My sourdough starter died last month and I had to start over from scratch.

I left it in my car during a trip to Boise and the heat killed it. I used a tablespoon of rye flour from a bag I bought in 2021 to get the new one going, and it was active in three days. Has anyone else had to revive a starter from a tiny bit of old flour?

3 comments

3 Comments

webb.dakota10d ago

Leaving a starter in a hot car is the worst. I had a jar crack in a cold oven once when someone turned it on for pizza. Total loss. My backup was just some dried starter flakes in the pantry. I ground up a tiny bit, maybe a teaspoon, and mixed it with warm water and whole wheat flour. It looked dead for two days but I kept feeding it. By day four it was bubbling like crazy. That old flour has some strong wild yeast hanging on.

rodriguez.diana10d ago

Glad you saved it from the flour flakes.

the_sam1h ago

There's a book about sourdough that talks about this exact thing. The author said old flour can have dormant yeast and bacteria that wake up with water and food. It's not just about the starter itself, it's about the microbes living in your whole kitchen. Your rye flour bag was basically a tiny time capsule. That's why some bakers keep a bit of old dry starter or even just a bag of their regular flour as a backup plan. It sounds like you got really lucky with that 2021 flour.