Say hello to Jeff, Monster, and Austin Sours. No, this isn’t the line-up for a peculiar heavy metal band, they are beloved sourdough starters used to craft a bounty of loaves every week.
For Sourdough September, we’re reached out to bakers to find out what they have named their mother dough and why, as well as what type of flour they’re fed on. Say hello below.
Jeff, Peak & Stone Bakery in Chesterfield
“Peak & Stone Bakery’s starter is called Jeff, after my late grandad,” says co-founder Tom Martin, who is in the running for Baker of the Year 2025, and recently started the bakery with his wife Emily.
“Grandad Jeff made it to 99, so he was definitely a force to be reckoned with, as is my starter. It’s my personal starter that I began eight years ago, and it even went into the focaccia that won Britain’s Best Loaf 2024. I think Grandad Jeff would be proud to know his counterpart is bubbly, hard-working, and properly down to earth, much like him after working the pits in Derbyshire all his life.”
Peter, Wild Breads Bakery in Nuneaton
“Our starter is named Peter, and the name is somewhat of an inside joke,” explains Siyana Yanarova from Wild Breads Bakery. “When we’re not sure of someone’s name, my husband and I always call them Peter, and as we weren’t sure what to call our starter, we called him Peter. He was born in March 2024, and started making bread in April 2024.
“Since then, it has helped us produce thousands of loaves, feed thousands of people, and scoop up a few local and national awards, including a bronze medal at the Britain’s Best Loaf competition in April. Peter likes to feed on strong white flour, but we also feed him wholemeal or rye occasionally, to make him stronger. We like Peter. Peter is fun.”
Austin Sours, Your Davey Bread in Berkshire
“It’s called Austin Sours, just because most of my loaf names are puns, it seemed appropriate for my starter to have a punny name too,” says Dave de la Riviere from Your Davey Bread. “I was gifted the starter by my neighbour Simon during the pandemic, we believe it’s over 10 years old.
It’s maintained with a blend of plain white flour and Wildfarmed wholemeal, which keeps it vigorous but not overly sour. It’s very versatile and can turn into a sweet white starter for morning buns or a rye starter for Rugbrød, which is great to only maintain one starter.”
He adds that he’s always happy to share Austin Sours. “The furthest it’s reached is a friend in Kazakhstan who I sent some dehydrated starter flakes to,” he adds.
Demi Lievito, Imma the Bakery in Henley-on-Thames
The starter used by founder and head baker Tona Erreguin, who is in the running for the Baker of the Year 2025 trophy, is well travelled. She was given it by a good friend who had been working in France and then opened a small bakery in Argentina.
“He gave me a bit of it to start keeping and working with it. I took it with me to Mexico and later on to the UK. It was originally a rye-based starter, but we have been feeding it with bread flour for a while with lovely results. The name came from having changed the feeding ratio so instead of lievito [the Italian word for yeast or leavening] we called it Demi Lievito. When we cloned it to suit it for different purposes, we ended up calling the second one Demi Lievitwo.”
Mo, Luke’s Bakery in East Yorkshire
“Our sourdough starter is affectionately called ‘Mo’, short for ‘Mother’, because she’s the mother of all our loaves,” says Vicki Jenneson from Luke’s Bakery which has recently secured investment to help it expand. “The name reminds us that she’s a living being and deserves the respect you’d give your own mother. Mo started life during the Covid-19 pandemic, before the bakery had begun. Luke picked an apple in our garden, fermented the skin with flour and water, and Mo was born.
“We feed her with Sirius English Wheat flour milled in Driffield on the Yorkshire Wolds, just a few miles from our Brough-based bakery.”
Monster, Hobbs House Bakery in Gloucestershire
“Our sourdough starter here at the bakery has been historically known as the Monster,” says Hobbs House Bakery marketing director Anna Herbert. “We have always encouraged people to name their sourdough and included in our box of our sourdough starters we sell online is a card to first name your sourdough. We often hear back from custodians of our sourdough starters, and they have named them after us, Hobbsie, Herbert or Henry for example.”
Sidney, Jason’s Sourdough in Loughborough
“Our sourdough starter is called Sidney, named in honour of my late grandfather who first taught me the craft of baking,” says Jason Geary, fourth generation master baker at Geary’s Bakeries.
“Now around 45 years old, Sidney is fed every four hours with just strong bread flour (we use either white or wholemeal) and water. It’s a living, bubbling culture that serves as the beating heart of our bakery. I often liken it to a ‘real-life Tamagotchi’ due to it needing constant care and attention, but in return it helps us bake millions of loaves that stay true to the tradition of proper sourdough.”
Sidney even makes a guest appearance in Jason’s first national TV campaign this September.
Phoenix, Revel Bakery in Rugby
“We first created Phoenix 14 years ago when the bakery was founded,” says Lac Hincu. “Sadly, it was destroyed when our bakery burned down seven years ago, but true to its name we managed to revive it after discovering a little of the original tucked away in our garage weeks later. We carefully nurtured it back to life, and it’s still the heart of every sourdough we bake today.”
Phoenix is a dark rye flour mother, and “its story really reflects resilience and renewal, which feels fitting for us as a bakery”, adds Hincu.
Samson, Lovingly Artisan in Cumbria
Catherine Connor, co-founder of Lovingly Artisan in Cumbria which is in the running for Craft Bakery Business of the Year at the Baking Industry Awards 2025, admits that the bakery’s “old and trusty sourdough mother” was sadly never named.
“Our sourdough mother is over 35 years old, made with organic raisins and, fed daily with our Lovingly Artisan milled rustic brown flour, she contributes to over 12,000 loaves a week! Yet, she remains unnamed, which surely is a baker’s crime,” Connor adds.
To solve this, Lovingly Artisan has since reached out to its community on Instagram to help.
The starter at the bakery’s other location has been named though. “Down the road at our Burneside bakery we have decided to call our starter Samson, named after Dean Fletcher’s son, as he is one of the next generation of bakers, eagerly waiting in the wings. Samson is made from our original sourdough starter, fed with our milled flour. It’s robust, flavoursome, and a born grafter.”
Moreen, Mor Bakery in Stratford-upon-Avon
“Our starter is unofficially called Moreen,” says David Pearson, baker and owner of Mor Bakery. Moreen has been maintained for around eight years.
“It was first started from a bit of Richard Bertinet’s while I was on one of his courses, which I believe was decades older. She’s gone through many iterations over the years but is currently kept on 100% heritage flour from Henry Astor at Bruern Farms, which gives our loaves a wonderful depth of flavour and a real connection to our local grain and miller.”
Madeleine, Puratos in Oxfordshire
Madeleine Sourdough is part of the firm’s collection of “sourdough babies” at its Fringford Innovation Centre. Born on 9 April 2018, the full name is Madeleine Sourdough – Rye & Wine.
“Crafted with rye flour and refreshed using Madeleine Angevine grapes, she offers a complex flavour profile with fruity, apple, cereal, and fermented notes,” Puratos states. “The grapes are sourced from Chafor Wine Estate, a boutique vineyard just four miles from Fringford in the village of Gawcott (also known as a filming location for Midsomer Murders). By repurposing grape waste from a fellow local business, we’ve created a sourdough that’s not only delicious but also rooted in sustainability and community collaboration.”
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