How to Revive Dried Sourdough Starter [Step by Step Guide] - A Beautiful Plate (2024)

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How to Revive Dried Sourdough Starter [Step by Step Guide] - A Beautiful Plate? ›

Day One Morning: Combine 5 grams finely crumbled dried sourdough starter in a small glass jar. Add 25 grams (100°F/38°C) filtered water. Stir until the dry starter is completely submerged in the water. Cover with a lid and allow mixture to sit for one hour at 76°F/24°C or room temperature.

In a small bowl or jar, mix 5 grams of dehydrated sourdough starter with 15 grams of 80 °F water. Allow the starter and water to sit for about 2 hours, or until the dried starter dissolves. Stir in 15 grams of flour. Cover and put in the Sourdough Home or Proofer at 78 °F overnight, or for 12 - 14 hours.

Begin by discarding all but 1/2 cup of the old starter. Then, feed the remaining starter with fresh flour and water. The feeding ratio should ideally be 1:1:1 (starter:flour:water). Leave the mixture at room temperature until it becomes bubbly and active, which usually takes about a day.

You can try to revive it by pulverizing it and adding water, then feeding it on a regular schedule. But if it doesn't respond at all (no growth, no bubbles) after three or four days of twice-a-day feedings, you might as well start over.

To revive the dried sourdough starter, add 50 grams to a clean jar with 100 grams of water and 100 grams of flour. Let sit for 24 hours at room temperature. The next day transfer 25 grams to a new jar and feed with 100 grams of water and 100 grams of flour. Feed the starter once a day until it starts to double in size.

Dried sourdough starter will last indefinitely, so long as you keep it away from light, heat and moisture sources. It's best to store it in an air tight container.

Try reducing the water in your next feeding and see if you have different results. Also, the type of flour you are using can impede the rise of your starter. All-Purpose flour, for example, will not rise as robustly as a blend of bread flour and whole wheat flour.

How Do I Know If I Killed My Sourdough Starter? Sourdough starters are incredibly resilient. Unless there is visible mold in your jar or the starter has been exposed to extremely high temperatures, chances are your sourdough starter is alive.

If your sourdough starter is obviously moldy, then unfortunately the starter has gone bad and should no longer be used. Mold on sourdough starter will look raised and fuzzy, and can range in color from white, yellow, green, blue or pink spots.

Place the frozen portion into a clean jar. Allow the frozen sourdough starter to defrost at room temperature for around 12 hours or until it's liquid again. Add 50g of lukewarm water and 50g of flour to the jar and give it a good stir. Allow it to double over the next 12 hours.

What temperature kills sourdough starters? ›

Things that WILL kill your sourdough starter

Yeast dies at 140°F, and it's likely that your sourdough starter will suffer at temperatures even lower than that. It's best to maintain your starter at comfortable room temperature (around 70°F), though a little higher or lower won't hurt anything.

This thin liquid (called “hooch”) is merely alcohol and water generated by your starter's wild yeast as it feeds. Hooch is a visible cry for help: Your starter is hungry. Once you get it back on a regular regimen of care, it should recover just fine.

Your sourdough starter is the foundation of baking sourdough bread. Through proper maintenance and a little attention, it can last indefinitely and provide you with countless healthy and delicious loaves of bread.

In 2020, Seamus Blackley, the creator of Xbox and a seasoned baker himself, baked sourdough bread from dormant yeast samples that are 4,500 years old, according to the Atlas Obscura website.

If your sourdough starter won't rise anymore, reset it by putting 25 grams of starter in a jar and feed it 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water. With this ratio, your starter should double in size in about 12-24 hours. If your starter has never risen before, follow a proven guide to create an active starter.

An unactivated sourdough starter can typically sit out at room temperature for a few days to a week without needing to be fed again.

To activate your starter, feed it with fresh flour and water, and then wait for it to bubble and double in size.

Freezer – You can freeze your starter in silicone ice cube trays or silicone-lined cupcake pans and transfer it after it's frozen to an airtight freezer-safe container with an oxygen absorber for up to a year. Freeze-Dried – Freeze-dried sourdough starter is the best option for long-term storage.

Using moldy sourdough starter is a recipe for disaster. If there's even a tiny bit of mold on your sourdough starter, you need to toss it. It cannot be saved and you should not use it.