I have a mixed feelings about my experience . This was purchased for me as a gift. My intention was to perfect my artisan sourdough bakes but the course was more about making one type of sourdough made from stoneground flour using long term fermentation, which requires to mix ingredients, place in a fridge for 24h, briefly shape and ferment for another 24 before baking. There was no kneading techniques, autolyzing or different proving schedules, etc and total hands on time was about 20 min, the rest was done by the host. The course is held in a small church village hall not in Martock as per website and looks very different. The bread is not as per website neither which is misleading if that’s what you are looking for. It is more aimed at people with celiac disease or other gluten intolerances. I didn’t appreciate the negative comments host made towards other bakers referring to them ‘so called artisan bakers’ and how bad their you tube videos are. Or when a flour producer ‘wild farmed’ was suggested to him he dismissed it without knowing anything about it. There is no dispute that the bread is healthy and better than supermarket one but all the other claims about it such as weight loss or covid protection etc are made based on hosts personal experience, and conclusions from google research and documentaries. Most of the time is spent listening to the host conclusions about history, food industry politics and his way of doing things. You are definitely not left with a desire to create and enjoy the art of baking. When questioned about necessity of 48h fermentation as opposed to 24-36 h (which I currently do) I was met with ‘why wouldn’t you want to extract the best nutrition our way’ rather than a scientific comparison of fermentation timings. Host mentioned research paper from 2011 done on celiac which only advises that full hydrolysation of gluten is achieved by adding specifically selected bacterium and fungus rather than time of fermentation. Shame the host chose to be defensive rather than informative. Perhaps he didn’t know. Lastly, I had a brief conversation with the host’s wife about our accents as we both aren’t British born. When I mentioned she sounds like from my part of the world, she laughed and said the only time she was mistaken by my nationality she was cleaning toilets in the churches hall! Im not sure she realised what she said but never came to apologise, not even when I said it is not so bad to be my national. Didn’t get the hint. Nonetheless, the locally sourced stoneground flour used (not sprouted as per website) made a delicious bread, also leftover started crisps were tasty.

Thoroughly enjoyable and informative day. Now avidly making loaves of sourdough (will let you know if I get thin eating it all 😂) which are a real treat. Michael is very knowledgeable and I will have to attend again to pick up the bits I missed. Thank you and keep up the good work.

Very informative and enjoyable workshop

We had a really entertaining and interesting day. We learnt so much about the true origin of sourdough bread and it’s genuine nutrient qualities and huge benefits that it gives to us all. Michael is a mine of information. It was great fun and I would recommend it to everyone.

a fascinating day with Michael at the bakery, inspiring passion for the subject, preventative medicine at its finest! Highly recommend this course to anyone who values good food, and the soil it comes from. Many thanks Ian

Enjoyed a great day preparing and making sourdough. Michael was a wonderful host and teacher, incredibly knowledgeable on the subject and made the whole experience, interesting, fun and productive! Can't recommend it enough.

I enjoyed a fantastic day learning the art of making sour dough bread. I would highly recommend it. Many thanks.

Michael’s Flour is excellent and produces a complex rich satisfying loaf with excellent crust, crumb and health benefits. His flour is easy to work with and Michael is a delightful teacher. On his course he demystifies sourdough baking down to its essentials, to make an excellent sourdough bread with minimal handling time. Working with him was like watching a fast forward video: I learned about milling, flour quality, sourdough and baking- the framework for my baking future. Far more than many of the professional baking course I’ve been on. Thank you Michael!

Hugely educational, I had tried making sour dough before and hadn't succeeded. All the little tips were fab. Am no longer buying bread but making our own and even for the neighbours. Thank you Michael

My day spent with Michael was really valuable. He was informative and ensured I had a full understanding of the process of making sourdough bread. The day was interactive and I am someone who learns by experiencing so it was ideal. I came home with items from each step of the process and a clear set of instructions. I would recommend this experience to anyone involved or interested in making bread.

Wonderful class with very knowledgeable teacher. Would recommend to everyone!

Had a very informative day with Michael. Went home with my own loaf and dough to make 3 more loaves which I made last night. We are converted sourdough made from sprouted whole grain is delicious and has such wonderful health benefits, it’s so easy to make. No more supermarket bread for me

Excellent day learning all about real sourdough bread and how to make it. I really enjoyed it and found out a lot of things I did not know. I left with some wonderful bread, some dough ready to bake in a few days and a starter kit and flour ready to go to make more. Highly recommended for everyone who places high importance on good health and nutrition. Thanks!

An amazingly informative and highly enjoyable day being shown how to make sourdough bread at home as well as learning about the bread making industry and the impact mass-produced bread has on our health. We left clutching a sourdough loaf that we had baked ourselves and a sourdough starter for us to feed at home. I would highly recommend everyone to take advantage of the opportunity offered by Michael and sign up for a course. The bread is easy to make and so tasty! This is a free course which can, literally, change your health for the better. Many thanks for a great day!

Time well spent. I learnt so much about the nutrition of bread and the benefits of making and eating the traditional sourdough. As someone with a gluten intolerance I have been able to eat the bread with absolutely no reaction at all. I highly recommend this course.

Michael is a man on a mission to share his love of 'proper' bread with the rest of the world. He generously shared his expertise, talent, materials, workshop,enthusiasm and passion to demonstrate and guide us into the mysterious world of sour-dough bread 'starting', mixing, proving and baking. We returned home with a 'starter' dough for further baking and 2 loaves we'd made during the day. It is extraordinarily difficult to buy good bread that has not been 'processed' out of all naturalness. The solution is to make you own and if you want to know how there is no better way than spend a day at Martock and learn from a master. Michael, you should charge a fortune for a day under your instruction and guidance yet you provide everything at no cost with great passion and patience, thank you.

The enthusiasm and passion of the course leader, Michael, is infectious. I have been making bread for 25 years but never had great success with sourdough.... Michael has enlightened me and I can now make healthy, delicious and nutritious sourdough loaves. He has given me the skills and knowledge that I failed to acquire from books and the internet....and he makes it all so simple. Anyone with gluten intolerance would love this course. Great follow-up support as well.

Fantastic Day

Excellent information and great tuition...

Highly recommended. We were given a lovely warm welcome on arrival and the whole day was friendly and informal. The workshop was interesting, informative, inspiring, and fun. As someone else who struggles to digest bread, the research we were shown is inspiring and the bread we were given (and then made) was delicious. After eating 'more than plenty' throughout the day I have suffered no side effects. Very impressive. We left with dough for 3 loaves, a starter mix, and a loaf we baked in the day. Michael is passionate about getting this out to the public and holds these workshops for free which is astounding. I left with sprouted flour that you can buy after the workshop, and lots of ideas on what to do with the dough. A lovely day. Thank you Michael for a lovely inspiring day. I shall send you photos of my vegan version of your sourdough pizza loaves when I've made them.