King Arthur Flour – Sourdough Starter Tips 3 Recipe

(CONTINUED) Storing Your Starter:

“Once your sourdough pet is cold and relatively
dormant, it can survive quite a long time between
“feedings.” It is certainly not as demanding as
children, or more traditional pets, but it isn’t happy
just sitting for months on end like a packet of
commercially dried yeast either.” “Freezing: You may
be able to ignore your starter for a month or even
much longer, but if you know you’re going to be away
for a time, you can store it (unlike children or pets)
in the freezer. You may want to transfer it to a
plastic container first as it will expand as it
freezes. When you are ready to use it again, give it a
day to revive, feed it a good meal, give it another
day to build up an armada of fresh, new wild siblings
and it will be ready to go to work.”

“Drying: An alternative storage method is to dry your
starter by spreading it out on a piece of heavy
plastic wrap or waxed paper. Once it’s dry, crumble it
up and put it in an airtight container. Store it some
place cool, or, to be safe, in the freezer. To
reactivate the dried starter, grind it into small
particles with a hand cranked grinder, a blender or a
food processor. Pour 1 to 1 1/2 cups of warm water
(what feels comfortable on your wrist) into a glass or
ceramic bowl. Stir in and dissolve a tablespoon of
sugar or honey. This isn’t necessary but it gives the
yeast an easy “first course.” Blend in an equal
amount of flour and dried starter. Cover the bowl
with plastic wrap and watch for small telltale bubbles
which should begin to appear on the surface within a
few hours. Once you see them you’ll know it’s alive
and well. Let it continue to feed and grow for a
further 12 hours before you cover and refrigerate it.”
How to Remove Some Starter for Baking:

“With a spoon or wire whisk, blend the liquid back
into the starter and then measure out the quantity
required by your recipe. Replace the amount taken with
equal amounts of flour and water. Since many recipes
are based on using 1 cup of starter, you would return
to your starter pot, 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of
water. (This actually makes 1 1/3 cups more starter
but you can adjust the amount whenever you want.) As
you did when you first fed your starter, let it sit at
room temperature for at least 12 hours to give the
yeast a chance to “feed” and multiply before you chill
it again.”