How to dry your Sourdough Starter

And keep your most important baking partner safe.

Now that temperatures are rising quickly, I always worry about my sourdough starter. I live in a Mediterranean climate, and during the summer it can get too hot for it to survive. Even though I keep it in the fridge most of the time and only leave it on the counter to refresh it and prepare my dough, forgetting it for just half a day is enough for it to start turning rancid and smelling off.

In those cases, I prefer to discard it rather than take any risks. Especially since I have a safety net: a jar of dried sourdough starter.

It only takes a few simple steps and a few minutes to make sure you have a supply of sourdough starter ready to go whenever you need it. It's also a great solution to consider before going on holiday, especially if you'll be away for more than two weeks.

All you need to do is take two or three tablespoons of fed, active starter and spread it onto a piece of parchment paper. Try to spread it as thinly as possible; it doesn't have to be perfectly even. Leave it in a dry place, ideally in direct sunlight, for a few days until it dries completely.

The starter is fully dried when it looks like the picture below and feels dry to the touch. It should break apart easily. At this point, you can transfer it to a sealed jar and store it in a cupboard for as long as you like.

When you need it, just take a few pieces from the jar and mix them with lukewarm water. Then add some flour to bring it back to the typical sourdough starter consistency. Leave it at room temperature until it starts bubbling and becomes active again.

Here's a video that shows the process:

On a similar note, if where you live it’s already too hot to turn on the oven, you can still make bread on the stove. My favorite recipe on the blog is this sourdough discard “naan style” bread: so simple and flavorful. You can also try these little bread buns made with regular yeast.

If you have any other no-oven bread ideas, I’d love to hear them: send them my way!

Marta