How To: Revive Sourdough Starter
Do you have a sourdough starter that you've been meaning to use, but it's just sitting in the back of your fridge for months? All you need to do is follow our simple instructions and before long, your forgotten sourdough starter will be revived and ready for baking delicious bread and treats in 3 days or less!
Ingredients
- 50 g unfed sourdough starter
- 500 g flour divided
- 500 g water divided
Instructions
- Remove the unfed sourdough starter from the fridge and allow it to rest at room temperature for 3-4 hours.
- Look closely at the starter, discard immediately if your starter has mold, a pink tinge, or smells musty. These are signs that bacteria have overtaken the yeasts.
- If the starter passes the test, stir in the hooch, or pour it off. I prefer to stir it back in to keep my hydration levels correct, but it can be poured off too.
- In a clean jar or container, mix 50g of the unfed starter with 50g warm water, stir until combined, then add in 50g flour.
- Set aside the fed starter for 12 hours, then feed it again using a fresh clean jar, combine 50g starter, 50g water and 50g flour. Mark the side of your jar with the height of the starter.
- Watch the starter for signs of activity. It may be a little bit sluggish, but you should start to see a few bubbles here and there.
- If the starter is close to doubling within 12 hours, wait 24 hours before feeding again. If the starter is not close to doubling within 12 hours, feed it again 12 hours after the initial feed- and repeat until the starter doubles within 12 hours, then reduce to a 24 hour feeding period. When the starter has reached the 24 hour feeding cycle, it is ready to bake with.
- Once the starter is revived and doubling regularly, it should be maintained on the counter and fed every 24 hours for 4-5 days. This will help get your starter healthy again before it's placed back in the fridge.
- Ensure to feed your starter weekly or bi-weekly once it's in the fridge to keep it healthy and active.
Notes
moldy sourdough starter
While almost any starter can be revived, I don't play with mold. Fermenting foods takes a little bit of intuition and a little bit of ruthlessness. If something looks, smells, feels, or just could be bad - it finds the garbage quickly. Look: If your starter has any kind of mold, toss that bad boy, start fresh with my 24-HOUR STARTER RECIPE, and you'll be just fine! After the mold, look at the hooch - if it has grey or black-ish looking hooch, we're in business! If the starter or hooch is pink-tinged, it's gotta go! Smell: If the starter smells tangy, like vinegar, alcohol or even nail polish remover, it's safe to use. If it has a musty or moldy smell, toss and start over! Feel: After a long fridge nap, your starter should be thin and liquid. If it's thick or chunky, toss it and start over!