How have I been baking sourdough for years and never know dried sourdough starter was a thing? You can dry it yourself, but that’s not what this post is about. It’s how I came to discover this wonderful creation- dried sourdough starter!

As karma would have it, a few days after bragging about how my sourdough starter lasted so long in the fridge, I began to feed it and it started growing things that it shouldn’t. Mold on top of my bubbling starter assured me that my bragging rights needed to be revoked and my starter that I’ve had for years now needed to be tossed. 

I’ve tried making my own starter from scratch many times and never with success so I began asking around to see if anyone had some they could pass along to me or if they knew of a bakery that would sell me some. It was suggested to me through a friend on Instagram to look into ordering a dried sourdough starter.

I had never heard of dried sourdough starter and was skeptical, but I purchased an organic dried sourdough starter and feel like my life has been forever changed. OK, a little dramatic, but here’s my explanation.

Benefits of Dried Sourdough Starter

• Dried sourdough starter will last indefinitely in preserved correctly. That means you will always have backup starter ready to go if your active starter ever gets moldy or unusable.
• You can travel with your starter without worrying about feeding it and keeping it alive and well.
• It’s almost fool proof to revive.

How to Revive Dried Sourdough Starter

The process is said to take less than a week, but mine was bubbling by the end of the second day and ready to bake with by day 4. The product I ordered came with easy to follow directions. First I mixed 1.5 tsp of the dried starter with 1 Tbsp of water, covered it with plastic wrap and set it aside for 24 hours. I was really happy to see I had extra dried starter to keep in my pantry. The package comes with enough dried sourdough starter for 3 or 4 batches of starter so you could store it or share a pack with a friend.

On the second day I mixed in 1 Tbsp of flour and 2 tsp of water, mixed it well, then covered it and set it aside. A few hours later, it was bubbling!

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On the third day I fed it 1 Tbsp of flour and 1 tsp of water in the morning, and by mid day it was bubbling and ready to transfer to my activated starter jar. I stirred in 1/3 c flour and 1/4 c water and by that evening I probably could have baked with it, but to ensure I had enough, I fed it again and let it double in size overnight.

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On day four, we baked! I usually use Jen’s sourdough recipe and can vouch for it, but after many recommendation to give Clever Carrot a try, I followed her beginner’s guide for sourdough.

I was impressed at how simple it was and while every sourdough experience can teach you something (I will probably wait for a longer second rise next time), the result was delicious!

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Next up, trying a sourdough pizza crust for pizza Friday tonight! I’m so thrilled to have a sourdough starter back in action, and have extra dried sourdough starter in case I ever need another reset. Happy eating!