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Old dried sourdough flakes

yeti10's picture
yeti10

Old dried sourdough flakes

I have had some dried starter in the fridge now for about 5 years. Would it be O.K. to try to reactivate it or should I get some new starter? I made it myself and am trying to get back into bread making after a long pause. Thanks

yeti10's picture
yeti10

I did try to google this question but got conflicting answers.

jimbtv's picture
jimbtv

Just be sure to have some security staff with stun sticks nearby in case things go terribly wrong.

yeti10's picture
yeti10

I will, I know that things went terrible wrong at Jurassic Park.  Also the yeast may have mutated and we all know what happened in Tokyo.

GAPOMA's picture
GAPOMA

Can't hurt to try.  I keep dried sourdough starter in the freezer as a backup in case of a catastrophic event.  While slightly different from your case, it always comes back strong when tested and it's more than 10 years old now.

So it can't hurt to try.

yeti10's picture
yeti10

Thanks

imightbemary's picture
imightbemary (not verified)

How do you dehydrate your starter, out of curiosity? I have a rice flour starter that I occasionally use for when I need to do gluten free baking and it'd probably be easier to just keep it in a dehydrated form

yeti10's picture
yeti10

I smeared a thin layer on parchment paper and let it dry then broke it up in small flakes.

yeti10's picture
yeti10

Its been a long time, but I think I put it in the oven with the light on till it dried also.

drogon's picture
drogon

... so give it a go!

-Gordon

yeti10's picture
yeti10

About doubled in size already. I bought several dried starters from a lady on ebay about 7 years ago who said she collected from bakery's then dried them herself when she was in the military and traveling. Alaska sourdough, Splelt sourdough,German Deli style rye sourdough,Barain sourdough, S.F. Sourdough and her own culture from the east coast. I  will see if I can get them to grow next. Glad to see the yeast is still viable.

imightbemary's picture
imightbemary (not verified)

Although I gotta say, it boggles my mind how fast it doubled in size. What was that, 3-4 hours?

yeti10's picture
yeti10

About 4-5 hours. I made the mix right before I asked about if it would still be good, but if I had been told it might not be safe still I would of thrown it away( bacteria). I am on the third refresh now and 300 grams is about to the top of a quart canning jar already in about 3-4 hours. All good.

yeti10's picture
yeti10

I smeared a thin layer on parchment paper and let it dry then broke it up in small flakes. Edit:Sorry I posted this in the wrong place so I doubled posted.

yeti10's picture
yeti10