November 26, 2019 - 9:47pm
How to store starter in a refrigerator?
I bake once a week and I keep my starter in the refrigerator on days that I don't knead it (pun intended). It's in a tightly closed mason jar. I notice that when I open the jar there is a popping or small whoosh sound coming from it. I'm wondering if the way I keep my starter in the refrigerator is fine or not.
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That's it. There is no need to close the lid tightly. None. So don't. For what it is worth, I keep my starter in a Weck canning jar with no gasket on the lid. That works fine.
Thank you for the information.
It's good to know that my starter will be fine the way that I store it in the refrigerator.
My starter also resides in a pint Mason jar that's capped with a plastic, screw-on lid. I don't screw it on tightly and there's an accumulation of dried "gunk" (all organic by the way) on the rim of the jar so respiration for and/or burping by the microbes is possible. It's interesting to speculate whether your "whoosh" on opening is a gasp or a belch. All my microbes have achieved trustee status so there's no need for them to be in maximum security lockdown.
And there is no need to close the jar too tight either.
I bake once a week or once every two weeks and my starter stays in the fridge. I take some of it (like 5 to 10g) out a day or two ahead, let it come to room temperature, feed it a couple of times (evening and morning) always putting the discarted bits back with the rest of the 'old starter' in the fridge. I then use this new and revived one to bake. The last feed is usually a build up in quantity so I have enough for the amount of bread I want.
From time to time I take some of the 'old' starter from the fridge to make crackers or a rye bread so I don't accumulate that much of it.
Nothing goes to waste :)
I have a similar(ish) regime to you - keep the starter in the fridge during the week, take it out on Friday morning for weekend baking. After I've used what I need, I feed it then it goes back in the fridge.
My question is: should I put it back in the fridge straight after feeding, or should I keep it out for a while to allow it to start working on the fresh flour before putting it back into 'sleep' mode? Or is it best to put it away immediately so that it doesn't use up the fresh flour too quickly? Or does it not really matter?
Hadn't occurred to me to only take out what I actually need. Makes sense.
I've tried both:
They all work. But putting it in the fridge straight away without allowing it to rise even a bit may end up making it more sluggish than usual. At least for me that was the outcome.
Of course the last one will mean it has a shorter life, but shorter still means it hangs on just fine until a week after. However, it won't last much longer than two weeks without being fed again. Again, based on my own experience.