Getting Ready to Rehydrate our Premium Dried Sourdough Starter
Rehydrating a brand-new sourdough starter may seem intimidating. We have taken all the guess work out of it for you and have designed a couple simple steps to help you with this process.
Day 1
In a glass jar, mix about 5 grams (2tsp.) of dried starter with about 15 grams (1Tbs.) of WARM water. Let sit for about 30 minutes to rehydrate. After 30 minutes, stir in about 15 grams (2Tbs.) of flour. Cover and let sit for 24 hours.
Day 2
Stir in 10 grams (4 tsp.) of unbleached flour and 10 grams (2tsp.) of warm water. (should be a thick consistency) you might have to add a little more flour or water to get the desired consistency. Cover and let sit for 24 hours.
Day 3
Stir in 15 grams (2Tbs.) of unbleached flour and 15 grams (1Tbs.) of warm water. (Should be a thick consistency) Might have to add a little more flour or water for the right consistency. Cover and let sit for 24 hours.
Day 4-5
Discard about half of the starter (doesn't have to be exact) and feed 30 grams (2Tbs.) warm water and 30 grams (4Tbs.) unbleached flour. Should be a thick consistency. Cover and let sit on the counter for 24 hours. You will be repeating this step unitl the starter has doubled in size. If it has already doubled in size by this day then you are ready to start baking with it and can feed any ratio that works best for you and your new starter.
* You will want to use any kind of unbleached flour to feed your new starter, it can be all purpose flour of bread flour.
Maintaining your Live Active Starter
After receiving your Live Active Starter
Upon receiving your starter, you will add 1/4 cup really warm water to the jar it came in and shake up until the sides of the jar are clean and the water is a milky color. Then you will want to move it to a bigger jar and feed a 1:2:2 ratio so since we used 1/4 cup water, you'll add in 1/4 cup unbleached flour, it should be a pancake batter consistency when you are done mixing it or even a little thicker than that is good. It is better to be a little thicker than to watery.
Maintaining your starter on the counter
When you maintain your starter on the counter you will want to keep in mind that it is best to feed your starter in the morning and not the afternoon. If you feed in the afternoon, you may miss the rise due to it taking a couple of hours to reach its peak. Once you find a good ratio that works best for you and your starter you will want to feed every 12-24 hours. This time will also be determined by how warm/cold your kitchen is. If you have a warm kitchen and notice after you feed that your starter is rising and falling before the evening, then you will want to feed every 12 hours to make sure your starter doesn't go hungry through the night.
Maintaining your starter in the fridge
Maintaining a sourdough starter in the fridge is the ideal, low-maintenance solution if you only bake once a week or every few weeks. Cold temperatures drastically slow down the wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria fermentation, putting your starter into a semi-dormant hibernation state. To keep it healthy, aim for a weekly feeding schedule, though a strong, mature stater can easily survive two weeks between feedings. When its time to feed, pull the jar from the fridge, discard all but a small portion (around 20-30 grams), and feed it equal parts unbleached flour and filtered water by weight. So if you have 20 grams of starter, you will feed 20 grams unbleached flour and 20 grams of water. If you plan to bake immediately after, let the freshly fed starter sit on the counter at room temperature of 4 to 8 hours until it doubles in size and bubbles vigorously. If you are simply maintaining it without baking, let it sit at room temperature for about 1-2 hours to kickstart yeast activity before sealing the jar and popping it right back into the fridge
Sourdough Ratio Examples
