After weeks of carefully nurturing my sourdough starter from scratch watching it bubble, grow, and finally produce my very first successful loaf the thought of leaving it unattended for two whole weeks sent me into full-on research mode. I had invested too much time (and flour!) to come back to a lifeless lump of dough. So, I did what any responsible sourdough parent would do: I scoured the internet for the best way to store my starter while I was away.
The Plan: Prepping for Cold Storage
After reading through multiple sources, I landed on a simple yet effective method: refrigeration. Here’s how I prepped my starter before heading out:
- One Last Feeding – I gave my starter a final meal to ensure it had enough strength to hibernate in the fridge.
- Discard & Measure – I removed excess starter and left behind 100g of the strongest, most active portion.
- Airtight Storage – I placed my starter in a clean, sealed jar to keep it from drying out or absorbing fridge odors.
- Straight to the Fridge – Into the cold it went, ready to rest until my return.
Lessons Learned So Far
- Refrigeration is a great short-term storage solution for sourdough starters.
- Leaving a small but healthy amount (100g) helps avoid waste while ensuring easy revival.
- It takes a few feedings to bring a refrigerated starter back to peak activity, so plan ahead before baking… fingers crossed that this will work when I return home.
The Moment of Truth: Reviving My Starter… to be continued next week.
Have you ever stored your starter while traveling? Share your experience in the comments!
Karissa 🙂
I had the same fear as you did when I first put my starter in the fridge. However I promise you if you take it out of the fridge the night before you want to use it again and feed it using 100 g water and 100 g flour and let it sit in a slightly warm environment, it should double in size and be ready to bake with the next day! It works! Best thing ever, now all I do when I am done baking and not planning to bake for a few days is put it in the fridge air tight and it just sits there dormant and then I take it out and feed It and its good to go in approx 6-9 hours. Hope this helps your worries! Happy baking!
– Shasta
Hey Shasta,
This makes me feel a lot better! I am excited to get home and bake again I am actually really missing it which I did not think would happen. But I think moving forward my goal will be to only bake on the weekends and store him in the fridge during the week which will save me some time in the evenings instead of feeding every night. Have you started baking using any discarded recipes? That is my goal also when I get home.
Karissa 🙂
Have you pulled it out to use again?! I was also afraid of this, but I’ve left mine in the fridge for 2 weeks and it’s bounced right back! My sister leaves hers for a month or more sometimes (wild). Once you really start going through flour and the novelty of feeding it every day wears off, the fridge is the perfect option.
What’s your favourite go to recipe to make?
YES!! He survived I was so excited. Going to start baking again tonight. My discard that I had left in the fridge though was pretty black on top and after some extensive research it said that I could scrap off the hooch and keep it but when in doubt, throw it out kept going through my head so I tossed it. To be honest, I feel like there is so much discard that I didn’t really need to keep it so I was okay with tossing it.
https://laurenrodycheberle.com/2022/06/22/sourdough-for-beginners-recipe/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaavZh97DvEgyYHadSxM7rjk0vMgpHTUkM9d2i1d-YB2iu197TVAGLcqb6s_aem_uMMEjQbxWvs5TuZVpUE2sQ
Here is the link for the recipe I use. Her website is Lauren Rodych – Eberle. I have been successful with it so far. What is your favourite thing to make?
Karissa 🙂