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Reconstituting Sourdough Starter

Jim Krautkremer <jimk2@juno.com>
Sat, 7 Mar 2009 12:14:51 -0600
v109.n010.3
I have made a lot of sourdough bread in the past, but haven't done it 
for quite a while.  I kept my starter in a tupperware bowl in the 
refrigerator.  My wife was cleaning out the refrigerator and saw the 
starter in the bowl and said either get rid of it or throw it 
our.  The liquid was black and the mixture was not solid, but very 
thick. This wasn't the first time that I had been given notice!

I couldn't throw it out so I made an attempt to see if I could get it 
bubbling again.  I stirred the liquid back into the bottom mixture 
and put in a cup of flour and water and set it on the counter to see 
what would happen.  Nothing much happened for a day and thought that 
maybe I shouldn't have stirred in the "hooch".  During the second 
day, I noticed a few bubbles in the mixture so stirred it up and 
added more flour and water after pouring some out.  The next day, I 
saw more bubbles so poured out some of the mixture and added more 
flour and water.  The next day it started bubbling like in the old 
days.  I'm going to go through another bubbling process before getting to work!

The starter must have been in the refrigerator for over 2 years and 
came back to life.  To those who are in the same circumstance, don't 
give up hope, but keep trying.  Just make sure you keep it 
refrigerated.  I'm now ready to make sourdough again!

Jim K.
jimk2@juno.com