How to Dry Your Starter:

To Revive Dried Starter:

Every now and then there might be a situation in your life when you can't use your sourdough starter as regularly as you want. And there might be times when you just physically can't take care of it! For these situations, it is good to know how to prepare your starter for long term storage.It is also nice to have some starter stored in case, heaven forbid, something were to happen to your starter! Then you don't have to start from scratch.Start with a freshly fed starter, and wait until the starter has doubled in size.Place a sheet of parchment paper on a rimmed baking sheet (like a jelly roll pan).Place about 1/2 cup of your starer on the parchment paper and spread it as evenly and thinly as you can over the parchment paper.Place the parchment paper on the middle rack of your oven.Turn the oven light on and leave it overnight.In the morning, remove the parchment paper from the oven. The starter should be nice and dry now (if it isn't, leave it in the oven with the light on until it is completely dry. This could take anywhere between 24 hours and 5 whole days. You can tell in the picture that mine was not completely dry. I powdered the portion that was dry and tossed the rest).Lift or scrape the dried starter off the parchment paper and into a bowl.Grind the dried starter into a powder. You can do this with a mortal and pestle, a food processor, a rolling pin, however you like.Place the powder in a glass container with a lid and store in a cool, dry place.*If kept in a cool, dry place, your starter can last years. You can also place the powder in the freezer for extra insurance, if you want.Place the powder to a clean bowl with 1/4 cup room temperature water.Mix and let soak for 10 minutes.Add 1/4 cup flour, mix well, cover, and leave in a warm place.The next day, feed it 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup water, mix and cover.Keep feeding it every 12 hours until you bring it up to full activity level and the amount that you like to keep on hand.Store and feed as you regularly would.