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Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Sourdough Starter: Putting it Back in a Dehydrated State

Today is the first day of fall and I couldn't be happier!  I am so ready for the hot, humid days of summer to be over!  Normally, our fall days top off with highs in the 80's (for at least another month) and after the sweltering summer we've had that will be a welcome relief!

About a week ago, I started rehydrating my sour dough starter, whom I call Prudence, to see if she was still viable.  It had been 2 years since I had checked on her!  Yikes!  (If you've been following along the last week you'll know that she did indeed rehydrate well.)

I've done enough baking with Prudence to know that she is healthy and alive so, it's time to put her back in a dehydrated state. 

We don't eat a lot of bread at our house, but I don't want to lose Prudence.  That's why I rehydrate her occasionally just to make sure she is still viable.  My goal is to check on her once a year but it had been 2 years since I last checked and I was quite concerned that she might not be viable anymore.

Now that I know she is, I'm putting her back to sleep!


I fed her and let her work for a couple of hours and then spread her out on a parchment lined baking pan where I let her dry at room temperature.  

As the edges started drying I broke them off and transferred them to a different parchment lined baking pan.  I kept doing this until it was all dry enough to be broken into pieces.  

I'll let it dry another 24 - 48 hours at room temperature just to make sure she is good and dry, then I'll vacuum seal her in a jar, label it and return her to a pantry shelf.

To prevent it from being another 2 years before I 'check on Prudence' again, I'm going to make a note in my planner to give her a another check-up a year from now.

I hope you've enjoyed this little sourdough series!

patsi

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

My pantry is intentional, purposeful, simple, practical, frugal and what works for my family.  It’s the food items and household supplies that keep my household running smoothly ready and available when they are needed.  It’s my contribution to our family’s economy and my work-from-home ‘job.'

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13 comments:

  1. Patsi, it is so helpful to know sourdough starter can be put to sleep and reactivated. I've not tried baking with sourdough, one of the reasons being I'm not sure I could keep up with all the baking. We try not to eat too much bread, as well.

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  2. I have enjoyed your sourdough series. I'm glad that Prudence was able to be revived, and I hope she has a nice sleep.
    I tried making sourdough when the pandemic started since yeast was in short supply but it didn't work well. I think if I try again, I won't use whole wheat that I grind myself again. Did you start with King Arthur white flour?

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    1. Kathy, I used a store brand all purpose flour from start to finish. I did not use any specialty flour or 'high priced' flour. Prudence was made frugally from the start.

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  3. Years ago, I so remember the Amish Friendship Bread, with a sourdough starter. I'm wondering if this would be a good way to share with people who do not live close (sending dehydrated starter, sealed, via mail). Would you re-start a portion of the dried starter the same way, or would you need to re-hydrate and "feed it" proportionally?

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    1. Lori, you would need to rehydrate and 'feed it' proportionally. I remember the Amish Friendship Bread, I froze that bread, gave it away and finally just let it die. It was prolific!

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  4. I really enjoyed this series. After seeing the muffins it got me to thinking that that starter would be a good sub if baking powder and baking soda came into short supply as yeast did.

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    1. Cookie, I hadn't thought about that, you're exactly right! Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

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    2. Patsy, can you share the recipe you used for starter?

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    3. Cookie, This lady uses the same method that I did, only I used well water and all purpose flour. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB6Y4IEvRxI

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  5. Thank you. Good to know because we have well water too.

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    1. Cookie, if this doesn't work for you or if you'd prefer, I can send you enough dried starter from Prudence to get you going. Just email or message me if you decide you want the starter. Good luck!

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