Breadwinner makes it easier and more fun to raise a starter

Raising a sourdough starter is the rare hobby in my life that doesn’t require technology, save for my digital scale. It’s a simple, no-shortcuts process from which I extract a lot of joy (and eventually, crispy, golden bread). However, I’m also a sucker for a good gadget pitch, and Breadwinner has one. It’s a sensor-packed, Wi-Fi-connected cap that sits on top of your jar of starter, tracking its most important vital signs — growth and temperature.

It’s kind of like a Tamagotchi-meets-Fitbit for your beloved sourdough starter. It tells you when it’s ready for a bake, so you don’t have to watch after it. Breadwinner is $125 if you’d like to be part of its crowdfunding campaign. It is anticipated that the product will ship in mid-May to its backers.

I’ve been testing out a preproduction unit, and so far, I’m willing to let Breadwinner ruin my tech-free hobby. That’s because it’s actually really useful, even in its early days. When I give my starter, the lid is raised and the button presses down to notify it that the food has been registered on my account. You can sign up with your phone number and receive an easy text message when your starter is at its peak. This includes how long it took.

Breadwinner

It’s possible to be completely hands-off, or go deeper. After personifying your starter with a name (mine is named Doug), and optionally, a profile photo, you can check out Breadwinner’s software component, which is a small, endearing, and in-browser social network. It’s filled with people who love their starter children and want to show off their accomplishments in bread form. (I’m a bit ashamed to say this, but Doug, your future isn’t as bright as the rest of them.)

You’ll inevitably build out your profile just by continuing to feed your starter. When you bake bread, log the results along with the photo and recipe. It’s cool to see the progress that your starter has made, and through the data (and by checking out other people’s bakes and starters), you might be able to learn how to improve your own process.

Photo: Breadwinner via Polygon

Chart nerds will find Breadwinner to be a lot of fun. The main view tracks your starter’s growth over time, and watching that line go up is almost as satisfying as seeing the starter rise in the jar. As I mentioned before, it can tell you when your starter is ripe for the baking, how much it has grown in the jar, and whether it’s too hot to sustain a healthy culture. Charts are fun for generalists, too, but the Breadwinner’s sensors let you get granular, which is good for people who are trying to up their game.

The Breadwinner’s value is dependent on the parents of aspiring starters. Being able to remotely spy on my starter’s growth (or lack of growth) is useful, especially if I’m trying to perfectly allocate my time to start the lengthy bread-making process. If you don’t mind its $125 price, it could be a fun gift if the baker is tech-inclined, or willing to learn.

There are some minor issues that I discovered while working with the early unit and they prevent me from recommencing it to everyone. My biggest gripe is that, once your starter has done its job and you want to pop it in the fridge between bakes, the Breadwinner has no “off” button. Instead, you have to remove its four AA batteries, or else it’ll endlessly register that your starter has flatlined.

Graphic: Breadwinner

Next — this one’s more of a wish than a complaint — I’d love if the software leaned in more toward delivering a Tamagotchi-like experience in the future. For instance, letting you put a pixelated version of your starter on your phone’s home screen. Perhaps it’d grow or shrink to track progress, and display custom emotes when it’s ripe or wants food. Already the website and product packaging have cute starter icons (see Freddy and Fred above), which is a great start.

I don’t think anyone Needs Breadwinner, even first-timers (raising and maintaining a starter isn’t as hard as it may seem). It’s easier to keep your starter in check to ensure the best results. Some bakers also might find value in joining this growing group of passionate users.