I going to show you how to dry sourdough starter. Why? Because drying is the best way to preserve your sourdough starter for the long term.
So you’ve jumped on the sourdough bandwagon, YAY! It’s so much fun, isn’t it?
But, there are times when real life interferes and you may not be able to bake for quite a while. Or maybe you want to share your starter with a friend who lives far away. Or maybe you just really hate to discard that discard.
The solution is this incredibly easy-to-do process for drying your starter. Once the starter is completely dried, your hard-won wild yeast goes dormant. The dried starter chips can then be stored indefinitely.
You can also pack some chips into a small envelope and mail them to a friend. I mailed some to my daughter who lives 3000 miles away. It’s a nice way to share from afar.
FAQs about drying sourdough starter and preserving sourdough starter:
I dried both a recently fed starter and sourdough discard which hadn’t been fed in over a week. I was able to revive both, but the dried sourdough discard did need an extra feeding before it was ready to use.
Yes, but don’t turn on the heat. Use the convection fan without heat or just leave the tray in the cool oven with the oven light on.
Yes.
Yes, it may take a bit longer but just leave it out at room temperature until it is completely dry and brittle. The time will vary based on the ambient humidity in your kitchen.
Indefinitely.
Add water and flour and wait for it to come back to life. Follow the instructions listed below.
If you find this information helpful, I’d really appreciate a 5-star review!
How to Dry Sourdough Starter
Drying is the best way to preserve your sourdough starter for the long term.
Materials
- Active Sourdough Starter
Tools
- Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment paper
- Half sheet pan
- Small spatula
Instructions
To dry the starter:
- Line the sheet pan with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. The silicone mat works best so use it if you have one.
- Pour the starter onto the sheet pan and spread it out to a thin, even layer.
- Place the pan in a cool, dry place, uncovered. I put mine into the oven with the convection fan on and no heat.
- After 18-24 hours check the starter. It should peel off the mat. If underneath the starter is still moist you can peel it off, flip over the pieces and leave them to continue drying.
- The starter is ready when it is completely dry and crisp. The texture should be like a potato chip which snaps when broken into pieces. You should have half the weight that you started with. If you started with 12 oz of starter you will get 6 oz of dried starter.
- Break the starter into chips and store in an airtight container at room temperature.
- The dried starter will keep indefinitely.
To revive the dried starter: (yield 9 oz of starter)
- Place 1/2 oz (14g) of starter chips in a plastic or glass container. Pour 1 oz (28g) of warm water over the chips and stir to cover the chips with water.
- Cover the container and set it aside until all the chips have melted into the water. This usually takes about 3-4 hours. The starter will not look active at this point.
- Add another 1/2 oz (14g) of warm water and 1 oz (28g) of unbleached flour to the starter. Stir to combine. Cover and set aside for 4-6 hours. Now you should begin to see activity in the starter.
- Add 3 oz (84g) of warm water and 3 oz (84g) of unbleached flour to the starter. Stir to combine. Cover and set aside for 3-4 hours or until the starter has doubled in size and looks quite active.
- If after 4-6 hours the starter still seems sluggish, discard all but 3 oz of the starter and do one more feeding.
- Use in your recipe as needed.
- The amounts listed can be multiplied out to yield more starter.
ponyboy
please learn to provide proper units of measure. learn the difference between volume and weight and when to use which.
ie: 14 grams of water?! your article while probably helpful reads ridiculously fast.
Eileen Gray
There’s no need to be rude. I weigh water in grams all the time when I’m feeding my starter.
James
LOL! Worst comment ever. Water can be measured in grams or volume.
Tina
For the case of water volume always equals weight and so it is proper to use either!
And I find it actually easier if water is measured in weight since I am already using a scale for the sourdough starter and/or flour etc when baking and don’t need to take out a measuring cup just for the water. This way I’ll have more working space 😉
And EIleen thank you for this how-to, I’m gonna make a few dry starter batches to send out for Christmas!
Eileen Gray
I use weight specifically for this process because you’re working with such small quantities. Being exact with the measurements is even more important with you dealing with smaller measurement.
John
I always measure my water in grams. One millilitre of water is 1 gram in mass (ok – pure and at standard temp, etc., but it’s close enough for the kitchen to always assume this). A recipe given in baker’s percentages assumes the water is being weighed just like everything else. In fact, the only time I don’t weigh an ingredient is when I have a recipe from an American that I know just scoops flour and gives the measurement in volume. I have found that in that case, weighing the flour will result in too slack a dough/batter — so I’ll follow the scoop method then. Otherwise — weigh everything — it’s much more accurate. I have verified the volume of several kitchen wet measuring cups I have and have found the markings to be as much as 1 fl. oz. off. That may not sound like a lot, but it can make the difference between success and mediocrity.
Liz Reynolds
no need to be rude., Instead of learning about sourdough you need. learn to be polite
If you are unhappy with the way the author writes recipes simple go to another site.
Sourdough really isn’t rocket science.
.It has been around for centuries and they certainly did not have the conveniences for measurement that are available today
I appreciate the authors willingness to share her thoughts and ideas
Danielle
Thanks so much for this post! I hope you can help!
I dried my starter in a thin layer on parchment and kept it in my oven (off) for 18 hours. I just peeled it up to flip any still moist pieces and some moister bits have almost a brown but greenish tint on the underside. Is this normal? It doesn’t look like mold, but just made me nervous…
Eileen Gray
It’s hard to say without seeing it, but when I dried mine the top and bottom sides were different colors. The top got a kind of grayish/beige color and the underside was whiter. I’d be surprised if it would grow mold within 18 hours. Were you drying active starter or a more dormant discard? Discard can become grayish if it’s been unfed. Are there any off odors or does it just smell fermented? My first suggestion would be to let the underside finish drying and see what it looks like. I dried one of my trays at room temp for several days and didn’t get any mold at all. In the end, if you’re still nervous maybe you can just break off the discolored pieces and use the rest?
Jenni
What setting would I use on my dehydrated?
Eileen Gray
I don’t have a dehydrator so I couldn’t say. Anyone else know?
Laura Lee
I have a convection oven, but am not aware of a way to turn on the fan without the heat. How did you do this on your oven? Do you just have a setting on it for fan only?
Eileen Gray
I can turn on the fan without heat in my oven. You could also just leave the tray out at room temperature for a couple of days.
Connie Merritt
please help me – i dehydrated my starter, then tried to re-hydrate– it failed(after 3 days of feeds- i gave up.
so, my best guess is that my oven with the light on was too hot during the drying stage– and cooked iT!!! with the light on my oven gets about 87-90 F
please tell me what would be the max temperature for this?
Thank you for all your shared info.!!!
Connie
Eileen Gray
I don’t think that temp range would kill the yeast since I use water over 100F for making bread. Try dehydrating at room temp (it will take a few days) and see if that works better. I found that it also made a difference how active my starter was when I dried it. Discard took a couple of feeding to become active. Did you use warm water for rehydrating?
Ose Krüger
I am currently experimenting with Sauerdough and I am really glad that I found your site. Thank you for the detailed instructions for drying the starter .In the past I have made “krümel – starter” and just a while ago I debated if I could vitamise the crumbs and if it would be easier to start the next batch ..
We have brought up a large family and most of our children and their partners have embraced the “good old fashion taste” and making lovely home baked goods ( including bread )
It is indeed lovely to sit together over a meal and encourage each other with more insights and new recipes .
Looking forward to browse through your recipes , THANK YOU , Ose Krüger from Adelaide / South Australia
Charles
I have dried my starter as you suggest and it is now in a jar.
My question is, would it be possible to grind the flakes and use them like a normal dried yeast?
As it will not be as strong as bought dried yeast I would double the mmount used..
What do you think?
Eileen Gray
I’ve been doing experiments with ground dried starter. I’m not ready to publish yet, but I am working on it.
P.S. Great minds think alike, I guess!
John
I don’t think using it directly in a recipe would work — it can take 12 hours or more for a dehydrated starter to “wake up” and become really active. Remember — the dried yeast we get from the store is a strain that is specifically chosen because it wakes up fast, the yeasts in our starters are wild.
That being said, grinding may well save hours off of the front end of waking up the starter because it won’t take as long to rehydrate. I haven’t done this, but it seems reasonable. Also, if grinding in a food processor or Vitamix, use several short pulses — allowing the machine to run too long will heat the dry starter, possibly killing our dormant yeasts and bacteria.
Iris
I have wanted to use sourdough starter but am not always home to feed so i disregarded any reCipes using starter. Yeah. Thank You for your post about drying starter. I am a new subscriber of your blog. I found it when looking for a buttermilk bundt cake recipe. Lucky me. I can already see how informative and useful it will be and can’t wait to starting baking. Not only do you recipes look great but the informative intro. Will make me a much better baker.
Eileen Gray
Thanks Iris. I’m doing quite a bit of experimenting with dried sourdough starter. Stay tuned!
John
I have had great success keeping small amounts of starter in the refrigerator when I’m not baking every couple of days. I mix 20g starter with 20g flour and 20g water Leave on the counter for an hour and then stick in the refrigerator. Even after several weeks of no feeding, it usually wakes up after a feeding or two. Just take it out a day or two before you want to bake, stir the hooch back in, feed 60g flour and 60g water with no discard, then 180g flour and 180g water about 12 hours later (sooner if it has reached its peak), again with no discard. Then feed normally. In the refrigerator, I always keep it in the coldest section, which is about 38F or 3C.
Kathleen Miller
This is positively genius! I can’t wait to try it!
Lore
Great idea
Jaki
I bought an old (1970s) book about bread and inside is a packet of dried starter. I’m tempted to see if it works….also scared I will poison myself….
Rosemaree Wildfong
Thank you for the tip. I am able To my starter so drying it a wonderful idea.