Reviving a Dried & Live Sourdough Starter
Scroll down page to view “Reviving a Live Sourdough Starter” video
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.
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.
{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi
I have baked the NY Times No-knead bread and it was very good, I think as good as any of my attempts since I started baking again 9 mts ago, and a lot less fuss and mess. I have no 2 on the go now.
The videos are a great help and I will revive my home made sourdough and try again with that.
Thanks for a great website.
Regards, Peter
Hi Peter,
Thanks for the nice feedback. Makes my day!
If you want, you can add your name and email (upper right corner) to my list of people to be notified when a new video posts. Your email will be kept private.
The holidays will take me away from my computer for a while, which is probably a good thing, but I already can’t wait to return and get working on some more videos. It’s a blast.
Thanks again.
Eric
Hi Eric, I just received my order (my that was fast!) I can’t wait to revive it and see how it does. After it is fully refreshed and active in a few days would you recommend the no-knead sourdough bread on your site? And also if I use more starter in that recipe will it take less time to rise? Thanks again, Terry
Hi Terry.
That would be a good place to start. It’s pretty basic and so can be a good frame of reference for further recipes and experimenting.
Using more starter probably would make the dough rise and peak sooner. Which is more a reason not to add more starter. The longer the proofing period the more time the natural flavor of the flour has to develop, as a general rule.
Having said that, I’m planning to experiment with more starter because someone told me they tried that and it made the bread more sour which I kinda like sometimes. It’s fun to try different things.
Hi Eric, my starter has now doubled in size in just 6 hrs. Your video says to feed it twice daily feedings. Does that mean every 12 hrs or should I feed it when it has doubled after 6 hrs.? And do I do this for a couple more days before I bake with it. I started it on Jan. 31st at 5pm and it is Feb 2 at 10pm–54hrs total? Sorry for all the questions but I’m afraid to mess it up. Thanks, Terry
Hi Terry. Your questions are good and likely helpful for others.
I think your starter is good to go. The feeding schedule is more flexible than I may be making it seem. You can feed it again once it’s doubled if you need to keep building up the volume.
You would be hard pressed to mess it up now as your starter is very hearty.
At this point the main thing is just to keep enough on hand so when you take what you need for baking, there’s some left over to feed again or just store until the next feeding.
I’d bet everybody manages their starter differently and they all work fine.
If you do mess it up, I send you some more - - free refills!
I purchased a bread mix some time ago that had a sourdough starter packet(dried) in the box. I really enjoyed the bread and have been trying to find a supply of the dried sourdough starter. I was wondering if the dried starter that you supply would work the same way or would I have to go through the refresh steps you mention in you website? Thanks Rick
Hi Rick. My starter would require the refresh steps mentioned to bring it to baking readiness.
Eric
How many oz are there in one package? Also how much do you use per 2 LB loaf? Thanks Rick
I haven’t measured by weight before. I just put in several times what is necessary to get the starter going in the unlikely event the first attempts fail.
The dried starter is used to make a batch of live starter. How much of the live starter I use per 2 lb loaf depends on what the recipe calls for. The amount varies widely.
Hi Eric
It is a good thing that you put in a little more starter than one needs for the 1st try. I used whole wheat flour for the 1st feeding. then switched to KA bread flour. That batch of starter goes up and down like an elevator but just keeps on bubbling. I got the 2nd batch by scraping & washing out the envelope with the 2 TBS of water frin tge 1st feeding. It looks better than the 1st one. All is not lost. The 1st attempt is in a jar in the refrigator. Will keep t rying with bread flour. Kay in Austin TX
HI
Now thzt I have enough starter to use the 1/4 C for the NK bread - when do you use it? Before you feed it again? after you feed it and it has doubled? Maybe I need to watch the video again. The 1st batch (w/whole wheat flour) doubled nicely. Then a short time later it went down to where it was before it doubled.
But I really need to know WHEN do you take out enough to make the bread? Kay
Hi Kay,
Your starter actually sounds like it’s doing just fine. There’s usually a fair range of acceptable times when you can use your starter effectively. I guess you could say the ideal time is after you have fed it and it has just finished doubling. At that point it’s at its optimal health and vitality. But you can often see excellent results even well after the doubling period. In other words, the starter can look pretty listless and still come roaring back as soon as you use it in your bread recipe.
Just make sure you have enough starter on hand so that when you take some out for baking, there’s still plenty left over for the next baking.
Don’t worry about messing up. The worst case is nothing works and the starter dies (highly unlikely) and I’ll mail you some more starter (free refills for customers ;)). With a little practice and some inevitable trial and error, you’ll be an expert before you know it.
hi eric,,sorry to be a pest..one last question…how much flour and water do i add to the starter for the twice daily feeding..i think i made a mistake altho the starter looks fine and doubly bubbly..for each feeding over 2 days i used 1/3 cup flour and 1/4 c water…was that correct or should i have used an amount of flour equal to the amount in my jar??????
No problem. I add equal weights of flour and water so your ratio of 1/3 c flour to 1/4 c water sounds good.
Once your starter is going strong, you don’t have to feed it 2x/day at room temp unless you’re baking every day. Keep in the fridge and feed it every few days or so.
Ideally you would about double the starter each time you feed it, but it’s not necessary to go to that extent. I try to add at least 1/4 fresh flour. After a while you can just tell from looking at it what it needs. It’s also very hearty and forgiving so there is a lot of latitude in what you can get by with.
hi eric…just made a nk bread with sour dough starter..came out great…one question,,could i use rye flour as the starter base??? i would like a more sour or tangy taste and thought rye would do it…whaddya think??
Yea, sure. I think that’s one reason why people use rye starter. Also those who are gluten intollerant as rye has next to no gluten in it.
Managing a rye starter might be a little different. I can’t remember off hand - I think you have to feed it more often.
Hi,
I am just curious about drying the starter and reviving it again. It seems to me that starting a fresh starter from scratch is just as easy (i mean timewise). What i mean is, if it takes just as long in reviving a dried starter isnt it just as good starting a new one
Richard
Hi Richard,
Most of the time I think reviving a dried starter is going to go faster than starting from scratch. But the main reasons for reviving a dried starter is that it’s almost always going to work, where starting from scratch isn’t as reliable. Plus, you can revive a favorite starter from the dried form and be somewhat confident that what you get is the same as what you started with in the pre-dried form. Starting from scratch may yield (for better or worse) a different strain of yeast.
Hi!
Have I ever enjoyed your website and videos!!! Just wondering how long dry starter would remain viable if not frozen but stored in a dry area. Days/years???
Thanks,
Darryl
Hi Darryl,
I have no idea, really. It sure seems like it would be at least in the area of weeks or months, but not so sure about years.
I have my starter going well-
My question is- I’m going on vacation for a week- what would be the best way to preserve/store my starter while I’m gone?
rb
Hi RB,
I was out of commission yesterday, I hope this catches you before you leave…
You’ll have no problem keeping your starter healthy and happy by just feeding it before you leave and keeping in the fridge with a loose fitting lid. Another feeding when you get back and it’ll be as good as new.
It will survive a lot longer than a week unattended in the fridge. I’ve left some untouched for weeks at a time and, while it looks pretty yucky by then it still revived easily enough.
Hi Eric. My starter is a few days old and still is not bubbling. It does smell sour. I’m thinking I should just start over and that my Illinois kitchen is just too cold. Is there a way to cover the starter to try to get it to over 70 degrees? I’ve even thought of using a heating pad under it. Thank you.
Hi Josephine,
It’s unlikely the coldish kitchen is the culprit. At colder temps starter will still thrive, but just multiply at a slower clip.
When I want to create a warmer spot for proofing or whatever, I use the oven with just the oven light bulb turned on. It gets warm in there but not too warm.
As to why you’re not seeing the bubbling, it’s hard to say without having seen the whole process you went through. One thing I’ll say, although it’s obviously just a guess in your case, is that if your starter mix is quite wet, you won’t see bubbles as much as if it’s dryer. If you’re not already doing this, when you feed your starter use equal WEIGHTS of flour and water ( ~ for each unit volume of flour you use, use about 3/4 of that volume in water).
If you’re already doing this, then it’s possible you just need to give the starter more time to do it’s thing.
Be sure you’re using purified or filtered water of some kind too. Just not ordinary tap water.
Keep me posted.
I have a starter that has been kept alive in my family since the wagon train days. The last four years I have been traveling in a RV and it did not like that at all, so I froze it and have not cooked it since 2004. It is still in the freezer, but would like to bake bread again now that I am stationary. I used to “jump start” it with a mashed, boiled potatoe. Any ideas?
Hi Cathie,
I hope you are able to revive your starter. 30 years ago I was out of the country for 6 months and froze my starter. I was unable to resuscitate it. I later learned that you should dry your starter before freezing it. However, I’ve also heard cases of people freezing starter from it’s live state and still getting it to come back. So, as with most things, there’s different takes on the story.
As far as adding potatoes or whatever, I don’t think it really matters all that much. There’s plenty of food value for the yeast in regular ol’ flour. But considering what’s a stake in your case, I would use purified water and the best organic flour you can find.
I dried my starter and it seemed to be ok as I could see it start to bubble but after the first few days it did not increase in volume, it still had bubbles on top but did not increase in volume. I just put a 1/4 tsp of dried yeast in to see what will happen. Will this do any harm?
No, I don’t think the dried yeast will do any harm.
It didn’t do anything all day and I was about to give up on it and start with a fresh batch, when it seemed to grow before my eyes. It is now double the size and I have put it in the fridge. Great Video, it really helped to see someone actually do it.
Thanks
Eric,
Your dried starter is certainly quite vigorous: I’ve got visible activity after only two hours on the countertop!
I let it soften for about half an hour (i was interrupted), stirred in the tablespoon of flour, and I’ve got big bubbles on the surface now only 120 minutes later.
I can’t wait to bake with it.
Tom.
I just wanted to put in a comment about reviving neglected starters. I had one that sat in the back of the refrigerator, neglected for a couple of months. Successive feedings weren’t getting very much activity. It wasn’t dead, but after a week of feeding it daily it just wasn’t looking very good.
I was thinking about starting over from scratch, when I found through searching that the famous San Francisco sourdough contained lactobacillus. In my refrigerator I also stock that in the form of yogurt.
Just about 2 teaspoons of yogurt added to the starter kicked it into high gear. It turned into a very vigorous starter that turns out tangy sourdoughs. Once in a while if I want that extra kick I might add a tiny bit of yogurt to the starter for an extra sour loaf.
Hi Eric, Got my order that was fast. My starter revived great and is alive and doing well. I haven’t baked sourdough bread. But I am looking foward to it. My family is so happy I am going to bake yeast bread and sourdough bread again. Your web site is very helpful, Bess
That’s great, Bess. Let us know if you need any help.
Leave a Comment