Scroll down page to view “Reviving a Live Sourdough Starter” video
Reviving a dried sourdough starter is a fairly simple matter that should meet with success most of the time. This video covers the details but I’ll jot down a few steps here so you don’t necessarily have to.
Note: The following written instructions have been revised slightly since the making of the video. Watch the video but follow the specifics of the written instructions.
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Soak 1 tsp. dried starter in 1 Tbs. lukewarm purified or spring water for a few minutes to soften.
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Stir in 1 Tbs. all-purpose or bread flour, cover loosely with plastic and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours. While not necessary, stirring again once or twice during this 24 hours will expedite the process.
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Stir in another Tbs. of flour and 1 tsp. of purified water and let it sit as before. Within the next 24 to 36 hours you will most likely start to see the bubbling action of fermentation begin. (If not, something is most likely wrong and you should try again).
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Now stir in 1/3 cup flour and 1/4 cup of water to your activated starter and continue to build the starter with once or twice daily feedings until you have a sufficient quantity to use for baking (amounts vary per recipe). You may double or triple the quantity of starter with each feeding. Feeding with approximately equal weights of flour and water (vs. equal volumes) will result in a good consistency for your starter.
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Once you have a cup or two of healthy starter, store your starter in a container with a loose fitting lid in the refrigerator. Once refrigerated, weekly feeding is sufficient to keep your starter happy. Just remember to hold back some starter when baking as your seed starter for the next time.
Post your questions/comments below.
Reviving a live sourdough starter is even simpler and faster than reviving a dried one. Just view the video and/or follow these steps.
- Spoon out the contents of the zip lock bag into a small bowl or container.
- Add 2 tablespoons of flour and 2 tablespoons of room temperature purified or spring water. Mix just until the flour and water are incorporated and you have a smooth consistency. (Don’t use tap water as most tap water contains chlorine which is not good for the yeast).
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for about 18 – 24 hours. At this point you should see signs of life in the form of some bubbling.
- Feed the starter again by mixing in about 1/3 cup of flour and 1/4 cup water. Cover and let sit as before for 6-12 hours.
- You should now have a pretty lively and hearty sourdough starter. All that is left to do is build it up to the quantity you desire with once or twice daily feedings. See the video entitled “Managing Your Sourdough Starter“.
Post your questions/comments below.
Reviving a Dried & Live Sourdough Starter
About the author
Eric: Founder, proprietor, and Grand Poobah of Breadtopia. Bread baking fanatic.
Sara 
Jennifer Niskanen 
Sheri
Hello everyone,
I'm trying to revive a 15yr old dried sourdough starter a friend has given to me. I'm on my second attempt now, and I don't really know what I'm doing wrong.
I've followed the instructions, and added 1/3 cup flour and a bit over 1/2 cup water to my bubbly starter. However, the starter didn't rise at all during the day. It still has bubbles in it. I thought I might have made the starter too wet, resulting in gas floating to the top rather then trapping it in the starter, so I've added two tablespoons of APF to create a thick batter like consistency. I've only added the extra flour just then, so I don't know the outcome yet.There's bubbles currently present in the starter.
I'm not sure how I go from here though. Do I discard half of the starter and keep feeding it 1/3c flour and 1/2c water daily? Do I stir it twice daily and stop feeding it? Do I feed it daily and stir twice daily? Do I feed it twice daily? I've used water from the tap, which hasn't been an issue in previous starters.
I hope you can help me out! I've got a little bit of dried starter still there, but I don't want to waste a 15yr old starter!
Thanks, Ella
Hi Ella,
I wish I could give you specific ideas with some confidence. It sounds like your starter is really close to performing the way you want but it just needs some more babying. Keeping a healthy, vigorous starter healthy is a lot easier than getting it there in the first place. You somehow just have to judge how much to feed it and how often to feed it based on what it looks like and how it's performing now. It can be a bit of a catch 22 if you don't have a lot of past experience nurturing a starter back to full strength.
One small note. A little chlorine in tap water isn't, by itself, normally likely to negatively impact a starter's health significantly. But if your starter is struggling to achieve a healthy state, every little advantage you can give it might be worthwhile. Chlorine is in water because it kills microorganisms. Starter is a bunch of beneficial microorganisms. If you're not filtering out the chlorine in your tap water, at least let it sit overnight so the chlorine will evaporate before feeding your starter with it. It couldn't hurt and it might help.
I used your technique to dry a starter for travel . It was a very healthy, 50 year old starter that has been fed with sugar and potato flakes. Should I use flour to revive it like you do yours in the video or use the potato flakes?
I would use wheat flour since the gluten in the flour will trap the CO2 bubbles from fermentation and create a bubbly, spongy starter (as long as the consistency of your starter isn't too thin). It's much easier to tell if your starter is ready for use when you can actually see it get spongy and rise well after feeding. I don't think you'd have that with potato flour. Skip the sugar. It speeds things up but isn't necessary.
Hi Eric, Thanks for your reply. If I switch to wheat flour will it change the flavor of the old starter or is it a myth that ancient starters are better?
It might change the flavor a little. For the better I would think.
I don't know about the ancient part. It's a funny thing. You can look at yeast as being hundreds of millions of years old or how ever many seconds it takes to divide. The value of keeping a culture going for how ever many years is more of a romantic notion than anything else IMO.
Hi Eric I received your dry starter 4 days ago. I have followed all instructions.today is the 1st day I have good air bubbles I am trying to baby it rather then give up on it. I started my second try yesterday using half ww and half ap both king Arthur brand as a back up in case the 1st doesn't take off. I am weighing everything to make sure it is accurate. I bought my starter on Amazon if the dry does not go where do I get the live starter from?
You can get it here: http://breadtopia.com/store/sourdough-starter-live/
I received my live starter 2 days ago. Of course I opened it immediately ( ok so I checked the tracking every day until is showed out for delivery I was a little excited for it to arrive ) I have been feeding it for 2 days now ( as per directions included on the package) it is bubbling wonderfully but not doubling have I done something wrong or does it just need more time and feedings?
Thanks in advance for any help
Bubbling and not doubling almost certainly means your starter is on the wet side - which can still work fine. If you want to see the volume double more easily, try using a bit higher ratio of flour to water when you do the feedings so the starter is on the stiffer side.