Prepping starter for travel
As part of my preparation to move from South Africa back to the United States, I dried my sourdough starter using two different techniques. The first was to simply smear a thin layer of batter-consistency starter across some parchment paper and allow it to dry at room temperature. The second was to mix flour into some starter until it was reduced to crumbs. I found that a mezzalune was very helpful in the latter stages of incorporating the flour by allowing me to chop the progressively stiffening starter into smaller and smaller pieces while blending in more flour.
The finished product, two bags of crumbed starter and three bags of flaked starter:
That gives me one packet per suitcase. Each will be appropriately labeled. Hopefully, at least one and maybe all will arrive home with me.
I'm interested to start rehydrating a bit of each to see which one comes back to fighting trim more quickly. I'll post follow-ups when I can.
Paul