Hydrate dry sourdough starter

Terminology

• starter (culture)
  • The mix of of flour, water, and bacteria that creates delicious bread
• Active starter (levain)
  • A starter that is at peak activity.
  • Typically has risen 2-3x it’s starting volume
  • A healthy starter will become active in 4-8 hours depending on room temperature
• Dry starter
  • What you have in a jar to start
  • Dry starter is active starter that is spread thing and dried out. This preserves the bacteria to be reactivated with more water and flour
• Regular feeding
  • Mix 5g starter, 20g water, and 20g flour until fully incorporated

Day 1

• Put dry sourdough starter in jar
• Measure 40g water
• Mix until starter is thoroughly incorporated
  • This can take 3-5 minutes
• Measure out 40g all purpose flour
• Stir until mix resembles thick pancake batter
  • Any dry pockets will remain dry if not mixed properly
• Let rest for ~24 hours

Day 2

• some bubbles should be seen
• Might have risen a little
• Perform regular feeding
  • Measure out 5g starter
    • This doesn’t seem like much but I like to keep just a small amount so I don’t waste so much flour maintaining the starter
    • Discard the remainder of starter (it’s not ready to keep as discard yet)
  • Measure out 20g water
  • Mix water and starter fully
  • Measure out 20g all purpose flour
  • Stir flour until the mix resembles thick pancake batter
• Rest for ~12 hours
• Repeat steps from the start of the day

Day 3

• it’s possible the starter has doubled in size and become fully active at this point
• If not, repeat day 2
• If active, it’s ready to be fed to bake a loaf of bread
  • If you are not not ready to bake you can store in the fridge for up to a month
  • Do a regular feeding and put in fridge after 2-3 hours so the starter is active but still has food while stored

Prepare starter for baking bread

• Measure out 20g starter into jar
• Mix 60g water and stir
• Mix in 60g flour and stir until mix looks like thick pancake batter
• Put a rubber band around the jar that marks the starting height of starter within jar
• Rest for ~8 hour
  • I typically feed my starter before going to bed and start the bread in the morning
• Starter should have doubled or tripled in size