Summer Vacation… for your starter
Starter about to go on vacation
Short Term Storage
I just got back from a 2 week stint in Hawaii! The humid salty air and ocean breeze was very welcoming to my dried skin after being in the arid hi-dez. I put my starter on vacation too, so that when I came home it’d be in a dormant state that could easily be reawakened by spooning out a portion from the fridge into a clean jar and adding equal parts whole wheat flour and water. Observing the reactivation over the next few hours for the yeast to rebound to it’s familiar lively self is like visiting an old friend.
Before Vacation:
In a clean jar, add 10 grams of starter as your seed.
Mix a ratio of 1 : 10 : 10 so,
10 grams starter : 100 grams water : 100 gramsflour. Ensure the ingredients are thoroughly mixed in the jar.
Tighten the lid on the jar and put in the refrigerator. Enjoy your vacation!
After Vacation:
When you are ready to bake after a long vacation, remove 10 grams from your refrigerated mixture and feed it a ratio of 1 (starter) : 3 (water) : 3 (flour) in a clean jar
10 grams starter : 30 grams water : 30 grams flour. Ensure the ingredients are thoroughly mixed in the jar.
I recommend feeding it a second time with a ratio of 1 : 1 : 1 with the quantities you will need for your batch of dough as this ensures the mixture is more a neutral pH and will allow for optimal fermentation of your dough.
The longest I have left my starter on vacation is 3 weeks. If you are away for longer it would be more advantageous to start one again from scratch to obtain the healthiest bacterias and yeast for your sourdough!
Longer Term Storage
If you intend to take a sabbatical from baking sourdough you can dry out our starter and store it as yeast flakes in an airtight containter indefinitely.
Breaking up dried starter into flakes.
Process:
Using a spatula spread a thin layer of mature starter on parchment paper and allow it to dry completely. Once fully dried (this is crucial) you can peal the starter from the parchment and break it up into small flakes.
Flakes can be stored in an airtight jar for indefinite storage.
When ready to rehydrate
Add 5 grams of flakes to a clean jar,
Add 10 grams of water + 10 grams of flour, stir until mixed and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours
After 24 hours, refresh with 20 grams of water + 20 grams of flour, stir until mixed and let sit at room temperature for additional 24 hours
Check for signs of bubbling periodically. You may need to refresh again after 12 hours to ensure proper activity for fermenting your first loaf after a long break. Not sure how to know when your starter is ready? See this post.
