Over the years we have become acutely aware that our students and general home bakers struggle with the change of seasons. Even as an experienced pro baker for over 3 decades, the change of seasons each year catches me out in my baking practice, and I get to feel like a newby again! It turns out pretty much every baker has the same experience.

Come to our Winter workshop to learn exactly how to run a sourdough process, from start to finish, in cold weather. This workshop will have a special emphasis on temperature control, retardation and warm proofing. The sourdough 101 process, as taught in all our workshops, is an incredibly flexible technique which can be tweaked for all climate conditions. Those who may have attended a workshop in summer months may find that they struggle with the technique when the weather cools down. At the Winter workshops, we’ll be exploring some different methods which can be used separately or together to allow you to take control of your sourdough process in cool weather. If you are a beginner to sourdough, this workshop will help you to get started with the technique, with an obvious emphasis on working with cooler temperatures.

It’s a fun. informal workshop which gets everyone smiling! All our workshops are entirely hands on, from starter to finished sourdough loaf, which we create over the weekend.

Our unique two day format is all about slow fermented, sole baked sourdough bread in the authentic style. It’s certainly a more flexible and robust technique than others found online. There is no discard, no bannetons, and no bread tins. The starter itself is low maintenance, and the whole process is designed to be sustainable and enjoyable for the home baker.

The two day weekend workshop is held between 11 am and 4 pm on the Saturday, and 10 am to 4 pm on the Sunday, allowing travelers to get themselves to and from the lovely village of Gloucester on the mid north coast of NSW comfortably. Students travel from all over Australia to attend Warwick’s workshops, so this format allows you to spend some time getting to know the town while you are here.

Numerous accommodation and tourist options exist locally, so the weekend workshop can work for partners and family who might want to do something else while in the area as well.

The subject areas are as follows:

Saturday: Slow Dough Day.

You’ll learn about how to make dough by hand using a number of special techniques designed to achieve superior dough development. We will be making dough together using the remarkable tool called the ‘dough trough’, which has been used for hundreds of years around the world. We’ll be making dough from scratch using just flour, water, salt and most importantly, time.

Sunday: Make + Bake Day

Sunday’s workshop is all about shaping and baking sourdough bread on the sole of the oven. You’ll learn about pre-shaping, finishing, retardation and baking.

You’ll learn about home ovens and oven techniques. You’ll be using our specially designed barrel wood gasifier oven.

The elements of flour, water, salt, time and fire really come together in these intensive workshops. Places are limited, and dates for 2025 are all here so check them out on the drop down box. We don’t mind if you book and have to change a date later - simply email or phone to alter your booking with a reasonable amount of notice.

For more information, phone Warwick on 0409 480 750