A machine that feeds your sourdough starter for you

The sourdough starter problem

Maintaining a sourdough starter feels like caring for a pet. Keeping it in the fridge works for a week, but reviving it takes a day or two of feedings. Most busy people forget.

Meet the Sourdough Sidekick

King Arthur Baking Company and FirstBuild, GE Appliances' product development lab, created the Sourdough Sidekick. It automatically feeds and maintains a sourdough starter for you.

What the machine looks like

The Sidekick is a Mr. Coffee-sized appliance with a built-in water reservoir, flour hopper, and glass crock with a stirring-paddle lid. It costs $180.

Getting started is fiddly

Fill the water reservoir and flour hopper, set the current day and time, add existing starter, and press Auto Mode. But calibration requires using a scale to properly measure water and flour dispensed.

The machine's daily routine

Once calibrated, the Sidekick dispenses thirty grams each of water and flour daily and initiates a stirring cycle every two hours. It starts with a loud beep, then a loud mechanical whir.

The starter may look different

Due to regular mixing and lack of discard, the finished starter may not look as traditionally puffy or bubbly. Trust the process. It should smell tangy and indisputably fermented.

“Trust the process.”

Three operating modes

Auto Mode handles everything automatically. Ratio Mode lets you set starter-flour-water ratios like one to one to one or one to one to two. Custom Mode lets you dictate exact quantities and timing.

What the app does

The Sidekick uses GE's SmartHQ app, which displays machine settings and sends a push notification when the starter is finished. The most recent firmware update supports power-loss recovery up to twelve hours.

Temperature is a limitation

Unlike other starter-babysitting gadgets like the Goldie or Brod and Taylor's Sourdough Home, the Sourdough Sidekick has no way to adjust the starter's temperature. It offers temperature-aware feedings in Auto Mode instead.

How much starter you get

In a typical week, the crock was about two-thirds full by the end, with more than four hundred grams of starter. That is enough for two boules and a sandwich loaf with seed left over.

The bread tastes the same

The resulting bread turned out no differently than it had with traditionally maintained starter. All removable components are top-rack dishwasher safe.

One major caveat

If you intend to make a starter with a different flour, like whole wheat or full rye, you will need to calibrate the machine again. This is an irritatingly lengthy and fiddly process.

Who should buy it

The Sourdough Sidekick is compelling for someone who bakes a lot or is interested in sourdough but intimidated by starter maintenance.