprofessional #holistichealth #healthyliving #plantbased #guthealth #naturopathicmedicine #selfcare #functionalnutrition  #naturopathicdoctor #foodasmedicine #foodismedicine #lifestylegoals #cpd #lifestylechange #mentalhealth #sourdough #sourdoughschool #bakeforhealth
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