BRTC Paragould Offers Hands-On Beginner Sourdough Class Feb. 2, Take-Home Starter

Beginning bakers in Paragould will have a chance to learn sourdough fundamentals in a hands-on community education class that focuses on starter care, fermentation and practical bread skills. Black River Technical College's Paragould campus is offering a two-hour beginner session designed to get students baking with confidence and leave with a live starter and a ready-to-bake loaf.

The class covers building and maintaining a starter, the science behind fermentation, and essential techniques including mixing, shaping, proofing, scoring and basic troubleshooting. Instructors will walk through feeding schedules, levain management, bulk fermentation signs and how to coax oven spring from a home oven. The curriculum is aimed at demystifying the process so participants can reproduce results at home.

The session runs from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at The Main Dish Kitchen, 101 S. Pruett St. Cost to enroll is $55, and registration must be completed by Jan. 28 to secure a place. Each registrant will take home an active starter and a prepped loaf ready for final proofing and baking at home, giving students tangible tools to continue practicing after the class.

For community members, the class offers immediate practical value. New bakers gain the tactile experience that reading recipes alone rarely provides: hands-on mixing to judge dough consistency, feel for windowpane development, and visual cues for when a dough is ready to shape. Taking home a starter eliminates an early barrier to success and removes the wait time needed to cultivate a culture, while the prepped loaf demonstrates the end-to-end process in one session.

The offering fits into the wider trend of community education programs addressing demand for small-group, skills-based food classes. For local cooks without access to commercial equipment, learning how to manage proofing in a typical household environment and how to adapt hydration and scoring for different ovens is especially useful. The class is positioned to serve both those who want to bake weekly loaves and neighbors curious about sourdough basics.

Spaces are limited and the Jan. 28 deadline is approaching, so prospective students should register promptly to avoid missing the session. For Paragould residents eager to learn about crumb structure, starter health and reliable oven spring, this short course promises practical takeaways and a ready-to-go starter to keep the learning alive long after the two-hour workshop ends.