How to Rehydrate your Starter
Courtesy of
thesourdoughjourney.com
Day 1 – Rehydration
In a clean jar, combine 20 grams of dried sourdough starter with 30 grams of water. Mix vigorously. This will be a wet, initial mix. Keep the mixture in a warm place. The optimal temperature is 78-80F / 25.5-27C.
Check the starter every 4 hours or so and stir until all of the dried starter is hydrated and the mixture is a smooth, wet, pasty mix. This may take 4-8 hours.
Day 1 – Feeding #1
Add 10g of flour and 10g of water to your starter. Do not discard any of the original mix!
A popular flour mixture for starter maintenance is a 50/50 mix of bread flour and whole wheat flour – but only bread flour can be used as well.
Day 2 – Watch and Wait
Check the starter mixture periodically on Day 2. If the
water is separating from the starter you can stir it. You
should start to see bubbles forming on top of the starter on Day 2. This is the yeast re-activating, which is good.
Monitor the starter throughout the day, you should see small bubbles completely covering the top of starter.
Wait until these bubbles start shrinking in size and/or number. This indicates that the starter has reactivated and has consumed the first feeding of flour.
Day 2 – Feeding #2
When the bubbles have subsided, this indicates the initial feeding has been fully consumed. The starter should begin to smell vinegary.
Feed the starter 20g flour and 20g water. Do not discard any of the original starter mixture!
Day 3 – Watch and Wait
Watch the starter after the second feeding. The starter
should be completely covered with bubbles. It may not rise because it is still a fairly wet mixture.
Day 3 – Feeding #3
When the bubbles have mostly subsided, feed the starter with 20g of flour and 20g of water. Do not discard any of the original starter!
Day 4 – Watch for Peak Activity
By Day 4, the starter should be thickening and should be rising after the third feeding. Wait for the starter to rise and peak. You can tell it has peaked when starter begins falling. This is when the yeast is at its optimal strength.
Day 4 – Discard and Feed
When the starter is indicating that it has peaked and is beginning to fall, discard all but 30g of the starter mixture and add 30g flour and 30g water. This is a standard 1:1:1 feeding with equal parts retained starter, flour and water.
Day 5 and Beyond – Discard and Feed
Continue daily 2/3rds discard and 1:1:1 feeding of the starter until you see it consistently rising and peaking about 4-6 hours after feeding (at 78F/25.5C) At this point your starter should be back to normal strength and can be used for baking.
Follow regular starter maintenance routines going forward.
Important Notes
Some dehydrated starters are stronger or weaker than others. Monitor the activity of the starter based on the descriptions above and adjust the schedule accordingly, if needed. Some starters can reactivate in as few as 3 days and may take as long as one week. Typically, you will not see times shorter or longer than this range. The most common mistake people make is becoming impatient and discarding too early. When reviving a starter, it is always better to delay discarding for a few days and to feed the starter “too late” vs. “too early.” Premature discarding and overfeeding a starter can weaken rather than strengthen your starter. You cannot accelerate the process by force-feeding or overfeeding your starter. Be patient!
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