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A little trick for keeping my sourdough starter happy when I travel
I had to go out of town for a full week and was worried my starter would die in the fridge. In my experience, it gets sluggish after that long. This time, I fed it a big meal of equal parts flour and water, but I used whole rye flour instead of my usual bread flour. I left it on the counter for about 4 hours to get active, then put it in the fridge. When I got back, it was still bubbly and ready to go after just one fresh feeding. I think the rye has more stuff for the yeast to eat, so it lasts longer. It saved me from having to start over from scratch. Has anyone else tried using different flours for long-term fridge storage?
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mary3096mo ago
You mentioning the rye flour thing is a game changer. I always stuck with bread flour in the fridge and would come back to a sad, gray layer of hooch. Last month I tried your method with some dark rye I had, and it was like night and day. No hooch, just a few bubbles on top. It woke up faster than my kid on a Saturday morning. I guess I was just being stubborn about changing my routine.
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ben4026mo ago
Mary's right about the dark rye... it's got more going on. I've been using a half rye, half whole wheat mix for my fridge storage feedings for a couple years now. The starter just seems more stable with those grains, like it has a deeper pantry to snack from while I'm gone. It might even last a full two weeks in the back of the fridge without a fuss. Switching from plain white flour was the best move for my baking schedule.
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