Many of us love baking with sourdough. But especially for newcomers, maintaining your engine can be a little scary at times: like when you pull that forgotten jar out of the back of the fridge and find a thick layer of inert sludge covered by an inch of black liquid.
“Is he dead?” No! In fact, it is quite difficult kill the beginning of sourdough. And that black stuff isn't harmful either – it's perfectly safe. The ink is just telling you that the engine is hungry.
PJ Hamel
This thin liquid (called “hooch”) is simply alcohol and water created by wild starter yeast as it feeds. Hooch is an obvious cry for help: your beginner is hungry. Once you get him back on a regular care regimen, he should recover well.
Although it's rare, your starter may at some point pick up some harmful bacteria or mold. After draining the case, if you see orange or pink lines on top of the remaining motor (or on any dried starter with crust on the walls of the container), it's best to throw it all out and start again.
Reviving your sourdough starter
The more liquid on top of the starting sourdough, the longer it may take to revive it. Just a thin sheen of fluid means your engine is moderately saturated; one or two feedings it should be brought to the boil. But if the liquid is more abundant, and especially if it's dark in color, it will likely take two or more days of twice-daily feeding before it's ready for your bread recipe.
Speaking of color, what makes hooch dark? Hooch is mostly alcohol and water, but it's not pure liquid: there's starch, sugar, and even some undissolved flour suspended in the mix, too. The longer the liquid sits, the more those particles oxidize and the darker the liquid becomes.
PJ Hamel
To drain or not to drain?
First, decide whether to drain the cask or stir it. Most bakers choose to add the liquid back in, as the alcohol can enhance the flavor. But if there is a lot of liquid (say, more than half an inch or so), and especially if it is very dark, feel free to pour it: not because it is “bad”, but because this amount of liquid can change the level of the beginner. enough hydration to make a difference in your baking. (If you decide to keep it, don't worry: the dark color won't show up in your final loaf.)
Barb Alpern, one of our country's sourdough experts Baker's hotline, advises callers to discard the cover if it is pitch black. “At this point, the juice is all sourdough waste and won't contribute anything very positive to the starter. While it probably won't hurt to stir it, I prefer to pour it.”
Give your starter a good meal
Start by transferring a weighed starter amount (I generally use 113 grams) into a clean bowl or wide-mouthed container – something with easy accessibility and enough capacity to hold a starter motor that can double or triple in size. after feeding. I especially like the King Arthur one glass container with sourdoughwhich is not only wide-mouthed for very easy access, but includes measurements marked on its clear sides, so you can easily check your engine's progress if you decide to feed it right into its container of storage.
PJ Hamel
Add flour and lukewarm water in amounts equal to the starting weight: in my case, 113 grams of unbleached all-purpose flour and 113 grams of water. Tip: If your starter is badly neglected, substitute a whole grain flour – rye OR whole wheat – for half of all purpose flour. See the benefits and details in our post at how to revive your slow starter.
Mix everything together, cover and leave at room temperature to see what happens. If by some miracle your starter is very bubbly and has doubled in size after 6 to 8 hours, it's fully recovered and ready to bake (or return to the fridge for long-term storage). Most likely, however, you will need it repeat the feeding process several more times.
Going forward, feeding on a regular and fairly frequent schedule (once a week is ideal) will ensure that he is healthy and happy enough to wake up and ready to go to work after just one single feeding.
Save the throw
The feeding process will generate a lot of extra starter: what's left after you've taken the chosen amount to feed. Instead of throwing away this “delete” (as it is commonly called), save it and bake with it! Throw starter can add flavor to anything from pizza crust THE chocolate cake.
Food photography and styling by Liz Neily
One exception: Any waste generated as a result of food seen in the recovery process must be disposed of. Its taste can be a bit strong or “bare”, rather than fresh and nicely tart.
If you're just not sure that your neglected starter can be brought back to life – and you don't want to spend many days and a lot of flour trying – turn to us fresh sourdough starter. Once your package arrives, you'll be ready to bake in 24 hours!
Cover photo by Mark Weinberg; food styling by Liz Neily.
