This Sourdough Starter Warmer Is My Key to Successful Loaves

Sourhouse’s Goldie sourdough starter warmer gives me tangy loaves with envy-inducing crumbs, every single time

Long before quarantine baking hit the zeitgeist, I was a kid bouncing stretchy clumps of dough off the kitchen walls (we fondly called them “dough boys”) while my dad measured hydration levels and doted on his bubbling starter like it was the family pet. In fact, his starter has outlived several.

After growing up in a sourdough family that ate discard pancakes every Saturday morning, it was inevitable that I’d eventually foster my own starter. Once I delved deeper into bread making, I discovered a world of gadgets that promised to perfect the flavor, texture, or shape of my loaves.

I’ve considered (and grown to love) some of these doodads. I’m not shelling out for a steam-injection oven any time soon, but I’m a fan of my silicone baking mats and hard-working KitchenAid mixer. However, my Sourhouse Goldie sourdough warmer has made the biggest impact on my loaves’ consistency, flavor, and ease. This smart tool coddles your starter for the tangiest loaves and most envy-inducing crumbs.

As I can report from experience, maintaining a sourdough starter can feel like trying to keep a temperamental houseplant alive. How often do you feed it? What’s the magic flour-to-water ratio? How will you know when it’s ready to bake? Will it die if you go on vacation? (And will you feel like a neglectful parent?)

The good news is that sourdough is more forgiving than you think. That doesn’t mean you’ll get Instagram-worthy loaves by randomly combining flour and water and hoping for the best. But if you’re somewhat consistent with your feeding schedule, you can raise a happy little flour baby without the stress.

The real key to successful loaves? Managing temperature. The bacteria that leaven your bread are particular about their climate.

Sourdough starter thrives between 75 and 82 degrees F — what the bread heads at Sourhouse call the “Goldilocks zone.” It’s also a temperature range that most of our kitchens never actually hit, especially during winter when your starter can go dormant right on the counter.

Enter the Goldie sourdough warmer. It looks like something you’d find in a high school chemistry lab: a delicate glass cloche sits on a black disk plugged into the wall. Simple, but science-y enough to look important (which it is — it’s bread!). At under $135, it’s reasonably priced, especially if you’re a dedicated baker and don’t mind giving up some counter space.

Using the Goldie is straightforward: you plug it in, pop your starter under the hood, and a light indicates you’re in the Goldilocks zone. Your starter stays at the perfect temperature 24/7, which means more consistent baking results and faster proofing times. No more three-day waits for a sluggish starter to double.

While you can use any container that fits under the cloche, Sour House’s starter jar is worth the cost — its clear glass lets you watch your starter do its bubbly dance, and its 50- and 100-ml gradation markers mean that you know exactly when the starter has doubled and is ready for baking. The jar’s straight sides also make mixing and cleaning easy, and its flat bottom maximizes contact with the warming plate.

If you’ve ever found your starter lifeless and dense on a chilly morning, this little gadget feels like a cheat code. It’s made my loaves more predictable, tangy, and uniform — needless to say, I won’t be returning to the whims of Mother Nature.