How to Revive Your Dried Sourdough Starter

Welcome to the Sourdough Family!

Sourdough is the oldest and most original form of leavened bread and was used at least as early as ancient Egyptian times. All sourdough bread recipes begin with a starter just like this one. Welcome!

How long does dried sourdough last? 

I've seen a variety of answers to this, anywhere from years to decades. Dried starter is a fun gift that keeps on giving. You can give it as-is in it's cute packaging, or place it in a little jar with a cute lid, attach with a card with the link to these instructions, and viola! A personal homemade gift!

Reviving Your Dried Sourdough

Don't have any dried starter? Order PNW Organic Dried Starter here.

Reviving your dried sourdough starter is easy! Your dried sourdough culture is dormant, but alive. It will need a few days of feeding and care to wake it back up to beautiful bubbly goodness to prepare for baking. Here's how I make a strong, vibrant sourdough culture.

Day 1:

• In a small bowl, stir together 1-1/2 tsp and 1 Tablespoon lukewarm filtered water. Cover with plastic wrap and soak for 15-20 minutes or until softened.
• When water is absorbed and sourdough flakes are soft, add in 1/2 Tablespoon unbleached all-purpose or bread flour and 1/2 Tablespoon stone ground rye flour mix well.
• Cover with plastic wrap or non-tightened lid, and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours.

 Day 2 (morning):

To the above mix, stir in one Tablespoon unbleached all-purpose or bread flour + 2 teaspoons of filtered lukewarm water @ 85 degrees F.

Cover and let sit 12 hours at room temp.

Day 2 (evening):

Add another 1-1/2 tsp of unbleached flour, 1-1/2 tsp of stoneground rye flour, and just 1 teaspoon of filtered water this time. Stir, cover and let sit at room temp for 12 hours.

Day 3: 

Today you'll transfer your starter into a container or large mouth jar with plenty of room for expansion.

Weigh the empty jar without the lid. Add 35g sourdough starter to the jar and discard the rest of starter mixture.

To your 35g starter, add: 25g unbleached all-purpose flour, 25g stoneground rye flour, 60g lukewarm filtered water @85degrees F. Stir until incorporated. 

Within the next 12-24 hours your starter should begin to show some bubbly activity!

Day 4:

Weigh 50g starter (discard the rest), add 50g stoneground rye flour + 50g unbleached all-purpose flour +100g lukewarm water @85 degrees F.

 Day 5:

Same as day 4.

Continue building the starter with once or twice daily feedings (equal parts starter, flours and 2x water) until you have a sufficient quantity to use for baking.

Regular Maintenance Feeding for a Strong Sourdough Culture

Your sourdough starter is alive and requires food to stay strong and healthy for baking. If you're doing a few bakes/week, you'll want to feed it daily.

Your daily or weekly feeding: 25g mature starter + 25g stoneground rye four + 25g unbleached all-purpose flour + 50g filtered room temp water.

If you bake once/week or less, you can feed it weekly- place in the fridge right after feeding. A few days before you plan on baking, take out, thaw to room temp, and feed couple times before baking with it.

Sourdough Resources:

The Ultimate Sourdough Starter Guide - Joshua Weissman

Framed Chic EASY Sourdough Bread Recipe - Framed Chic

Sourdough Discard Recipes - King Arthur Bread