restoring dried starter
Hello folks!
A few weeks after my starters matured (maybe 6 months ago) I dried a bit on wax paper and then put it in an envelope (the envelope was not sealed and the dried starter was loose in the bottom (no baggie, etc).
Saturday I figured I'd see whether it worked or not so I put some in a jar and added a bit of flour and water. I've left it on the counter and added a tiny bit of flour and water each day. In a very short time (matter of an hour or so) I was getting some bubbles near the dried parts and it's constantly improved...doubled today and I'm guessing that I'll have a decent/usable active starter by this weekend.
While this is not a huge improvement over a fresh starter--though it was much easier to get going--I'm curious if there could be some advantages to using these. My theory is that the yeast and bacteria have again just gone dormant but in much higher concentration than the original flour. I'm thinking specifically about Dabrownman's NMNF starter; could you build a rather decent size batch, mature it to the perfect (in your taste) concentration of specific bacteria and yeast and then be able to get to that stage in a matter of a week each time? This is as opposed to a ~6-8 week wait from his build for it to reach full maturity. I would assume that in trying to bring this one back it would still be highly dependent on temperatures and time?
The problem I have is that I wasn't paying enough attention to the condition of the starter when I saved it...also the few skills I've acquired making bread have occurred in the time since this starter was dried so I wouldn't be able to compare results either way.
Has anyone tried this experiment with drying starters and more specifically in bringing them back and how similar will they come back to their original state?
Thanks!
The best way to dry starter and save it for later use is to dry fresh active starter that has begun to bubble up after feeding. I dry starter on cling film over a tray. You can use just about any non reactive flat surface. I turn over the drying start after it is dry enough to be turned.
You can grind the dry start or break it up by hand. The object is to store it in a glass or hard plastic container with a tight fitting with as little air as possible. If you just break up the dry starter into pieces, you can fill up the space between the bits with flour to exclude air. For the longest storage life store the jar of start in a freezer. Mine will keep for several years in the freezer.
Old spouse tales say that some starters freeze and restore better than others. I don't know about that. My starter will restore in two days good enough to use for baking. It may take a few more days to adjust to the temperature and feeding environment, but it will restore to essentially the same starter that was dried in the first place. Actually it restores to the identical characteristics of the original.
Charles
to a couple of months after establishment in 2014.
In September this year I did as you did and reconstituted my dried starter ( a mix out of several packets) and had no trouble getting it bubbling away again.
I store the air dried starter in small ziplock bags, bulk bagged and then stored in my pantry. how does it compare with today's starter? I don't know as once it was up and going I made one successful loaf then mixed the leftovers into the current starter.
Like you my skill set is better than it was and I don't remember how it was when I saved some, the saving of it was the important thing!
happy baking jimt
Leslie