January 10, 2022 - 6:09pm
My starter has died. Can I use a piece of my sourdough bread as a seed to make a new starter?
Hello all,
My three year old stiff (65% hydration/all bread flour) starter died in the last two days. I have back ups in the freezer as well as dehydrated flakes in a zip lock. I am leaving tomorrow on a vacation so can't baby sit the starting of a new starter. I am wondering if one can use a piece of their existing bread as a seed to start a new starter?
My thought is to soak a large piece of bread in warmish water for a day or two and then use that strained water as the water for the new starter. Would that work or in any way help speed things along? Will any of the yeastie/beasties transfer from the chunk of bread into the water? Thanks in advance for any ideas regarding the matter.
Best,
wvdthree
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the yeast has been killed off. Dehydrated starter takes a couple of days to reactivate anyway. Just before you leave add enough water to the dehydrated starter to make a paste. Then feed this paste 1:2:2 and leave it at room temperature while you're away for a couple of days. This way by the time you get back it'll just about be ready for another feed. Even if it wakes up 24 hours later it won't be the end of the world if it is another 24 hours before feeding again.
Firstly, condolences on the loss of your pet.
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It's unclear if you're talking about
a) taking "something" with you to use while on vacation. You say you can't babysit the starter on vacation so you want an "instant" starter to use while on vacation?
b) you want to do "something" now before you leave and so have a ready to use starter when you come back.
c) You want to do nothing now, but do something when you come back, in order to get back baking as quickly as possible.
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If your frozen starter is no more than 90 days old, that will be the quickest to revive. 90 to 120 days, it will most likely come back but take longer. Over 120 days, there is a slim chance, but less than 50% probability of revival.
Net: When you get back, use the thawed out frozen as the seed of a new starter. If you are in a hurry, start the revival of a dried starter at the same time in case the frozen died too. But if the frozen is still good, it will likely be ready before the dried one is.
Hope this helps.
Thanks Dave and Abe for your responses. Yes, I am wanting to restart my starter after I return from a ten day vacation. My frozen starter is probably a year old (should have been freezing more recent batches) so I will try it but will hope my dehydrated flakes are still active. Thanks again!!
wvdthree
I was under the impression it was two. In which case it might be better to begin reviving your stored starters when you get back.
to try this....
take a half teaspoon of your dried starter and hydrates into a tablespoon of water, then add flour until you get a stiff dough ball. Pinch the flour in so that it just holds itself together. Roll with flour. Set into a jar with plenty of head space, a tablespoon of flour on the bottom, and cover with typing paper fixed with a rubber band.
Don't know your temps as this will affect the speed of growth but when you come back it might be ready to feed and use.
Or something similar.... ball of dough in a paper bag starter. Tried it once and it worked very well. Was thinking about suggesting it.
Place in a jar or paper bag but erased the paper bag. Ha! The extra flour is to absorb any goop that cracks the ball and tries to escape.
The goop inside will be the starter, the outer shell that forms should protect it and may harden enough to take a hammer to it.
It was so easy. Don't need to do anything! I saw your write up on it and had to see for myself. Worked just as you said it would.