Sourdough starter drying and re-starting

1 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient

Directions



How to dry and restart a culture from dadams@... (David Adams) Drying:

For long term culture storage, store your culture in dried powder form. Ed Woods book doesn't tell you how to do this right out, but I sort of discovered it on my own. Actually I believe it is an old trick. Spread a three foot long section of wax paper on the Table WAX SIDE UP. Smear one tablespoon of fresh culture around evenly and thinly over the surface of the wax paper. Let it dry overnight, and then scrape the dry flakes into a bowl and crunch them (Mortal & pestle style) into small pieces. Put the powder into a labeled zip lock bag and press the air out.

The culture forms spores when it starts to dry out. The culture will store in a zip lock bag at normal temperatures like this for 6 months. It will store even longer in the frezer.

I find that a zip-lock bag is very convenient way to carry a culture when traveling or moving. Make sure the bag is labled and don't flaunt those little bags of white powder!

I find it convenient to do several sheets of wax paper at once. Then when friends ask for a start I spoon two teaspoons into a new bag, and carry it to work, or where ever I will see them next.

Another reason I find this convenient is that if you own several different cultures, they don't all have to occupy a bottle in the fridge at once.

And it is fairly easy to include a small zip-lock with a teaspoon or two of start in a letter. An easy way to share starts.

Restarting:

Dr. Wood recomends the following steps for activating dried sourdough cultures:

Mix a couple of teaspoons of the dried powder with ½ cup of water at 95 to 100 deg F. Mix briefly and let stand for 15 min. Add ⅓ cup of white bread flour, mix well and proof for 24 hours at 85 deg. F. (My start needs 12 hours.) "The jar lid should not be tightened. During the first 12 hours the culture should be stirred once or twice as convenient.

"At the end of 24 hours the culture should start to bubble but the time varies depending on which culture is to be activated. Regardless, add an additional ½ cup of 85 deg. F. water and ½ cup of flour. Then stir vigorously to whip some air into the mixture. Return it to your warm place for 12 hours. When the culture has a layer of foamy bubbles on the surface, it is ready to use.

Some of the cultures will fully activate in 24-48 hours, but some may require 3 to 5 days. During this time, keep the culture at 85 deg. F., add water and flour at about 12 hour intervals and stir briskly." (Copied by permission from information sheet sent with culture sample from Sourdoughs International.)

>From: "Steven A. Hocevar" <STEVE@...> From: Bread-Bakers Archives: ftp.best.com/pub/reggie/archives/bread/recipe Recipe By : Sourdough Newsgroup

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