It’s time to put my sourdough starter, Tituba, away for the summer. She performs pretty well in the summer months, but I don’t. There’s just too many other things to do. We made many loaves of bread together, but it’s time for her to sleep.
I dry her out and store her in the refrigerator.
This is Tituba’s nice winter home. It stays on the counter all winter long.
Just lay down a little cellophane, pour a thin layer of starter on top and wait. In about three days it’s flint hard dry. Crumble it into tiny bits and put her into her summer home.
It may not look like much, but mummified Tituba is very happy here. Into the refrigerator she goes. See you next fall.
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I am going to guess that your answer might be to tell me to Google it myself, but I still have to ask….WHAT IS THAT? I mean, I get that you said it’s sourdough bread starter, and I’m not asking for a recipe or anything, but what it that hard stuff and why are you saving it? It looks a little like white peanut brittle. 😉 Is it kind of like when people make yogurt and use some of the old yogurt for the live bacteria? I don’t mean to come off badly, if I am, I’m just curious, that’s all. 😀
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Your yogurt example is pretty close. Starter is a live yeast culture. It’s a symbiotic relationship with a lacto bacteria. They live together and benefit each other. Together they make awesome bread. When I dry it, it’s similar to an active dry yeast. You just don’t use it dry. She sleeps until her autumnal resurrection.
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Ah, sounds interesting. And delicious. I’ve never met a bread I didn’t like. 😀
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This has me intrigued. I have never heard of a sourdough starter before nor the starter that you are using to keep it dry. I am going to have to google this now! 🙂
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It may help to read my old post: https://coldhandboyack.wordpress.com/2014/01/05/tituba-rising/
I’m just putting her in cold storage for now.
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Okay.. I checked it out… I think I got it now. Kind of 😀
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If you’re even in a sourdough crisis, let me know. I bake with it constantly, so I’ve always got a starter on hand. But, fair warning, if my fridge goes out while I’m on vacation, I may be hitting you up.
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Cool. It’s nice to have a backup plan.
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a great idea for storing it for long period of time. but will it effect the performance when used again?
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It hasn’t for the last five years. I used to freeze it, until my crock broke.
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