Founded in Toronto's historic St. Lawrence Market district, Rye's and Shine Sourdough was started with the purpose of sharing the ability to bake delicious and fresh sourdough bread at home. It had originally taken several months of dedication and testing different recipes in order to build up a perfect sourdough culture. We think this process deters many "would be" at home bakers so we hope that sharing our starter will allow more people to bake delicious sourdough bread. Our sourdough starter is always made using high quality, organic flour and we've shared it with customers all over the world!
Frequently asked questions
Yes! Since our starter is dehydrated, it can last for weeks without feeding. Once fed, it will quickly spring back to life. If you aren't planning to use the starter immediately upon arrival, consider storing it in the fridge to extend its life.
We specially package our Sourdough Starter and mail it directly to your door. We have sent our starter to customers as far away as Australia, and as close as Toronto. No matter where you live, we can share our starter with you.
Our Sourdough Starter was originally captured from the wild yeast of Toronto, Ontario near the historic St. Lawrence Market. We have been using it to bake bread for several years and it has grown into a very strong and active culture.
We always dehydrate our starter prior to shipping. This is a simple process where we remove the water from our active sourdough starter to ensure that the sourdough culture survives shipping. Once dehydrated, the starter can last for weeks. Simply follow our simple instructions to bring the starter back to life in 2 days.
Short answer is no. Any claim that a starter is "100 years" old doesn't actually mean that the starter is more or less potent. Once a sourdough culture has been active for 2-4 weeks, the wild yeast culture will reach maximum potency.
As described above, a Sourdough Starter is essentially a living culture of wild yeast. Over time, the culture grows in strength and the flavours develop and become more complex. This is why bakers often prefer to bake with a starter that they have kept for months, or even years. See our instruction manual for more detail on how to maintain a Sourdough Starter.
We've been using our Sourdough Starter to bake with for several years and we hope that sharing it with you will bring you one step closer to making this delicious bread.
Wild yeast is the key to a sourdough starter.
Before bakers had active-dry yeast or instant yeast, they used wild yeast. Wild yeast lives everywhere — in the air, in the soil and in every bag of flour. Store bought instant yeast replaced wild yeast for most baking because it’s cheaper to produce, easier to use and allows bread to rise faster.
Conversely, wild yeast is a bit trickier. It requires more care and also a medium to live in. This is where the Sourdough Starter comes in. A Sourdough Starter is essentially a culture of wild yeast that bakers use in their bread.
While wild yeast can require a bit more work to get just right, it is very much worth it. Since bread using wild yeast takes longer to rise, the flavours become much more complex and delicious. It is also more versatile and can be used with all types of flour (e.g. white, rye and whole wheat).
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