Reviving a Dried & Live Sourdough Starter
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Reviving a Dry Sourdough Starter: 6 min. 38 sec. long
Reviving a dried sourdough starter is a fairly simple matter that should meet with success most of the time. This video covers the details but I’ll jot down a few steps here so you don’t necessarily have to.
- Soak ½ tsp. dried starter in 1 tbs. lukewarm purified or spring water for a few minutes to soften.
- Stir in 1 tbs. all-purpose flour, cover and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours. While not necessary, stirring again once or twice during this 24 hours will expedite the fermentation process.
- Stir in another tablespoon of flour with an additional tablespoon of purified water. If the dried starter is at all viable, as it should be, you will most likely see the bubbling action of fermentation begin somewhere between about 24 and 48 hours. If not, something is most likely wrong.
- Continue with twice daily feedings as instructed in the video. After a few days you will have a vital sourdough starter that can be used for baking and be put on a maintenance schedule which requires minimal attention and effort.
Post your questions/comments below.
Reviving a Live Sourdough Starter: 3 min. 56 sec. long
Reviving a live sourdough starter is even simpler and faster than reviving a dried one. Just view the video and/or follow these steps.
- Spoon out the contents of the zip lock bag into a small bowl or container.
- Add 2 tablespoons of flour and 2 tablespoons of room temperature purified or spring water. Mix just until the flour and water are incorporated and you have a smooth consistency. (Don’t use tap water as most tap water contains chlorine which is not good for the yeast).
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for about 18 – 24 hours. At this point you should see signs of life in the form of some bubbling.
- Feed the starter again by mixing in about 1/3 cup of flour and 1/4 cup water. Cover and let sit as before for 6-12 hours.
- You should now have a pretty lively and hearty sourdough starter. All that is left to do is build it up to the quantity you desire with once or twice daily feedings. See the video entitled “Managing Your Sourdough Starter“.
Post your questions/comments below.
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I received a dried starter and followed their instructions which said to add flour and water and let it sit for 3 days, stirring occasionally. It bubbled a lot at first but now the activity seems to have ceased and there is a layer of clear liquid (hooch?).
Does the hooch kill the yeast or can it add to the flavor of the sourdough? Does 3 days seem too long for a starter to go without feeding? Im worried I may have killed it.
I appreciate any advice
Hello, I bought sourdough starter and the ingredients said add flour. What kind of flour I will add, bread flour or all purpose flour?. I hope you put an specific kind of flour. Thank you. I hope this will work.
Either one is fine.
I have been making bread for many years and sourdough several times over those years. Recently, a friend gave me a starter that uses instant potatoes in the recipe. Do I need to continue using instant potatoes that I don’t usually buy or can I use another recipe for sourdough or do I need to start a different kind of starter?
Is the starter your friend gave you currently healthy and ready to bake with? If so, you can keep it healthy by just feeding it flour and water when needed. No need to use potatoes.
I ordered your dried sourdough starter, but being new to bread-baking, I thought I’d best watch your video, in addition to the directions on the package. But the package reads “Soak 1 tsp dried starter”, while your video tells me “1/2 tsp”.
I tried it with 1/2 tsp starter & 1 Tbs warm water (I am blessed with excellent well water), then added 1 Tbs flour. My mix looked more ‘biscuit’ than ‘thin pancake’ mix. So I added a bit more water and a bit more flour, just enough to look like the one in your video.
Today my mix sits there, no bubbles, but it does smell good.
Should I start over, & if so, is it 1/2 or 1 tsp?
Hi Jeanette,
Don’t start over yet. Add more flour until the mix is thicker than it is now. It should be more like shaggy wet dough than pancake batter. Keep it at room temp for anywhere from a few hours to a day and see if you get more obvious good results (bubbling, rising, spongyness).
I must have jumped the gun, as I just caught a whiff of the mix. I fed it again, talked nice to it and and hope to coax it along. Thanks!
About how much dried starter would 1/2 tsp be in grams?
Hi,
My live starter arrived today and I’m excited to get started. Quick question about the water:
We have a well, and the water is conditioned by a whole house system, passing through salt and limestone. No chlorine, of course, but would this be suitable? Or should I go buy some spring water. Is purified water the same as distilled?
Thanks!
Hi Anne,
You should be fine as is.
If I’m wrong, we’ll send you some more starter
.
Eric
Wow, you were so right! My water must be just fine. I have probably a cup of wonderful, bubbly, spongy starter after two feedings — first at 4 p.m 2/11, second at 11 a.m. 2/12. Now I have it in a big (turns out probably way too big) jar in the refrig, ready to increase to the point where I can make a loaf of bread. Off to watch the video about maintaining the starter.
Thank you so much!
One question: this has a distinctive smell, but I would not at all describe it as a “sourdough” smell. Is that OK?
Probably
Would your preference in buying starter be live or dried?
There isn’t a big difference, but I’d go with live since it’s faster and a bit easier to revive and build a sufficient quantity to use for baking.
help! i want help developing a gluten-free sourdough bread recipe!
I ordered starter from Amazon. It came in the mail a couple days when I added flour and water. It started right up! Less than 24 hours later it had become spongy and bubbly. I’m now ready to bake with it. I had made a starter a couple years ago but neglected it and it passed away. However, having this starter, I can compare the two and can see that my original starter was never that good to begin with. I’m excited to make bread that will actually rise
One question. How do I go about making some of the starter gluten free-ish? (I know it will always have a little) I’d like to make some breads that don’t contain wheat flour. How do I start converting the starter? What recipes can you give me for good wheat free bread?
Thank you
Hi Lisa,
I would just take some of the starter you have now and put it in its own container and start feeding that with whatever gluten free flour you want to use. Keep your original so you’ll have it to go back to if necessary. This site has very little if anything on gluten free bread baking. Maybe some day but in the mean time, there must be some great sites out there that make it their main focus.
I do not have a starter . How do I get that?
So I neglected my starter for several months. Pulled it out of the frig 7 days ago and have been feeding (doubling it) 2x/day. After 7 days, it has started to produce lots of smaller bubbles – up until now it’s just been a larger bubble here and there – but still NO RISE.
Is it done for, or should I just be more patient?
Rebecca, I have restarted starter much more starved
than yours several times. I have found this http://wegottaeat.com/tina.hyde/recipes/the-ugly-tale-of-the-long-forgotten-sour-dough-starter to be very helpful.
Good luck
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