November 25, 2024 - 1:39pm
dehydrated starter
I'd like to send a little dehydrated starter ahead of me to have my spouse start it.
I seem to remember just spreading some on a piece of foil and let it sit a few days to get the chips.
What’s the way to ready it for use and how much time should be allowed?
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…to test my dehydrated flakes (paranoid failsafe)… This is also pretty much how I prep a levain for a batch of dough, except I would start with 5-10 g of my refrigerated seed starter.
Gen1: Mix 5 g flakes, 5 g water, counter rest 12 hours
Gen 2: Mix 10 g Gen1, 20 g water, 20 g flour, counter rest 12 hours
Gen 3: Mix 50 g Gen 2, 100 g water, 100 g flour, counter rest 12 hours
If it’s not really perking (mine was) by now, you may have to go a few more generations and deal with discard. When it’s finally as lively as you want it, mix 50 g with 50 g each water and flour for a new batch of seed starter. Store in a small jar tightly covered in refrigerator. You can prep your levains following the same method if you don’t have some other preferred build sequence.
Bonne chance,
Phil
so your 1st step is a flourless rehydration.?
The flakes are mostly flour, though fermented…
Jeffrey Hamelman posted here about his sourdough maintenance in Aug 2021. Here is the relevant part to answer your question. "I try to remember to dry some of the rye culture every year. I take maybe 10 grams of ripe culture and patiently rub it with roughly 100 g of whole rye. I put it into a square of cheesecloth or an old (clean!) cotton sock and leave it on my desk. I've successfully re-hydrated the culture after two-plus years of dormancy. I'm currently holding some dried culture back to see how it does after five years. It's a good idea for all bakers to keep some dried culture as a back-up, just in case. I also like to dry some as it preserves the culture's "DNA.""
His full post is here: Starter maintenance | The Fresh Loaf
Cheers,
Gavin
thanks for the link
If it'll only take a few days then there is an easy route. Rub some starter into flour, like you're making a pastry dough and rubbing butter into flour. Use a high enough ratio of flour to starter so it'll be completely dry. Then seal it in a container and mail it. All your spouse will have to do is add water and some more flour to make a paste and wait. Biggest issue might be sending starter and flour through the mail. They might get suspicious of a powder.
I would clearly mark it as athlete's foot or cat dander
cool. dry rub method, once it gets there, 1:1:1 feeding, or feed as normal from the start, which for me is usually ~30g water and AP, or small slow but larger than 1:1:1 until it's talking?
How long should it take to be usable? Day, 3 days, week?
There would already be some fresh flour included. What your partner should do is weigh the dry amount, add the same weight in water and mix into a paste. Then feed it, as you would with a stater, 2:1:1. Keep warm and do nothing till it begins to bubble. don't think it should be too long to wait. But as always start off with small feeds, wait till it matures before feeding again and slowly increase the feeds to match its strength.
it seems from other reading that many are taking their rubbed and even liquid starter in their carry-on and/or checked and reviving it upon arrival. My Door to door is prolly about 10hrs. I think I will check and perhaps mail as back-up.
I've carried refreshed starter in a child-proof plastic pill bottle, in my toilet kit, on many many international flights. Usually in checked luggage. It's been fine, refreshed again even after many days at destination. For most trips, there's no need to dehydrate it.
But it's always good to have some dried down as a back-up or share-able. The more people you share your dried starter with, the more options you have to beg some back if yours craps out on you for some reason.
Tom
good to know
When dry - send the flakes - about a couple weeks to rehydrate and turn into a viable starter. Enjoy!
All you need to do is rub some starter in (a lot of) flour, quick and simple and that will revive very quickly.
-Jon
Edit: woops Abe got there before me, sorry for repeating what others have said.
And, I have taken a small 'eye make-up' container worth of this kind of starter in my toiletry bag.
I spread mine on baking paper to ‘archive’ some periodically. More bottom escape routes for water than foil.
To resuscitate, gently crush to make as powdery as possible, then hydrate to its normal hydration and treat as any inoculum you’d seed a typical starter refreshment with. Only be patient: drying results in more mortality than a normal day to day or week to week refreshment. It can take many more hours and another refreshment or two before your children are back in top form (and viable numbers).
Tom