Hi, we’re Sourhouse!

Sourhouse was founded by Erik, a home baker, and Jenny, an industrial designer.

We envision a world where people gather daily to share homemade sourdough bread and other fermented foods.

More fermentation and more sharing is good for our health, our wallets, and our souls.

So, we inspire people to bake more sourdough bread by creating thoughtfully designed baking tools and inviting people to bake more often.

Thousands of bakers have joined us in this journey so far and we hope you too join us too!.

A baker and a designer in lockdown...

Sourhouse started during the first Covid lockdowns in early 2020, when it suddenly seemed like all of Erik’s friends were asking him for sourdough baking tips. Sourdough had become a worldwide phenomenon and a source of comfort in uncertain times.

“In 2020, I was suddenly a stay-at-home dad hungry for adult conversation so I was happy to talk about sourdough baking with my friends. Helping them get started gave me something positive to focus on in a stressful time. It also reminded me of the kinds of challenges I struggled with as a new sourdough baker.” - Erik Fabian, co-founder Sourhouse

Erik knew that cool temperatures were a huge challenge for sourdough bakers, and had tinkered with ideas for a device that could keep sourdough starter warm. Now, more people than ever were looking for a solution to the same problem.

That’s when he turned to Jenny, a friend and industrial designer. After getting hooked on sourdough baking herself (thanks Erik), Jenny was convinced they had an opportunity to create a tool that bakers everywhere could use.

The Sourhouse journey had begun.

“It’s always exciting to me when I encounter a problem that hasn’t yet found an elegant solution. It’s an opportunity to create something that will give the user a big sigh of relief and satisfaction… which is exactly what I live for!” - Jennifer Yoko Olson, co-founder Sourhouse

Sourhouse has been a true labor of love. We worked nights and weekends for more than two years to develop our first product, Goldie. Along the way, we reached out to the sourdough community through a series of projects, and were touched by their stories, their enthusiasm, and their generosity. It’s thanks to the support of this amazing community that our ideas could become a reality.

Over 1200 sourdough bakers helped crowdfund Goldie into production in the spring of 2022 and we launched our online store later that year. Today, Goldie is warming thousands of starters in kitchens all around the world.

We now offer a variety of tools for the sourdough home baker on our site including easy-to-clean starter jars and Bread Blankets for wrapping your finished loaves.

In May of 2024, we returned to Kickstarter with our second campaign to tackle the biggest challenge in baking: consistently bulk proofing dough just right, on our schedule. 1581 baker-backers supported our campaign for DoughBed by Sourhouse which combines a bowl, lid and warming mat.

What we have done so far...

Sourdough Hope: Sourhouse launched publicly in 2021 with a project to find the most hopeful sourdough baking stories in the USA. We were all going through difficult times under pandemic, and bakers shared inspiring stories of how sourdough kept them going, each in their unique ways.

Sourhouse Community Cookbook: We have since invited bakers to contribute recipes and tips to make a community cookbook like our grandmothers used to make. Now available as a free download, over 80,000 copies are being enjoyed around the world.

Free Sourdough Starter: We have been quietly giving away free sourdough starter. We are scaling up slowly at first but demand has been high and we have been able to give away over 25,000 starters since 2022.

Sourhouse Tools for Home Bakers: Our core business is making and selling home baking tools like our easy-to-clean starter jars and Goldie by Sourhouse: a warm, safe home for your sourdough starter. We created the sourdough jar warming category with the help of 1200+ baker-backers on Kickstarter and Indiegogo in April of 2022.

Our 2nd Kickstarter Campaign Success: In May 2024, 1581 baker-backers supported our second Kickstarter campaign for DoughBed by Sourhouse. DoughBed combines a bowl, lid and warming mat to help you bulk proof your dough just right, on your schedule.

Join Us & Say Hi!

We hope you will connect with us in whatever way you enjoy.

You can find our social channels @lifeatSourhouse, we have an online group for sourdough bakers and fermentation enthusiasts and you can contact us here.

We appreciate your feedback, ideas and invitations. We hope you will share your fermentation and sourdough adventures with us too.

Let’s work together to create a world where people gather daily to share homemade sourdough bread and other fermented foods.

Warmly,
Erik & Jenny

Sourhouse was founded by a pair of sourdough home bakers:
Erik Fabian and Jennifer Yoko Olson.