September 11, 2016 - 1:39pm
Traveling abroad with a Starter
Hello! I'm hoping to find some advice about traveling abroad with my starter.
I live in Los Angeles and may have a work opportunity in Beijing, for approximately 3 months. I've grown very attached to my starters and don't want them to perish during this time.
Has anyone here ever traveled on a plane with a starter? I'm worried that if I leave it in my luggage it will be too cold and freeze. But if I take it with me in my carry on, will TSA allow me through? Any advice on this subject would be much appreciated.
If I don't take it with me at all, will leaving it in the fridge for three months in Los Angeles destroy my starter?
Thanks!!!
Share
I had almost the same problem when I wanted to give some starter to my friend in UK and I was flying there. So I decided to dry the starter and give him dried one. When the starter was mature I spread it on a plastic envelope as thin as possible and it took half day that it was completely dry. Then you can just store it in a small plastic bag and you can take that with your personal luggage or you can put it in the checked luggage. The quantity you need to restore it is very small - just few grams. Dried starter is like an instant yeast.
Restoring it is simple: mix water-flour 1:1 and add your dried starter and you will see bubbles in 24 hours, then just feed it normally. Alternatively, build a new starter on new location.
Happy baking, Joze
Thank you so much Joze! This is excellent info and I think I will try it out before I leave for peace of mind. It's likely I will have to keep it dried for the few months while I'm away but I will try bringing it with me just in case I can maintain a full starter while in Beijing.
Thank you so much!!
While I have no actual experience with sourdough, I am pretty sure you can dry out your starter into cracker like pieces that can then be revived by adding water and they will keep for quite a long time.You should definitely research this some more but if you can do this you could take half off it to Beijing and leave the other half behind so when you return you can revive that one as well.Of course keep in mind you have infinitely more experience with sourdough than I have so don't take my word for it.Good luck!
-Niccolo
Thank you so much Niccolo! It looks like it is possible to dry a starter, so I'm going to try it. Thank you for your suggestions!
Missyork,
I did what JOC1954 recommended and also took my liquid starter from Milwaukee to Seattle. For the liquid starters - white, rye and wheat I bought some small liquid lunch containers which may hold a cup and a half. I put them in in plastic bags as well. The white came through the container and into the plastic bag but plenty survived. The rye and wheat did fine in the container. The dry was fine as well. Traveled both ways. They did not freeze but were buried deep in my luggage so they were well insulated.
Best of luck with the assignment.
Big Crusty
Thank you Big Crusty!
I think I will try to bring it in a few forms--dry and mature. It's great to know that it didn't freeze! Thanks for the advice!
Dry one batch
Give another batch to a friend to feed
Create a low hydration starter a d refrigerate without giving it room temperature time so it has a lot of feed to slowly work it's way through
Between the 3 of these your starter should survive one way or another
Edit... Oh yes and a fourth. You can always try to take some with you.
Thank you Lechem for all the excellent ideas! I"m glad to know that I have many options and at least one of them is bound to work. Thanks!
I moved to Tokyo in August, and I brought my starter with me. I fed it the day before I left, then put a small amount, maybe 20 grams, in a ziplock, double bagged, and put that in my ziplock with liquids for carry-on. I also double bagged a small amount and put that in my checked luggage. Both survived just fine. The bigger problem for me is finding an oven to bake in, since most apartments don't have ovens; I will probably, eventually, buy a countertop oven when I save a few Yen. Finding a regular cookie/baking sheet has taken me four weeks. I did find some bread flour, and some whole wheat flour, but it is pretty expensive compared to my Dakota Maid !
Wow! Thanks for bringing the no oven to my attention AOJ! I looked into it and it seems the same goes for China. Since we will most likely be staying in a extended stay type place, it's more than likely we won't have an oven at all. But it's good to know that you made it with your starter all the way to Tokyo! I hope you are able to get an oven soon so you can start baking again! Until then, maybe lots of English Muffins!
Thank you for sharing your experience!
of flour to take with you. The hardest thing to find is an oven. Learn how to make flat breads in a frying pan or English muffins. Site search: stove top bread baking for ideas. Don't forget to take some baking parchment with you and a light weight scale. :)
Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention Mini Oven! I had no idea! I did find a website that had some information on where to find American equivalent flour in Beijing. I'll be lucky if I can find some because not sure I want to carry flour with me. If I do and there's no oven, English Muffins and Flat Breads sound fantastic! It will be an adventure!
Thanks for the advice (And for reminding me to bring parchment and a scale!)
I just flew from the West Coast of Canada to London, UK with a container of my starter in my checked luggage, and baked bread with it yesterday. It was absolutely fine; see the blog post here. I fed it the day before we left (a bit lower hydration than usual - about 70%) and mixed it in a screw-top plastic freezer jam container, let it rise and put it in the fridge overnight. I then put this in a ziplock bag and tucked it into my suitcase.
I also left a couple of starters behind (we're over here for six weeks). One was my usual 100% hydration with wheat flour, and the other a lower hydration with rye flour. I expect they will also be fine when I get home, as I regularly leave containers of starter in the fridge for weeks then revive them at a later date. And I always keep a jar of dried starter granules just in case (a last-resort backup, if you like).
Thank you Lazy Loafer for sharing your traveling starter experience! I'd love to hear how your starter survived when you return. I might end up doing as you have done, traveling with it as is, also with some dried granules and leaving the other half of it at home as a backup. To be continued!
Thanks for your info! Have fun in London!