October 5, 2016 - 4:34pm
Help with recovering frozen starter
Hi All,
3 weeks ago I fed and 3 hours later I put my starter in the freezer. This monday, I took it out, let it thaw and the I discarded some and fed it 1:2:2. Nothing happened. So, I fed it on tuesday (without discarding) and then twice today (also without discarding) and this is how it looks like 2 hours after feeding:
It's quite liquid and smells a little like yoghurt.
Is it going to live?
Anyway I started a new one today, 70% hidration, but I'd hate to have to wait until it's ready to start baking again with starter.
Share
is that water expands when it freezes into ice and it explodes the cell walls of teh wee beasties, They have a hard time recovering from that, Way better to just dry a schmear on parchment and store it in a glass jar in a cool place - for years!
Good luck with the project some of the wee beasties might have lived through the freezing process and you might luck out.
Before you froze your starter you fed it and allowed to sit for only 3 hours before freezing. It didn't have time to multiply and come fully active before being thrown into suspended animation. When you defrosted your starter you immediately threw some out to feed again so you have further whittled down the now somewhat slower starter.
Don't discard anymore till it comes fully back to life. Thicken it up with some whole rye flour or whole wheat flour. Give them some nourishment. Keep warm and just stir. Before long it should pick up.
some critters in a starter do not survive freezing. Maybe not all of the critters perished, just feed it and give it a few days.. if nothing happens your starter. Just start a new one..
Whenever I travel for more than than three weeks, I take some starter (ex: 150 gr) in a ziplock bag and add a measured amount (Ex: 200 gr) of flour, mix it very by massaging the bag until I get a very very dry dough, almost crumbly. I write on the bag how much flour I have added, the date and I place it in the refrigerator.
When I return from my vacation I check my fresh starter and if it survived I just feed it and all is well. In all the years I am doing this I never had to resort to the bags of starter.. So just to test the viability of the dry dough, I revived a bag that was in my fridge for 3 months (!) by adding water in the same amount at the added flour, and the starter came to live within a a day.