The Passionate Pantry

"If you have a dream, you have a responsibility to yourself to make it come true; because if you don't, you're just a dreamer" Marco Pierre White

Menu
  • Home
  • About Gina
  • Recipes
    • Baking
      • Biscuits / Crackers
      • Breads
      • Cakes
      • Cupcakes
      • Muffins
      • Icings
      • Pastry
      • Scones
      • Slices
    • Main Ingredients
      • Chocolate
      • Dairy
      • Eggs
      • Grains
      • Legumes
      • Meats
      • Nuts / Seeds
      • Pasta
      • Poultry
      • Seafood
      • Vegetables
    • Meals and Courses
      • Breakfast
      • Dessert
      • Dinner
      • Drinks
      • Lunch
      • Nibbles
      • Salads
      • Sauces / Condiments
      • Soups
      • Spreads / Dips
    • Special Diets
      • Dairy Free
      • Gluten Free
      • Nut Free
      • Paleo
      • Raw
      • Vegan
      • Vegetarian
    • Recipes from A – Z
    • Close
  • Thermomix
  • Art Classes
  • Suppliers
  • Contact Gina
You are here: Home / Recipes / Sourdough: How to take a break from your starter

Sourdough: How to take a break from your starter

30/04/2020 by Gina Leave a Comment

If you are going away for a period of time and don’t have anyone to look after your starter, here are some options.

Firstly, please be assured that your starter will be fine in the fridge for up to a month without attention if necessary.

If I am going away for just two or three weeks, I feed my starter the day before I leave to activate it, remove what I need to and feed it again to go back into the fridge so I know it has been freshly fed and is happy. When I get home, the next day the first thing I do is repeat this process and usually the starter is totally fine. It may be a touch sluggish for your first bake but it won’t take long to bounce back.

So these are the other options for longer periods of absence:

Dry your starter (this is also a great way to post your starter to others interstate or overseas):

Smear your starter as thinly as possible on a silicon mat and let it fully dry (be patient as this can take up to 48 hours).

After 24 hours, gently peel off the pieces that are still damp and turn them over so that the air can get to both sides: once all the starter is completely dry break into flakes and store in an airtight container – dried starter can be stored for months.

To restart it:

  • On Day 1 – dissolve 30g of flakes in 120g filtered water, stirring occasionally until the flakes have fully dissolved, then stir in 120g rye flour and allow to become active (which is when you see bubbles), this can take a whole day but leave on the bench overnight to mature;
  • On Day 2 – feed the starter 80g rye flour and 120g filtered water and allow to rise as per normal. The starter in now ready to use.

Dried starter stored in a glass jar for future use

Make a thick starter:

Activate your starter by feeding it as per usual until bubbly;  then add as much rye flour as necessary to make it into a solid mass; keep it in the fridge until needed (the thick batter will maintain the yeast better over longer periods of inactivity in the fridge);  before using rehydrate the starter with filtered water until it’s a thick pancake like batter;  then feed it as per normal and keep in a warm place allowing it to become active.

Freeze your starter:

Whilst I have never done this myself, I have read that you can freeze your starter for few months at a time.  The longer the starter is frozen, the less viable the microorganisms will be, so plan to only do this for a few months and preferably not a year, although I have read that is possible too.

To freeze the starter, combine 75g active starter with 75g rye flour (so that you have 150g).  Mix and knead these ingredients together until you have a stiff ball. Allow it to ferment at room temperature for an hour then place it into a container or freezer bag, mark date on it and freeze.  When you are ready to use it, thaw at room temperature and feed it as you would normally.

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Baking, Breads, Breakfast, Dinner, Grains, Lunch, Main Ingredients, Meals and Courses, Nut Free, Recipes, Special Diets, Vegan, Vegetarian

« Sourdough: Maintaining your starter
Sourdough: Overview of 2 to 3 day process »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About Gina

For as long as I can remember I have loved being around food, not just eating it but cooking with it too!

From the young age of eleven I had always dreamed of working somehow within the food industry, but as it turned out that wasn’t my calling ... Read More…

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Search this site

Browse Our Recipes

Latest Recipes

Brown Sugar Meringue Bites

Lemon Sugar Syrup

Sourdough: Discard Crackers

Connect on Pinterest

The Passionate Pantry

Pinterest

Connect on Facebook

Cover for The Passionate Pantry
2,772
The Passionate Pantry

The Passionate Pantry

As a lover of all good food, I get so much joy from sharing whatever knowledge, techniques, tips, hi

The Passionate Pantry

2 months ago

The Passionate Pantry

About Gina - The Passionate Pantry

www.thepassionatepantry.com.au

UPDATE JUNE 2022 Beautiful foodie friends ... I must come clean! After “missing in action” for some months, the guilt of not posting recipes has finally got to me. I always knew there would come a...
View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Connect on Instagram

thepassionatepantry

Flourless Chocolate Olive Oil Cake … this is not Flourless Chocolate Olive Oil Cake … this is not a large cake (it’s baked in a 20cm round cake tin), but it is rich, dark and dense and a small slice is just perfect.

Here I have served it with a raspberry coulis as I had some in the fridge, and a dollop of fresh cream. But I have also offered a recipe for a “Coffee Cream” in the post to serve with the cake too.

This version is nut free (I have used toasted sunflower seeds), but you can also use almonds if nuts are not an issue in your home.

The cake is also dairy free, is very quick to make, and gives you eight serves similar to what you see in the post here:

https://www.thepassionatepantry.com.au/flourless-chocolate-olive-oil-cake/

#thepassionatepantry
#perthfoodie
#perthfoodblogger
#foodbloggerperth
#thermomix
#bakedtreats
#feedingthefamily
#glutenfreebaking
#dairyfreebaking
#chocolateoliveoilcake
Marrakesh Carrots … this is a fabulous dish … Marrakesh Carrots … this is a fabulous dish … it is easy to make, and leftovers keep well in the fridge for up to three days.

I use a Thermomix to chop the carrots (it is quicker than trying to grate them), and I do like the chunky texture that gives me as opposed to “grating” which can sometimes make the carrot a little wet.

The dressing can be blended in a bowl if preferred, and the rest of the salad is prepared by hand so that I get plenty of texture.

This salad goes so well with just about any protein, and is a favourite in our home … with another hot spell fast approaching, this may be one that you would like to try:

https://www.thepassionatepantry.com.au/marrakesh-carrots/

#thepassionatepantry
#perthfoodie
#perthfoodblogger
#foodbloggerperth
#thermomix
#feedingthefamily
#marrakeshcarrots
#freshsaladsforhotdays
Honey Cake – this cake is delicious just on its Honey Cake – this cake is delicious just on its own and does not need icing, but I do try to minimise waste, so when I have little bits of leftover icing from other bakes (in this case Caramel Icing from a Sticky Date Cake I made a month ago, and White Chocolate Icing from the cupcakes I made last week) I put the leftovers into small containers in the freezer … then I can often combine two or three (in this case the two icings I mentioned) which will give me enough for what I need. So last night I took the two icings from the freezer and placed them in the fridge, then this morning I removed them from the fridge and put them on my bench to allow them to come to room temperature, they were then combined and used to dress this cake. It is such a great way to use us icing “scrapes”, and no-one else is the wiser 

Links to the separate recipes are here:

https://www.thepassionatepantry.com.au/honey-cake-a-jewish-celebration-cake/
https://www.thepassionatepantry.com.au/white-or-dark-chocolate-icing/
https://www.thepassionatepantry.com.au/sticky-date-cake/

#thepassionatepantry
#perthfoodie
#perthfoodblogger
#foodbloggerperth
#thermomix
#bakedtreats
#feedingthefamily
#honeycake 
#savingmoney
@savingscrapes
Chocolate Buttermilk Cupcakes with White Chocolate Chocolate Buttermilk Cupcakes with White Chocolate Icing … requested for our number 2 son’s birthday today … these are so easy to make, and keep well for a few days at room temperature … but if it is really warm in your home (so that the icing may melt) then I would keep them in the fridge but remove them at least 30 minutes before serving.

To make things super easy for me, I decided to use up some chocolate leftovers from Christmas, so topped the cupcakes with a packet of mini Cherry Ripe’s (one of my favourite), and Nespresso Dark Chocolate tablets (they are super yummy too!) xo

Recipes for both can be found here:

https://www.thepassionatepantry.com.au/chocolate-buttermilk-cupcakes/
https://www.thepassionatepantry.com.au/white-or-dark-chocolate-icing/

Happy birthday dear Sam … love having you in our lives xo 

#thepassionatepantry
#perthfoodie
#perthfoodblogger
#foodbloggerperth
#bakedtreats
#feedingthefamily
#familybirthdays
#quickandeasybaking
Load More Follow on Instagram

Copyright The Passionate Pantry © 2022

 

Loading Comments...