So You Got A Piece of Margaret, Now What? Pt. 1v
HOW TO MAINTAIN/REFRESH/FEED YOUR STARTER
Pro Tip: One thing you may consider doing with the starter that we gave you, is freezing half of it, as a back-up plan. When you’re first adjusting to caring for a starter, you may make some mistakes, like, using up all of it and not saving any to continue with, or neglecting it on your counter or in your fridge for a long time and it develops mold. Not to worry, you have back up in freezer that is dormant and can be brought back to life, with a few feeds! To do this, you can put it in a sealed plastic bag or container (don’t forget to label it) and forget about it!
To keep a sourdough starter going, you will always need a small piece of it that needs to be fed. If you have a temperature controlled kitchen and are baking a lot. You can probably keep your starter on the counter and feed once or twice a day (as needed). However, most home bakers aren’t baking that often and so we would recommend you store your starter in the fridge and feed once a week or twice a month, to make sure that your starter isn’t running out of food sources. Placing your starter in the fridge is the equivalent of it going into hibernation. The yeast and bacteria will slow down and literally chill out and not eat that much.
When you’re ready to bake, you’ll want to take your starter out and refresh it at least once or twice. You may find that the first feed out of the fridge, the starter is a bit slow and sluggish. However, the more you feed your starter, the happier and healthier and more active it will be!
The downside of feeding your starter often is you will end up with a bunch of starter that is hungry and that you’re not necessarily using. This is called sourdough discard. DO NOT THROW THIS AWAY! You can keep your discard in another container in your fridge and use it to make all sorts of delicious treats like banana bread, pizza dough or even use it as an alternative to egg when deep frying anything! Starter battered onion rings are to die for. Trust us!
