That restaurant called me out for sending my starter back to life after 3 days in the fridge

I brought my 18 year old starter back from the dead with rye flour and warm water in 72 hours and the chef said I was lying about its age anyone else ever get called out for something that dumb?

2 comments

2 Comments

roberts.troy13d ago

72 hours is NOTHING for a starter that old, rye flour is basically magic for reviving them. I've seen people bring 50 year old starters back with rye in like 2 days, your chef just doesn't know how fermentation works.

seanlewis13d ago

So you're saying a chef with years of daily sourdough experience doesn't get fermentation, but someone who revived a starter once or twice does? Sorry but 72 hours of inactivity in a low temp or neglected starter, especially an old one, often means the yeast colony is straight up dead or mostly dead, not just sleepy. Rye helps a little but it's not magic, and @roberts.troy's 2 day revival trick probably had more to do with luck and room temp than the flour type. Old starters can get a lot of bacterial buildup that outcompetes the yeast, and that takes more than a few feedings to fix.