How long sourdough starter

It seems so wasteful But unless you discard starter at some point, eventually you'll end up with a very large container of starter. Also, keeping the volume down offers the yeast more food to eat each time you feed it; it's not fighting with quite so many other little yeast cells to get enough to eat.

You don't have to actually discard it if you don't want to, either; you can give it to a friend, or use it to bake. There are quite a few recipes on our site using "discard" starter , including pizza crust, pretzels, and waffles, and even chocolate cake. If you're still uncomfortable dealing with discard, though, try maintaining a smaller starter : the smaller the starter, the smaller the amount of discard. Why does this starter begin with whole-grain flour?

Because the wild yeast that gives sourdough starter its life is more likely to be found in the flora- and fauna-rich environment of a whole-grain flour than in all-purpose flour. What if all you have is all-purpose flour, no whole wheat? Go ahead and use all-purpose; you may find the starter simply takes a little longer to get going.

Also, if you feed your starter on a long-term basis with anything other than the all-purpose flour called for here, it will probably look different thicker or thinner, a different color and act differently as well. Not to say you can't feed your starter with alternate flours; just that the results may not be what you expect. Bake it better! View our privacy policy. Recipes Bread Sourdough Sourdough Starter.

Save Recipe. Hide images Instructions Day 1: Combine the pumpernickel or whole wheat flour with the cool water in a non-reactive container. Tips from our Bakers Why do you need to discard half the starter? Want to put your starter on hold for the summer, or as you go on vacation? Here's how: Drying your sourdough starter. Should you use bottled water? Unless your tap water is so heavily treated that you can smell the chemicals, there's no need to use bottled water; tap water is fine.

A note about room temperature: the colder the environment, the more slowly your starter will grow. For instance, try setting the starter atop your water heater, refrigerator, or another appliance that might generate ambient heat.

Discard all but four ounces of starter. To that retained four ounces, add four ounces of flour and four ounces of water. Do I store it in the refrigerator or at room temperature? Again, frequent bakers can leave it out.

My sourdough has a layer of liquid on the top. Is it still OK to use? Just stir it back in before using. Maybe a few years.

How often do you really need to feed sourdough? Sourdough starter is surprisingly resilient and can easily last months without being fed when proper storage principles are used. This means the length at which a starter will remain viable has to do with how it is handled and stored.

Thankfully, for the home baker there are some very simple methods that will get you months of storage, and with just a little extra effort, even years. You can really only let it sit for a day or two without feeding before you start to run into problems. In our opinion, the only reason to keep a starter on the counter is if you bake every day. We have found no difference in activity and flavor between counter and fridge storage.

The biggest issue we notice is mold. Mold is far more likely to grow while being left out at room temperature. Without movement from regular refreshing happening, the chances of mold setting in are quite high for storage purposes.

Which is why after just a few days we see mold setting in for us. As for the fridge, you have about a week before it starts to slow down. Which makes it perfect if you bake once or twice a week this is where we fall. Not because it is bad, but because it is less active. One or two feedings is all it needs. We would set a limit at a month without feeding or checking in on a starter.

Every two weeks would likely be better. But, not because we are nervous it will die out, our little 5-month test and others in the past have us convinced these things are fighters when given the advantage of fridge storing. The concern for us, like with the counter storage regime is mold and food safety. Unlike our experiment, where we purposefully put it away a hot mess, the cleaner the jar the better.

In short, keep the jar clean and check on the thing every once in a while, but you should certainly be able to go several months without killing the cultures in your starter.