How To Freeze Sourdough Starter (and reactivate it)
This is a long term storage solution for a mature sourdough starter that you don't want to use for long periods. You can freeze it for up to 12 months and it's a good alternative to drying your sourdough starter.
Servings 6 Portions
Calories 273kcal
Equipment
- Silicone Ice Cube Tray for freezing
- Ziploc Bags for storing
- Sharpie for labelling
Ingredients
- 300 g Sourdough Starter (fed and bubbly)
Instructions
How To Freeze Sourdough Starter
- Make sure that your sourdough starter has been fed in the past few hours and is active and bubbly (like it would be if you were going to bake a loaf of sourdough bread).
- Divide the sourdough starter into 6 equal portions (I've done 50g each in these photos). You could use a silicone ice cube tray or cupcake liners. Remember that you want to be able to remove the frozen sourdough starter easily, so don't put it in anything that it could stick to easily.
- Once you've portioned out the sourdough starter, place it into the freezer to freeze for around 12 hours.
- Once the starter has frozen, remove the portions from the silicone molds and place them into a ziploc bag that is clearly labelled.
- Leave the sourdough starter portions in the freezer for up to 12 months (see notes).
How to Defrost Sourdough Starter (and reactivate it)
- When you want to reactivate a portion of starter, take out a frozen portion (it should be around 50g). Place the frozen portion into a clean jar.
- Allow the frozen sourdough starter to defrost at room temperature for around 4 hours or until it's liquid again.
- Add 50g of warm water and 50g of flour to the jar and stir vigorously. Allow it to double over the next 12 hours.
- Discard all but 50g of the sourdough starter. Feed the remaining 50g of starter in the jar with 50g of warm water and 50g of flour. Repeat this step until the starter is doubling and active (like it was before you froze it). It should be ready to use in 2 to 3 feeds.
Notes
The sourdough starter can be frozen safely for up to 12 months. It's more than likely that the sourdough starter can survive longer than this in the freezer, however, the longer you leave it in the freezer, the more yeast will die off, making it much harder to get it going when you want to. I recommend refreshing your stash of frozen starter every 12 months to ensure the viability of your sourdough starter when you want to use it.
You could just freeze the sourdough starter as one large portion, or just 50g on it's own. I like to freeze 6 x 50g portions as it's a great back up (along with a dried sourdough starter) and you can use each 50g portion to create a leaven to make sourdough bread with no waste.
Nutrition
Serving: 50g | Calories: 273kcal | Carbohydrates: 57g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 1g | Sodium: 4mg | Fiber: 2g
