A question for anyone with sourdough starter experience. I have had a starter for over three years now. I have kept it dormant in the refrigerator a number of times and reactivated it without problems. I always keep a backup in the freezer(one at work and one at home)as well and have thawed and reactivated it as well. This time I screwed up. I brought my backups from home and got them going with the intention of bringing some back home. I had one in the walk-in and two in the freezer at work and we had some electrical problems the other day. The one in the cooler must have gotten too warm for a few days and the freezer went down and then got back running in a day. The starters must have died when they thawed and refroze. I have not been able to revive any of them. Can I add a sprinkle of yeast to jumpstart it or do I have to start all over again. I feel like I have lost a loved one. Any suggestions?

By Chefmanny (Chefmanny) on Saturday, September 18, 2004 - 08:11 pm: Edit

I found this at:
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/news.answers/food/sourdough/starters


What should you do if you have "dead", "flat", or "barely living"
starter? Begin the process of transforming it to a fresh, healthy
starter. I personally do not believe in throwing away "dead"
starter, since it typically can be revived from the few yeast and
lacto-bacilli that probably still exist. If restoring dead starter
takes longer than a week to see bubbles appearing in it (flat, barely
living or otherwise) then you've probably started a new starter from
local microorganisms. If so, and your starter was a special strain,
you'll probably want some of the original starter to start over with
rather than expecting this revived version to be the same as that
special starter. Remember that you have probably not really killed
your starter unless you subjected it to high temperatures for long
enough to thoroughly heat the starter above about 100F or so.

Here's the "get it going" reiterative process I referred to:


E. THE 1-TABLESPOON METHOD

1. Using 1 tablespoon of starter (discard unused portion or save a
little in the refrigerator in case of an emergency), 1 cup 75 degrees
water, and 1 1/2 cups all-purpose white flour, proof for exactly 24
hours at 72 to 77 degrees. It's very important to maintain these
precise temperatures and to proof for exactly 24 hours.

2. Examine the starter to determine what stage it's in. Assuming you
didn't overheat it, it should be "flat", "barely living", or
"healthy". Remember the clues to identifying non-healthy starter (
low number of bubbles, early hooch, gelatinous consistency, no froth
on top, or any 2 or more of these symptoms. If your starter is
"healthy," you're done.

3. If your starter is not healthy yet, stir it well and refrigerate
it for no less than 12 hours.

4. Remove the starter from the refrigerator and go back to step 1.
This process needs to be repeated a few times ( usually around 4 or 5
times or so unless you were lucky. A lot of the home-dried starters
revive MUCH quicker than this.

Here's an alternative process you can use (possibly better, if the
above process doesn't seem to work well for you):

F. THE 1-CUP METHOD

1. Using 1 cup of starter, 1 cup of 85 degrees tap water (don't worry
about minerals or fluoride), and approximately 1 1/2 cups all-purpose
white flour, proof your starter for 12 hours at 85 degrees.
Maintenance of temperature is very important.

2. Examine the starter to determine what stage it is. Assuming you
didn't overheat it, it should be "flat", "barely living", or
"healthy." If your starter is "healthy," you're done. Remember the
clues to identifying non-healthy starter: low number of bubbles,
early hooch, gelatinous consistency, no froth on top, or any two or
more of these symptoms.

3. If your starter isn't healthy yet, stir it well and refrigerate it
for no less than 12 hours.

4. Remove the starter from the refrigerator and go to step 1). This
iterative process needs to be repeated a few times ( usually around 4
or 5 times or so unless you were lucky. A lot of the home-dried
starters revive MUCH quicker than this.

By Chefmanny (Chefmanny) on Saturday, September 18, 2004 - 08:12 pm: Edit

......and
http://www.nyx.net/~dgreenw/sourdoughfaqs.html

By Cvincolorado (Cvincolorado) on Sunday, September 19, 2004 - 01:03 am: Edit

Thanks Manny, I guess I overreacted a little. Today when i got to work I had some activity in there. The one I had fed three times yesterday was bubbling pretty good. However it did not have the right sour smell it usually has. I'm thinking I overfed it and decided not to feed it at all today to see if it got sour again. The other I had just pulled out of the freezer last night and fed first thing this morning was slowly starting to come alive when i left and still smelled normal. If it doesn't work I will try the method in your note. It is good to know there is an alternative to starting over. Thanks again. CV