Sourdough Sidekick Takes the Drudgery Out of Baking

Baking sourdough bread has a classic charm, relying on natural fermentation and wild yeast rather than the straightforward commercial options. So, introducing a gadget into this age-old process might seem counterintuitive.

The Sourdough Sidekick aims to simplify one of the more tedious aspects of sourdough baking: managing your starter. This device automatically feeds your starter flour and water on a predetermined schedule, ensuring it’s ready when you want to bake, allowing you to concentrate on kneading, shaping, and the actual baking process.

As with any specialized kitchen gadget, you’ll want to be sure you’ll use it enough to justify the investment and the space it occupies. This is especially true here, given some design quirks that can make the Sourdough Sidekick a bit cumbersome if you don’t bake frequently.

The Sourdough Sidekick is a collaboration between FirstBuild, known for innovative kitchen appliances, and a well-respected baking company, which is why their branding is prominently displayed. It debuted through a crowdfunding campaign in March 2025 and is now available for purchase directly for $179.99, though it’s limited to the US market.

Using the Sidekick is straightforward. You start by adding a small amount of existing starter—15g, or about a tablespoon—into the crock and filling the two dispensers with flour and water. In Auto mode, you specify when you plan to bake and how much starter you need, and the Sidekick will dynamically feed flour and water based on local temperature, ensuring you have the right amount of active starter right when you need it.

When I used a basic white bread flour, the results were impressive. I set the Sidekick to prepare for baking a few days later, and upon returning, I found my starter robust and ready to create a solid white loaf. In fact, my bread turned out slightly overproofed, indicating the Sidekick produced a more vigorous starter than I typically achieve on my own.

You can experiment with different flours, but switching types requires recalibrating the Sidekick to accommodate varying densities. It handled most whole wheat and rye flours well, but when I tried a coarse-milled rye flour for a dense Danish-style loaf, the starter became too thick for the Sidekick to mix effectively, resulting in dry clumps. It needed more water to achieve the right consistency, which meant stepping away from the simple Auto mode.

Auto mode has its limitations. It’s designed to start with exactly 15g of starter, so you’ll need to weigh that each time. More frustratingly, it imposes odd minimums on the amount of starter it will produce. If you set a bake day a few days out, you can make as little as 150g, but for longer waits, it insists on at least 400g, which is more than I typically use for a single loaf, leading to excess starter that goes unused.

There’s no option for an Auto maintenance mode; you must set a bake day within the next week. This is great if you know when you’ll be baking, but sometimes you just want to keep your starter alive without a specific timeline. In those cases, you either set a random date and create some discard or remove the crock from the machine and store it in the fridge.

The Sidekick also features two other modes, Ratio and Custom, which offer more flexibility. Ratio mode allows you to choose from preset ratios and set the starter amount and feeding frequency. However, it only adjusts the proportion of starter relative to other ingredients, not allowing for thicker or thinner starters, which I needed for my coarse rye flour.

Custom mode is where you can really tailor the process. It lets you set the starter amount, feeding frequency, and exact quantities of flour and water for each feed. I successfully used it to create a looser starter for my rye flour, making it easier for the Sidekick to mix. It also provides guidance for starting a new starter from scratch or reviving a struggling one. Just keep in mind that neither Ratio nor Custom mode adjusts for ambient temperature, unlike Auto, so you’ll need to monitor your starter’s activity yourself.

The Sidekick isn’t exactly a smart home device. While it has a Wi-Fi option and an app, they’re not essential. The app can notify you when your starter is ready or when to discard, but the built-in screen does that too. It also allows you to check settings but not change them, making the app somewhat redundant.

Cleaning is recommended after each feeding cycle to prevent buildup, but the glass crock and lid aren’t dishwasher-safe, so you’ll need to wash them by hand. The water tank and flour hopper can go in the dishwasher, which is a plus.

One downside is that the Sidekick can be quite noisy. It stirs the starter every two hours for 30 seconds, which might be bothersome in a small space.

Personally, I can’t see myself purchasing the Sourdough Sidekick. My kitchen is too cramped for single-purpose gadgets, and my partner is eager to reclaim counter space from any noisy appliances. I also don’t bake often enough to make full use of it, typically making just one loaf a week or less. I’d likely end up taking my starter in and out of the Sidekick regularly, negating much of its convenience.

However, if I had a larger kitchen and baked more frequently, I could see the appeal of a device that handles the less enjoyable aspects of sourdough baking. My partner might just have to get used to the noise.