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how to revive sourdough starter
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5 from 2 votes

How to Revive Sourdough Starter

How to Revive Sourdough Starter- learn how to bring your beloved sourdough starter back to life. Whether you're new to sourdough baking or a seasoned pro, I'll show you how to revive a sourdough starter using some basic techniques that I've discovered over time.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time1 day
Course: Sourdough
Cuisine: American
Keyword: sourdough discard, sourdough starter discard
Servings: 1 jar
Author: Lora

Ingredients

  • ½ cup sourdough starter
  • ½ cup water room temperature to lukewarm, make sure it's filtered + non-chlorinated
  • 1 cup scant, just under a cup unbleached all-purpose flour

Instructions

  • Take your starter out of the refrigerator and let it sit on the counter. Let it warm up (you could leave it out a few hours, or even, overnight).
  • Pour off the hooch from top leaving a thin film.
  • Use a wooden spoon to stir it all together.
  • Place ½ cup of the stirred together starter into a clean container. Set aside the rest of the starter and you could use it in a sourdough discard recipe (or you could toss this discard out).
  • Add into the container with the starter a scant cup of flour and ½ cup of filtered water. Stir together to combine.
  • Close your container and place it in the warmest spot of your kitchen (I put the top on my jar but I don’t seal it closed).
  • After a few hours, close the container tightly and place in the refrigerator. The next day, your starter should be very bubbly and happy. Mark the height of your container to keep a better track of how it’s rising.
  • In case it’s not bubbly the next day, use a wooden spoon to stir the starter together. Remove most of the starter, leaving about a ½ cup.
  • Add into your container a scant cup of flour and ½ cup of filtered water (room temp to lukewarm). Stir together to combine. Leave on the counter (I leave on the counter with the jar lid loosely on top) for a few hours and then transfer to the refrigerator (seal the jar tightly).
  • The next day, your starter should be bubbling and ready. In case it is not, repeat the process one more time.
  • As soon as your starter is at its peak activity, it’s ready to bake with.

Notes

To feed your starter by weight (1:1:1)
100 grams sourdough starter
100 grams room temperature water (filtered + non-chlorinated)
100 grams flour
  • For a larger amount of starter, keep similar ratios and scale up, as needed.
  • When your starter has been properly revived and you start actively using it and feeding it again, it will rise to double in size much faster.
  • If your starter seems to be sluggish after reviving it and feeding it, you could substitute half of the unbleached all-purpose flour with rye or whole wheat flour.