Dry sourdough.

Sourdough starter is a culture of fungi. By periodically refreshing it, we create the right environment for the spores of these fungi to develop again in a base of flour and water. If we didn't do this refresh, the sourdough starter would collapse, the fungi would die, and their spores would spoil. If we wanted to stop this sequence of refreshes indefinitely to restart it at our convenience, there are two possibilities: freeze the sourdough starter or dry it. Today we are going to talk about dried sourdough starter.

For the sourdough starter to develop properly, we need a source of spores, flour, and water. Nothing else. However, if too many days pass, the moisture in the sourdough starter itself causes other undesirable fungi and bacteria to appear, feeding on our fungi and their spores. Drying the sourdough starter prevents this degradation process precisely because we are removing the water. Without water, we will obtain a base of flour and dead fungi that will contain a high concentration of spores. Perfect!

How to dry sourdough starter.

Drying sourdough starter is much easier than it might seem. The first thing we need is, obviously, sourdough starter. A well-active starter that we refreshed the day before will be perfect.

The first step will be to spread the sourdough starter on a smooth surface (a wooden board or a tray) that we will previously cover with baking paper. On the surface of the paper, we will spread the sourdough starter with the help of a knife or a spatula, so that we obtain a layer as thin as possible (the thinner, the faster and easier the drying will be). Then we will cover this sourdough starter with another sheet of baking paper. It is also possible to use a single folded sheet. This will prevent our sourdough starter from getting dirty with dust or other particles that may be in the air during the process.

Once the sourdough starter is spread on the surface, we will leave it to dry for at least one day in a dry and warm place (around 25°C). Do not let it dry directly in the sun, as this could increase the temperature too much and damage the spores.

When you see that the dough is completely dry, you will notice that it has a uniform color and has turned into a kind of brittle wafer that peels off the baking paper by itself. That's it: this is the result we were looking for.

To preserve the dried sourdough starter, it is important that it does not absorb moisture again, so I recommend storing it in an airtight container. To make it easier to store, you can break it into pieces or even grind it before storing it.

Once the sourdough starter is dry and well stored, it can remain in a place protected from direct sunlight for a very long time: the environment is now perfect for the spores to be preserved for months or even years.

Reactivating the sourdough starter.

When we want to use the sourdough starter again (for example, after our well-deserved vacation), we just need to reactivate it. To do this, we dissolve the dried sourdough starter in a little room temperature water (if we grind it beforehand, it will dissolve faster), add flour as we always have to make our sourdough starter, and in a matter of hours, our starter will be back in full form. If it is not at 100% and has trouble growing, you may need to refresh it a few more times before using it.

I hope this sourdough starter preservation system helps you get rid of the typical excuse of “keeping a sourdough starter active requires a lot of consistency”. Come on: let's bake bread again!