A sourdough bread class at The Sourdough Science Academy is a 4-hour hands-on workshop where you mix, shape, and bake organic sourdough using the 2 Hour Sourdough Method™. You leave with two doughs ready to bake at home, a piece of Roberto's own starter culture, and lifetime access to the baking community, plus bruschetta and a glass of Italian wine while you work. Here's what actually happens, from walking in the door to carrying your dough back out.
Where Can I Find a Sourdough Bread Making Class on the Gold Coast?
The Sourdough Science Academy runs its in-person workshops from Coomera and across the Gold Coast, with classes also available in Brisbane. Roberto Giammellucca started the academy in September 2021, and it's since grown into one of Australia's most reviewed sourdough schools.
I still think about the first workshop I ran in Elanora. A small group walked in that morning not knowing what a starter even was. By the time we finished, they were arguing over crust texture like they'd known each other for years. That's when it clicked for me that this couldn't stay a one-off class; it needed to become something people could keep coming back to.
If you're looking for a class near you, the upcoming classes page is where every open Gold Coast date gets listed, and new sessions are added as they're scheduled.
What Is a Sourdough Class?
A sourdough class at The Sourdough Science Academy means baking real organic bread from a live starter, with Chef Roberto guiding you through every step. Nobody sits back and watches; you're mixing your own dough within the first ten minutes.
The whole class runs on what we call the 2-Hour Sourdough Method™. It's Roberto's own way of stripping fermentation back to the parts that actually matter, so you get a proper loaf without babysitting dough for an entire day.
A typical Sourdough Bread Workshop includes:
- Four hours, hands-on from start to finish, no lecturing, just baking
- Two organic sourdough doughs, mixed and shaped by you, ready for your own oven the next day
- A piece of Roberto's starter culture, which has been alive and active for seven years
- The complete method and process, explained in plain English rather than baking jargon
- Fresh sourdough bruschetta and a glass of wine while you work
- Lifetime access to the academy's private baking community once class ends
Pippa Jeffries, one of the students who came through the workshop, described it as starting out as a fun activity and turning into what she called "a fascinating deep dive into fermentation, maintaining a starter (basically a pet), and hands-on dough making." Sharon Arellano, another student, said Roberto made the whole process "approachable, interesting, and only mildly intimidating," and that the finished bread was even better with the truffle oil and red wine served alongside it.
What Actually Happens During the Class
I've run this workshop enough times now to know the shape of it doesn't change much, even though every group of students does.
People usually arrive assuming they're "not bread people." Most have tried sourdough once at home, ended up with something dense and gummy, and quietly given up. That assumption tends not to survive the first twenty minutes.
We start with the starter itself, the living mix of wild yeast and bacteria that does the real work in sourdough. I explain what's happening inside it, how it feeds and grows, and why treating it like a living thing rather than just an ingredient changes the outcome of your bread. This is the step most home bakers skip, and it's usually the reason their loaves come out flat and heavy.
From there, everyone mixes their own dough by hand. We talk through how water, organic flour, and time build the gluten structure that gives sourdough its shape, and the balance between strength and stretch: too little and the dough won't hold together, and too much and it fights you the whole way. I'd rather someone understand why their dough is behaving a certain way than have them memorise a fixed set of steps, because that understanding is what lets them fix a loaf that goes wrong once they're baking alone at home.
By the middle of the class, the room smells like fermenting dough and toasting bruschetta, which is honestly half the point; sourdough is as much about the senses as the technique. Everyone shapes two doughs to prove overnight and bake fresh the next morning in their own kitchen.
We finish by talking through why sourdough tends to sit easier on people with gluten sensitivity. The long fermentation process breaks down some of the components in wheat that make conventional bread harder to digest, which is really the reason the academy exists in the first place. Roberto built it to help people manage gluten intolerance through proper fermentation, not to talk them out of eating bread altogether.
Everyone leaves with two shaped doughs, a piece of the starter, the full method, and ongoing access to the community for support once they're baking on their own.
How to Prepare Before Your Class
You don't need any baking experience to book a spot, but a little prep beforehand makes the day easier to follow. The academy puts a handful of short lessons online before each workshop, covering what sourdough actually is, what's going on inside your starter, a few common myths worth clearing up first, and why sourdough turns out dense if you skip a few key steps. None of it is mandatory, but I'd genuinely recommend it, especially if you've never worked with a starter before. Turning up having watched even one of those lessons means you spend less of the class catching up and more of it actually baking.
Beyond that, there's nothing to bring. Come in comfortable clothes you don't mind getting a bit of flour on, and expect to leave with dough in hand and flour somewhere you didn't expect.
Where Can I Find a Sourdough Class in Brisbane?
Brisbane bakers get the same experience; the Sourdough Bread Workshop and Sourdough Pizza Class run there too, on a rotating schedule alongside Gold Coast dates. Whichever city you book in, it's the same method and the same teaching.
Both cities' dates sit on the same upcoming classes calendar. If nothing on there suits your schedule right now, you can leave your email and get notified the moment new sessions go live, worth doing since classes tend to book out quickly in both locations.
Where Can I Find Online Sourdough Classes?
If Queensland isn't within reach, or you'd rather work through things at your own pace, online sourdough courses are available through the academy to students anywhere in the world. They follow the same teaching style as the in-person classes; Roberto walks you through the starter, the dough, and the bake in real detail, and you keep access to the material long after you finish.
Before committing to a full course, you can get a sense of how Roberto teaches through the free lessons on the Sourdough Science Academy YouTube channel. One video walks through why a starter needs to be fed and kept warm like a living thing rather than left in the fridge as flour and water: watch it here. Another breaks down, in plain terms, why sourdough comes out dense and what actually fixes it: watch it here.
What Comes After Your First Class
Most people finish the bread workshop and want to know what's next; usually that's the Sourdough Pizza Class. It's a 3-hour session where you stretch, top, and bake authentic sourdough pizza at 400°C, learning the differences between Neapolitan and Roman styles along the way. You take home two pizza dough balls and another piece of starter, and it's a natural follow-on for anyone who's already done the bread class, including students managing gluten sensitivity, since the same fermentation principles carry over.
There's also a Starter Class for anyone who wants to build their first culture from scratch and a Bread Class Level 2 for bakers ready to move into focaccia, sandwich bread, and more advanced dough work. All the class levels are listed on the services page.
For workplaces, the academy also runs corporate team-building workshops and pizza catering across South East Queensland, bringing the same hands-on class format into offices and private events.
Why People Choose The Sourdough Science Academy
Roberto started the academy with a fairly specific goal: help people with gluten intolerance enjoy real bread again by teaching them how fermentation actually works, rather than selling them a workaround. That focus is still what shapes every class, and it's part of why the academy has built such a strong following of home bakers who keep coming back for more advanced classes.
What sets the teaching apart isn't the recipe on its own; it's the science underneath it. Roberto trained as a chef and baker before developing the 2 Hour Sourdough Method™, built specifically so people who've written themselves off as "not bread people" can walk out with a genuinely good loaf on their first attempt. You can read more about his background on the About page or find him on LinkedIn, where he talks more about the corporate side of the academy's work.
The academy works with organic suppliers, including Kialla, United Organics, and Tierra Bulk Foods, along with TAFE, Skitchen, and Food Connect Shed, relationships that reflect the same standard of ingredients used in every class and sold through the online shop.
Roberto's stated mission is to inspire a million Australians to bake sourdough from scratch, which sounds like a big number until you sit in one class and watch how quickly people go from nervous to genuinely excited about a jar of flour and water. The promise behind every class stays the same regardless of where you're starting from, you're supported through the process, you save time and stop wasting failed loaves, and you end up making food that actually nourishes you, not just fills you up.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Where can I find a sourdough bread-making class on the Gold Coast? The Sourdough Science Academy runs its Sourdough Bread Workshop across the Gold Coast, with current dates on the upcoming classes page.
- Where can I find online sourdough classes? The online courses run through the academy, are open to students anywhere in the world, and follow the same method taught in person.
- What is a sourdough class? It's a hands-on workshop where you learn to mix, shape, and bake real sourdough bread from a live starter, guided step by step rather than watching someone else do it.
- Where can I find a sourdough class in Brisbane? Brisbane runs the same Sourdough Bread Workshop and Sourdough Pizza Class as the Gold Coast, on a rotating schedule visible on the upcoming classes calendar.
- What should I do after my first sourdough bread class? Most students move on to the Sourdough Pizza Class next, then Bread Class Level 2 once they're comfortable with the basics.
- Do I need any prior baking experience to join a class? No. The classes are built for complete beginners as much as for people who already bake, and the pre-class videos on the academy's site cover everything you need to know beforehand.
About the Author
Roberto Giammellucca is an Italian-born chef and the founder of The Sourdough Science Academy, based in Coomera, Queensland. Since starting the academy in September 2021, he's taught the 2 Hour Sourdough Method™ to students across the Gold Coast and Brisbane and built a community of home bakers who keep coming back for the next class. Find him on LinkedIn or on the Sourdough Science Academy YouTube channel.
