Sourdough Sidekick launches nationwide to simplify starter maintenance

King Arthur Baking and FirstBuild have taken aim at the least glamorous part of sourdough: the feed-and-forget routine that keeps a starter alive. The Sourdough Sidekick went on nationwide sale May 1, priced at $179.95 in King Arthur’s shop, with shipping set to begin May 20. It is also sold through FirstBuild’s Sidekick site and King Arthur Baking’s store, and its job is bluntly practical, automatically feeding starter flour and water.

That matters because sourdough usually does not fail at mixing or shaping. It fails when the jar in the back of the fridge gets ignored, or when a room-temperature starter misses its feed. King Arthur’s own guidance says a starter kept on the counter needs daily feeding, while one stored in the refrigerator needs weekly attention. When it is ready to bake, it should double in size within six to eight hours after feeding. That is the exact timing window most home bakers are trying to remember while also managing work, family, and the rest of dinner.

The market signal was hard to miss. FirstBuild said the Sidekick’s launch and pre-sale campaign hit its funding goal in 12 minutes when it opened on March 25, 2025, and by May 2026 the company said it had already shipped units to thousands of Indiegogo backers. That kind of response suggests the appeal is not novelty for novelty’s sake. It is relief from one recurring task that can turn a promising starter into discard and disappointment.

FirstBuild, founded in 2014 by GE Appliances in Louisville, Kentucky, has built its business around co-creation, and that model is part of why this device exists at all. The company said in August 2024 that its community had grown to more than 245,000 cocreators and had helped launch more than 100 products and features. André Zdanow, FirstBuild’s president, has framed the Sidekick as the kind of tool that comes from building alongside the people who will actually use it.

King Arthur brings the other half of the story. The company says its flour business dates to 1790, and the Norwich, Vermont, company is now a certified B Corp and 100% employee-owned. It also updated its sourdough starter recipe in February 2026 to make a smaller amount of starter after hearing from home bakers who were tired of extra discard. That is the real tell here. The Sidekick is not for bakers who love the ritual of babysitting a jar twice a day. It is for busy weekday bakers and the people who keep abandoning starter in the fridge, with beginners as a possible secondary audience if they want one less variable to manage.