Products

Our authentic sourdoughs are leavened with a natural, wild culture of yeasts and healthy bacteria. We don’t use bakers’ yeast, preservatives or any other additives. 

Our loaves are made with organic flour, shaped by hand and baked in a woodfired Scotch oven, built in 1891 - one of only a handful of these traditional ovens still operating in Australia.

Beyond sourdough bread, we offer:

• biscuits, cakes, slices and muesli
• jams and chutneys
• baking books, wares and flour 

RedBeard products are handmade from the finest local ingredients and available every day at our bakery/café in Trentham and at regional farmers’ markets.

WHAT IS SOURDOUGH?

Sourdough is bread made with a traditional wild yeast leaven - the way bread has been made for thousands of years. It’s delicious and easy to digest.

Around 6000 years ago, the Egyptians discovered how to make bread rise using natural fermentation. Ever since, bakers have kept a brew of fermenting flour and water called a leaven, or baker’s ‘wort’.

RedBeard’s wort was created around two decades ago from wild yeast and lactose bacteria harvested from potato skins – a traditional Scottish technique. The yeast and bacteria produce bubbles of carbon dioxide, which make dough rise when trapped in its stretchy gluten structure.

The misleading term ‘sourdough’ was coined during the American goldrushes when miners carried their worts in warm saddlebags. The wort would give off a sour odour as it over-fermented in the heat. Good sourdoughs are never actually sour.

THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF SOURDOUGH

Doughs made from wheat, spelt and rye flours contain gluten - an elastic protein molecule. The stretchy gluten traps bubbles of carbon dioxide during fermentation of the dough. This gives bread a lovely texture, but gluten can be difficult for some people to digest.

Authentic sourdoughs like RedBeard’s are leavened (fermented) with a culture of natural wild yeasts and lactose bacteria. 

This process takes many hours, during which time, up to 90% of the gluten is broken down. 

In our experience, gluten intolerant people (but not all coeliacs) can enjoy RedBeard sourdough. Check out the science here.

By contrast, most bread from supermarkets and chain bakeries is leavened with baker’s yeast – a single, virulent strain of yeast, which makes bread rise quickly. Most of the gluten remains in the bread, making it indigestible for some people.