Drying Sourdough Starter

[cwcdesign]

Hi all,

Way back when (2011) we had a discussing on KABC about drying sourdough starter as I was leaving for Ireland. I did it successfully both ways but now I cannot remember the amount I dried.

Will is getting ready to head to Dallas to live with a friend and check it out. He would like to take some in an envelope (which is what I did). We cannot figure out how much I dried. It was much less than what PJ recommends in her 2015 article on the blog. She talks about rehydrating an ounce of the starter, but how much would you need to dry to end up with that?

Thanks, for your help

Spread the word

      

  

  

[Mike Nolan]

I don't think it takes a lot, I've heard of people who just smear some on a piece of paper, let it dry and then mail it to someone.

Of course that means a bit more work building it back up.

The research on drying starters is pretty minimal, it isn't clear what it does to the mixture of yeasts and bacteria. My guess is the yeasts dry better than the bacteria, but some of the presentations at the J&W Bread Symposium last year seemed to say that the feeding schedule is the biggest factor in what yeasts and LAB/AAB are present. They should have those online on YouTube later this year if they're not there already.

A 100% hydration starter would essentially be half water and half flour, so two ounces of starter should dry down to about an ounce of dried starter.

[Author]

Posts