School of Sourdough
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School of Sourdough
Learn to make real bread using only flour, water, salt and fire.
Sourdough bread

At the School of Sourdough, we offer workshops, courses, training and consultation to anyone who wants to learn the art and craft of sourdough.

Our workshops are 100% hands on and immersive, and cater for everyone; from first time home bakers, or people who’ve been baking for a while and who would like to learn some tricks of the trade, as well as ‘tree change’ entrepreneurs who would love to take their hobby to the next level.

We consult to the trade and business people, and can train your staff in the day to day production of quality sourdough bread. We also offer mentoring and support to bakers, whether they are just beginning or well down the track.

Our founder, Warwick Quinton, was one of the first bakers in Australia to specialise in naturally fermented, chemical free breads. Thirty five years ago there was no internet to guide him, so experience was his primary teacher. Thus he learned the hard way, and developed his baking through trial and error. This has made him an innovator and inventor by necessity. His expertise in the bakery world is broad, from creating the first mass production sourdough factory in Australia, to developing completely off grid baking setups for micro bakeries and keen community bakers. He also designs and builds baker’s ovens, which are low tech and off the grid, and which have a wide variety of uses beyond baking bread.

The School of Sourdough’s range of workshops and courses is briefly summarised below. For more information, ring Warwick on 0409 480 750.

 

Sourdough 200 series

Hands on workshops

Hands on workshop series for beginners to advanced bakers. Two immersive days of authentic wood fired sourdough breadmaking for home bakers. Scroll down for more info.

200 Series Workshops

Sourdough 300 Series

Comprehensive 3 and 4 day courses

3 and 4 Day intensives for people who wish to set up and run their own micro bakery.

300 Series Workshops

Sourdough Pro Series

Sourdough for business operators

3 Day intensives, online consultation, staff training done onsite, bakery mentoring and more for existing business operators wishing to incorporate authentic sourdough bread into their product mix.Scroll down for more details.

Sourdough Consultation

Sourdough 200 Series

2 Day, hands on intensive workshop at our microbakery in Gloucester NSW. Places are limited.

Learn the craft of sourdough alongside a journeyman baker in our beautifully low tech micro bakery, one subject area per day. Come and experience the simplest and most natural baking process there is at our new classroom and micro bakery at Gloucester NSW. All our bread is completely hand made, including the dough, and baked in a specially designed wood fired ‘barrel’ oven.

We focus on two broad subject areas, one day at a time. You can book in for both days, or a single day. They are:

Slow Dough day (Part 1) is all about starter, pre-fermentation, and the fundamentals of temperature control in the entire sourdough process. An easy to understand introduction slow fermentation. The first part of the day is a theory session on temperature management for all stages of making bread, leading in to how to make and manage a ‘sponge’. Then we build this into dough using techniques specially designed to make the job easy.

Make + Bake Day (Part 2) is when it all comes together. We’ll be dividing, shaping finishing, proofing and baking our loaves. We’ll be working the baker’s bench, and learning some new ways of going about forming and finishing bread which might surprise you! You will see and experience our very new and very special barrel oven, Warwick’s latest super efficient woodfired oven design. And of course, you get to take home some freshly baked bread!

Small class sizes and one on one support are offered as part of the Two Day Sourdough Intensive Workshop Series.

To learn more about the Series, ring Warwick on

0409 480 750

 

Sourdough 300 Series

4 Day intensive workshop where participants work on an actual small production run in our Gloucester NSW microbakery. Limit of 4 people so tailored attention is part of the experience.

The Sourdough 300 Series of workshops, or the Master Baker Workshops, have been designed for intermediate to advanced bakers who want to move into the business of baking.

These workshops cover 4 days of intensive, hands on content, as students work alongside Warwick Quinton as he prepares an actual production run, from sourdough starter to baked bread over a four day baking cycle.

Students get to use our unique barrel type woodfired oven. This oven was been built during the 2021 lockdown, and is an example of what can be done with simple woodfired technology. They also get to use a dough trough, which is a european style of making dough suited to teaching, as dough development can be observed in detail.

These workshops introduce students to the commercial world of artisan baking, using very flexible yet powerful techniques. Warwick's lifetime of baking experience rapidly brings students to a whole new level in this ancient craft.

The workshops are completely real world, so students can actually learn what not to do as well as what to do. We work without nets, so failures can happen. It’s been our experience that failure can be as good a teacher as success, if not better. Warwick’s experience comes into play at all times, and students get the benefit of this.

A transformative experience. For the budding pro baker, not to be missed!

If you would like to discuss the workshop with Warwick, call

0409 480 750

Sourdough Pro Series

Tailored 3 Day workshops, consultation and/or training for business operators who wish to incorporate sourdough into their product and service mix. Individual tuition, hands on workshops held from our microbakery in Gloucester NSW.

Sourdough can be a part of your product and service mix. Whether it’s in house sourdough for a restaurant or cafe, a bread range to blend with your existing baked goods, or an ‘add on’ to a completely different business, well made sourdough can bring in a wider range of customers, or add value offerings for the ones you already have. It can be used as something to brand your enterprise more deeply, or to create return custom. Whatever its intended use, this 3 day intensive covers how to bring a sourdough product range into your existing business with a minimum of disruption to your busy schedule.

We look at the bare bones of sourdough production, as well as what might be needed to make new sourdough products fit into your business.

Workshops are run (by arrangement) from Tuesday to Thursday each week at our Gloucester microbakery in the mid North Coast of NSW.

A change of pace will do you good!

Workshops are 1 on 1, and are tailored to suit your business or idea. Ring Warwick to discuss on

0409 480 750