I've been there too. Worried about how the sourdough starter you've painstakingly brought to life will survive without you while you're enjoying a well-earned break!
- I wanted to go traveling, but there was a little guilt at the thought of leaving my sourdough starter at home alone. Will he be able to survive without me feeding him twice a day? Will he think I abandoned him? Will it get moldy?
- I was anywhere but in my kitchen to be able to bake sourdough bread.
- I thought about taking a break from baking sourdough (Is that even possible?)
Dear reader, worry no more. The sourdough starter is one of the most resilient/intelligent things you will ever meet. Well, it might not be able to survive 96 months without food like human fish can, but hey, two or six weeks (or months) is great too, right?
Table of Contents
How to store sourdough starter short-term to long-term?
You have a few options, so I'll go over them and you can decide which method of trying to preserve the sourdough starter works best for you.
1. Make a very strong starter and keep it in the fridge.
Strong sourdough starter is a starter with a low hydration level (less than 100%) and dough consistency. To make a strong starter, I took a tablespoon of the 100% hydrated pre-rye dough left over from the last bake before the trip and mixed it with 80g of rye flour and 55g of water (or more if the dough is really dry). I kept the motor on the counter for 30 minutes and then put it in the fridge until I got home from vacation.
In solid starter, yeast and bacteria grow more slowly because of the harder time accessing nutrients. This means that it will take longer for your engine to fully warm up (which means you can enjoy your vacation without worrying about your engine going crazy).
Refrigerating the starter will not kill the bacteria and yeast, the low temperature just slows down their activity. Bacteria are usually most active between 30-35°C (86-96°F) and yeast in the acidic environment between 20-25°C (68-78°F).
When you open a jar of your strong engine after a week or so, you will notice that it has risen and also that your engine has a strong acidic smell – that's acetic acid. Acetic acid is a product of bacteria and its production is higher at lower temperature due to the higher availability of fructose (a product of the enzyme activity of yeasts that work well at low temperatures) which makes the acid production possible acetic.
Option: You can also try leaving your liquid starter in the fridge for more than a week. In this case, just make sure to mix larger amounts of flour into it and keep the jar clean.
2. Raise the beginning of the sourdough
Feed your starter as you normally would, let it rise and then refrigerate. When you're ready to use it again, thaw it and feed it regularly to get it back up and running (or experiment with what the unfed motor can do) – you may need to feed it twice every 12 hours to see any activity .
3. Dehydrate your starter
To dehydrate the starter, feed it as usual (I fed it with 30g rye flour and 30g water) and let it ferment until fully cooked and cooked. Then, spread it as thinly as possible on a silicone mat and place it in the dehydrator for 12 hours at 40°C (104°F) or set it aside in any other warm place in your home and let it dry completely until it fades.
Once dry, use a rolling pin to break large flakes into smaller ones one at a time. Place the flakes in a jar or plastic bag and keep sealed until ready to use.
To revive your dehydrated starter, take 4 teaspoons of dried sourdough starter flakes, mix it with 4 teaspoons of water and let it soak and soften for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, add 20 g of rye or wholemeal flour and 20 g of water. Place the jar in a warm place and let the dough ferment for 12 hours. After 12 hours, add 20 g of rye flour and 20 g of water and let it ferment for the next 24 hours. After 36 hours you should see activity, if not, wait an additional hour and then feed again. Having a starter in dried form is a great option if you want to send it to a friend.
Sourdough starter.
4. Ask someone to take care of him while you're on vacation
Sourdough starter filling or a sour hotel maybe?
5. Throw away your engine and start a new one when you're ready to bake it again
It only takes 3 days to make your own starter from scratch.
How do you feel about your motorcycle when traveling/not baking?
Have you tried keeping your engine in the fridge/freezer for more than 3 (6, 9, 12) months? What was the result – were you able to revive him?
Let me know in a comment below 🙂
In the meantime, check out mine pumpkin seed pesto recipe for ideas on what to put on your dough after you get back from vaca!
