Start by putting the 10g of the dehydrated starter into a medium-sized jar and adding 60g of filtered water to the jar. Stir together gently and let sit for 30 minutes. Once absorbed, add 50g unbleached flour and stir until well mixed. Cover with a lid (not sealed as oxygen is needed) and store at room temperature for 24 hours.
Continue ‘feeding’ your starter once daily by taking a new jar, mixing 50g filtered water and 50g unbleached flour, along with 10g starter from the previous jar (that you ‘fed’ yesterday) and continue to let sit for another 24 hours. Depending on the temperature of your home, type of flour, etc., it could take anywhere from 3-5 days of regular and consistent feedings to rehydrate and activate the sourdough starter for baking. To speed up the process, feed every 12 hours until active. What you want to see is a significant rise within the jar and lots of bubbles. Once it doubles in size within the first 5-6 hours of feeding, you will know it’s ready!
After you’ve taken the 10g starter for the new feeding, the remaining starter is called ‘discard’, and you can either dispose of it (in the garbage as it will gunk up your drains), feed it to pigs or chickens, or start a ‘discard jar’ in the fridge and continue adding your discard to it each day. The discard does not need to be fed, and there are many recipes online to utilize the discard to make things like pancakes or cookies.
Keep your starter at room temperature and continue feeding daily to bake with it regularly and often. If you aren’t baking frequently, feed your starter and let it rise, then place it in the fridge sealed tightly. It will store in the fridge for months but must be taken out and fed once a week to maintain activity.
Feel free to reach out to us if you have questions!