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frozen sourdough starter disks on a wire rack with a silicon tray to the left
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Freezing Sourdough Starter

Learn how to freeze sourdough starter to preserve it for later use. Perfect for when sourdough baking needs to go on the back burner and you still want to keep a thriving sourdough starter for future use.
Course Breads
Cuisine American
Keyword sourdough starter
Prep Time 5 minutes
Additional Time 12 hours
Total Time 12 hours 5 minutes
Author Lisa Bass

Ingredients

  • Active sourdough starter

Instructions

  • Feed your sourdough starter.
  • Place in a warm spot for 4-12 hours or until active and bubbly.
  • Take your active sourdough starter and spoon into a silicone muffin cups, ice cube tray, or even just a muffin pan lined with regular muffin liners or plastic wrap.
  • Freeze until completely frozen for about 3-4 hours. 
  • Remove the frozen sourdough starter from the mold and place in a freezer safe ziploc bag.
  • How To Thaw And Reactivate A Frozen Sourdough Starter
  • Place the frozen starter in a jar and let sit at room temperature on a counter covered with a tea towel or paper towel with a rubber band.
  • Allow to thaw for around 12 hours.
  • Feed equal parts flour and water. So if you froze 75 g starter: Feed it 75 g of water and 75g of flour.
  • Leave it at room temperature for 12 hours.
  • Discard half of the starter and feed equal portions of flour and water. So if the amount of starter you have is about 1/4 cup after discarding, feed 2 tablespoons water and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour.
  • Your sourdough starter will be ready to use once it doubles 4-12 hours after feeding.
  • It may need a few feedings before it is really nice and active.

Notes

  • I like using silicone muffin cups because they are easy to pop out. You could also use regular muffin liners or even line a muffin pan with plastic wrap.
  • After the sourdough starter thaws it will need to be fed a few times before it is ready for baking bread. This is because once frozen, the starter goes into a dormant state and needs to be woken up.
  • While you could use discard, an active fresh starter that has been recently fed will yield the best results.
  • Only freeze a mature starter. A new starter will not have enough established lactic acid bacteria and live yeast to make it healthy enough for freezing