ORANGE — Kristin Geyster officially started her own small business last month. But you won’t see a new storefront or signs in town.

That’s because her new enterprise, The Sourdog, is a cottage bakery, meaning she sells bread out of her residential kitchen.

“I’m not looking to make big bucks off of this — this is just … kind of a hobby,” she said standing at the island in her workspace.

A lifelong home baker, Geyster got the idea for The Sourdog two years after she and her husband had a craving for sourdough bread.

“Go to the grocery store, it’s not sourdough bread. It’s not good. And then you look at all the ingredients and it’s just filled with crap,” she said. “So I started looking on TikTok, because everyone looks on TikTok.”

She explained sourdough starter is made by adding water and flour to a mason jar, occasionally discarding half and replenishing it “because you want that yeast to culture.”

Geyster’s first loaf was disappointing, she said, but her creations improved over the next couple of months.

“Two years now, and every time I make it, it just keeps getting better and better and better,” she said. “It’s kind of a love-hate relationship with it, because I was so mad at it. But then when it started coming out good, I was like, ‘Oh my God! Oh my God! Let’s do it more.’”

Geyster can invest the necessary time into the business because she works per diem as an office assistant at Athol Hospital.

Her daughter’s coworkers at precision tool manufacturer L.S. Starrett in Athol were her first taste-testers and gave Geyster rave reviews. She baked 42 loaves during her first week, and business has ebbed and flowed since then. The name was inspired by the family’s pet canines.

The business officially started in late October, after she secured all the necessary permits and certifications. Her residential kitchen needed to be inspected by the Board of Health agent.

Geyster offers plain, jalapeno cheddar, garlic and asiago, seeded rye, seedless rye, and cinnamon and sugar, with plans to expand the menu.

Orders can be placed at hotplate.com/thesourdogbakery. The ordering mechanism opens at 9 a.m. on Fridays and closes at noon on Sundays. She bakes the bread on Tuesdays. Once people order their bread, they will be given Geyster’s address.

Anyone who is interested in learning more can send an email to thesourdogbakery@gmail.com. The business also maintains Facebook and Instagram pages.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.