A few days ago, as usual, I scraped out my starter container to make my levain for this week’s bake, set it aside and got on with my routine.
Usually, I’d add around 50ml of water, shake it around to create a very thin starter solution and throw it back in the fridge. Then, sometime during the following week, I’d add a bit of flour to get the consistency about right and pop it back into the fridge until my next prep day. It’s unorthodox, but it works for me.
But for some reason, this week I didn’t. I filled the container with water, let it soften the crusted up starter and flour over a few hours, then absent-mindedly tossed it away. I had intended to take a small sample from my new levain to propagate my wonderful creation — but I simply forgot to take that sample during the process.
And now it’s gone…
Well, sort of. The jam jar of manky looking frozen starter was sampled in 2022 from the main body. My hope is to bring it out of cryogenic deep sleep and hope we don’t get any mould formation. Anyone had much luck with thawing out a multi-year cryo-starter!?
by Winston_Orwell
34 Comments
You should have just fed the old jar. Even 0,1ml will be 1000’s of bacteria.
But the frozen stuff will also work fine.
Good luck!
(I always have a discard jar in the fridge as a backup)
Super sad! I dried some starter a few months ago and keep it sealed up in a cabinet because I was afraid something like this would happen!
good news: your starter is ever only actually a few days old 🙂
Did you make a new dough? You can just pull a piece off that before you cook it
Man it’s so weird that I’m seeing this post today. I did this today for the first time in my life. I had no emotional attachment to the starter – I’ve created many over the years and don’t know how old this one was, but the inconvenience of creating a new one when I bake so often was a huge bummer.
I considered scraping it out of the trash 😂, but realized if I fed the seemingly empty jar, it might come back.
I fed it. I’m sure it’ll be fine…
In software engineering we have this thing called 1-2-3 backup strategy. Three copies on two media with one off-site. So I have my starter dried stored in fridge and also one with my baker friend ✅
PM me if that doesn’t work and you want some dried starter to help kickstart a new one, me and Princess Sourdoughnut would be happy to help!
But definitely best of luck getting yours back up and going!
My reminder and prompt to dehydrate some of my starter!
No but I just baked my first zombie loaf (from dried starter I resurrected from the freezer) perfectly successfully. It was only 6 months old. But honestly I don’t think it makes much difference.
I don’t really believe in the aged starter- the amount of feeding and discarding you do surely means there is only such minimal left over even after one feed.
You’ll still have loads of wild yeasts in the air (the same that grew in your old starter) so I’d just start again and I’m sure you’ll be fine. Add some of the frozen yeast too if you want to
Next time in the trash. It can harden in the pipes and case issues. I don’t even wash my stirrer/jars in the sink.
Thawing has worked for me several times on a now six-year-old starter (which came from a decades old dried one).
You should definitely not wash starter down the drain. That stuff dries like cement and can clog pipes
So sorry this happened.
But I need to remark how fascinating it is that so many people use Bonne Maman jars for their starter. You’re probably in the US? I’m in Germany, and yep, I use those as well.
Anyhow, fingers crossed that you can revive the frozen starter and will soon have an active starter again.
Lmao my starter is in the exact same jar sorry to hear tho :<
Should come back just fine. If you bake often in the same kitchen, chances are your whole space is fairly colonized, so just leaving out a jar of flour and water with a wet towel on top should start fermenting pretty fast.
I only went up to a year in the freezer, but figured out that letting it fully defrost in the refrigerator before feeding brought it back properly. One of the starters I use often is a freezer reanimation 😀
When I tested by defrosting at room temp I got what I call a very angry, severe acetone smelling starter. High ratio feedings did not knock back the acetone smell, so a few tests were binned.
You’ll be fine with the frozen. Mine froze solid in the fridge just a few weeks ago and it honestly might taste better after it.
For what it’s worth, the spores that create the starter are generally endemic to a region. If your starter was started at your current house, the current town, or a smaller county, you should just be able to just get the same one going again by adding more water to flour and waiting 2 weeks.
I thawed one about a year old. Worked very well and got up to speed almost immediately. I did add some starter I had dehydrated as well so I’m not sure which was responsible.
Captain Hindsight here: You should’ve dried a piece of your starter as a backup
In fact, the amount of people not making backups of their starter by simply drying them is to high!
I need help with my first ever starter. It keeps going flat. I’m going buy different recipes. I need help if you have time to help a newbie.
I always keep a backup in the freezer! I’ve brought one back after 4 years in the freezer before! 😝
I also dry some starter to keep for emergency situations like that.
I bought “100 year old” starter online, but am now thinking that from a scientific standpoint all the yeast and bacteria that make it up would have evolved over millennia, so once you have an active culture I’m not sure what advantage aging has.
I started my sourdough and made a successful loaf from 2 year old freezed starter :>
No backups?!? I have frozen, dehydrated and a couple jars in the fridge. If you still have the jar, just feed it. Minimal Side scrapings are enough to create a new starter.
Give it a go! Bet it comes back.
I’ve heard you can dry it. I have a backup of dried in my cupboard. Never tried to use it. Does anyone know how long that will be good for. Or was it a flawed strategy from the start?
Hi. Hard luck, I hope you had a back up.
I have reconstituted frozen starter myself it did reactivate but needed strengthening.
Good luck and happy baking
If you have any bread left at all, fresh or frozen. Soak it in water for a day in the fridge, then use that water to feed a tiny bit of flour several times. I revived my starter from 6 week old frozen bread this way.
Guess you’ll have to… start over
It’s a myth that really old starters are somehow better. The same dominant bacterias in its environment take over quickly. Nothing is there “from years ago”, so no worries! Just start a new one.
*Research (notably from labs like those at NC State) has shown that what actually determines a starter’s microbial profile is the flour you feed it and the temperature you keep it at — not its age or geographic origin.*
I always keep a backup.
otherwise I would be on here posting the same thing.