? Transporting my bram

Do you want to give away your pram?  Your brain? Your barm?

Hmmm ... given the context, I'm guessing you mean "barm," and I'm guessing you mean the sourdough starter that Reinhart incorrectly calls "barm."

I think there are two "best" ways, but first you have to understand that you can adjust the hydration level of your starter up and down more or less at will.

For both methods, I would feed your starter and let it start to ferment for one hour at room temperature before proceeding with one of the following.

Method 1: Dehydrate your starter

1. Cut a piece of wax paper about 12 x 12 inches and lay it on a hard surface.

2. Spread 2 or 3 tablespoons of your fed starter on the wax paper as thin as you can, using a rubber spatula or the like.

3. Leave this film of starter on the wax paper, at room temperature until it is completely dry. At that point, it should easily separate from the wax paper in flakes.

4. Transfer the flakes of dehydrated starter to a sealable container such as a Ziploc bag, plastic food storage container or small caning jar.

This should keep for a very long time at room temperature. You can also freeze it, as a back-up for your starter, for .... I'm not sure how long, but I'd bet years.

To rehydrate the starter, take a tablespoon of the flakes and mix with a tablespoon or so of water and about the same amount of flour. Let this sit for 24 hours. Feed it again every day until it is bubbly. Then, feed it as you would any other starter.

Method 2: Make a super-firm starter

1. Put 2 tablespoons of fed starter in a bowl.

2. Mix with flour, adding the flour gradually until the ball of "dough" just can't absorb any more. It should be very dry - just hydrated enough to stick together.

3. Put the ball of "dough" in a container that can be well-sealed.

This will keep for a few days at room temperature. It should be dry enough so the yeast will not really ferment the flour. 

To re-constitute the starter, chop the dry dough ball into small pieces (pea- to marble-sized) and place them in a bowl. Cover the pieces with water and allow them to soften for a while, then mix them into the water to make a milky "soup." Then add enough flour to make a thick batter. Ferment this until it is bubbly and expanding somewhat (8-12 hours). Then feed it as you would your regular starter.

Comment: If the starter has to travel less than a day or two, I think Method 2 is much easier. I used this method earlier this month when I went on a vacation. The dough traveled in my backpack and remained at room temperature for 2 days before getting re-hydrated. It made great bread.

I hope this helps.

David

I've mailed barm 2 different times and both times it worked fine after arrival.  I put a fairly small amount (about 4-6 oz.) in a big baggie so there was room for expansion and put the baggie in a box.  I sent it priority mail so it hopefully wouldn't take more than a week to get to its destination.  I fed it the day I shipped it and it was cold but not frozen when I packed it.  One of the times I mailed it was in the summer but it wasn't killed by its journey in hot weather.

I think it's a lot hardier stuff than we give it credit for.

-greg