Need some starter storage advice

Rick,

You didn't say how much you saved of your 66% conversion, but I suspect it was quite a bit. Sourdough starter at room temperature, when first introduced to a cold refrigerator, will continue to expand until the the entire mass reaches 40°F (normal refrigerator temperature), at which time the yeast and bacteria will become dormant, or nearly so. Were you keeping a more liquid starter (100%) you would see your starter nearly double, and then collapse during it's first day or day-and-a-half. Subsequently, the wet dough-like quality of the starter will deteriorate into a more thick batter-like consistency as the gluten structure weakens. After about 8 to 10 days a thin layer of grey-colored liquid will form on the surface. This is "hooch": a mixture of alcohol and water.  In a stiff starter (e.g., 66%) the alcohol won't seperate, but its still going to be in the dough, surrounding each yeast cell. Carbon dioxide, both gaseous and in solution as carbonic acid, will also be present.

Here's my regimin. I've been following it for slightly more than a year, and my starters remain consistent performers.

I maintain my starters at 100% Hydration. Every 7 to 10 days (I never exceed 10 days, except once a year when I go on vacation for 2 weeks.) I throw out (or make sourdough pancakes, biscuits, or deep-frying batter) all but 50g of starter. I clean the starters containers thoroughly, add back the saved starter and feed 50g each of flour and water. I leave the starter on the counter for one to two hours until I see evidence of growth, then I return them to the refrigerator.

I build formula-ready levains from my starters beginning, usually, the day before I bake. I start with a small amount of stored starter, usually 20g (never more than 50g) and build the formula-required amount in feedings every 8 hours. 

There should be no reason why you can't apply a similar storage strategy to your stiffer starter.

David G

I maintain my starters at 100% hydration and keep them in the refrigerator for a month or so without feeding.  I do feed the starter at about one month intervals.

It takes me about 24 hours to revive this starter.  I remove about 3.5 oz. starter and feed it with equal amounts of AP flour and chlorine-free water.  Stir and let it stand about 8 - 10 hours.  I then feed this 10.5 oz. of starter with 10.5 oz. each of chlorine-free water and AP flour.  I stir and let this stand about 8 hours.  I remove the 3.5 oz. of starter and put it with the rest of the refrigerated starter, along with about 4 oz. each of water and AP flour.  This gives me 28 oz. of starter to use in the bread.

There is no ONE right way.  Use the way that suits you.  A good starter is very resilient.

Ford

Rick, 

Best insurance you can have is to give your starter to another sourdough fan. Then, if yours fails, your friend's might still be kicking. 

A close second is probably dehydration. I'm experimenting with this soon. If its successful I'll post and let everyone know how and what I did. 

I generally keep my starter in the fridge at 75% hydration. After feeding, you should refrigerate after about an hour of fermentation, but I often let the starter fully ferment, remove what I need for the bread I'm baking and refrigerate the rest.

With a lower hydration starter, I find it can sit in the fridge for 2 weeks or more without hooch forming. It does get soupy, due to gluten breaking down, but I just don't get hooch.

If I'm going to be leaving home for a couple weeks, I'll store my starter at 50% hydration.

I bake almost every weekend when I'm home, so my starter is usually fed weekly, but that's not because something awful will happen to it if I left it longer.

A more liquid starter would need to be fed more often to stay healthy, since it will run out of "food" faster.

For "archiving," you can dry your starter. Here's how:

1. Feed a liquid starter 1-3 times, until it's really active. 

2. Feed the starter again and ferment it for an hour.

3. Spread a few (2-4) T. of starter very thin on a large sheet of wax paper. Let it dry at room temperature until it is dry flakes.

4. Scrape the dry flakes into a container that can be sealed air-tight. A small jar or a Zip-Loc freezer bag will do.

5. This will keep at room temperature more or less forever (Your lifetime?)

6. To re-activate, take a T. of the flakes and mix with 1 T. warm water and 1 T. flour. Ferment for 24 hours. Repeat feedings until it starts bubbling, then feed as you would a "new" starter.

Full disclosure: I've never done this. I did make a dried starter 2-3 years ago, but I've not tried re-activating it. Maybe I should, just for fun and to see if this technique about which I've only read actually works.

David