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Think you've killed your sourdough starter? It is possible to revive sourdough starter - let me show you how!

The internet has way overcomplicated sourdough. It seems there are so many hoops you have to jump through to get that perfect loaf. Spoiler alert - you don't have to do all of that! 

And you don't have to be overwhelmed when thinking about whether you should try to revive your starter or make a new starter!

I'm glad you're here because I'm going to show you how I made gorgeous bread with my starter that hadn't been touched in a year! (Or you could make sourdough pizza crust if you like!)

(And it took less than 48 hours, and about 10 minutes of hands-on time!)

Neglected sourdough starter

Do you have an old starter in the back of your fridge? Are you overwhelmed with all the black liquid on top and think you've killed your starter?

Neglected starters can easily be revived with flour and water. All you need to do to get your starter back to its former glory is to give it a meal. (Aka, feed your starter.)

(When it's been revived, you can use my zero discard starter method - and never discard again!)

So pull out the starter in the fridge and let's learn how to revive an old sourdough starter and turn it into a healthy starter you can use for baking!

Watch my video tutorial on how to revive sourdough starter

Revive a sourdough starter in 36 hours

Discard hooch (or don't)

If your starter hasn't been fed in a very long time, you'll see a layer of liquid on top.

Normally, I don't discard the hooch (the dark liquid on top of the hungry starter), I just stir it back into the starter. But since this hadn't been touched in nearly a year, I did. Again, it boils down to personal preference.

That dark hooch will give your starter a very sour flavor.

Feed a small amount of starter

First, I scraped off the top layer of the starter.

Then I measured out 10 grams of starter into a clean jar and then fed it with a 1:4:4 ratio.

This simply means I fed it 1 part starter, 4 parts flour, and 4 parts water.

10 grams sourdough starter

40 grams all-purpose unbleached flour

40 grams water

Put in a warm place and let it double

I put mine on the furnace in my utility room, where it is probably 75 degrees. 

It probably doubled overnight while I was sleeping, but in the video above, I show you what it looks like after about 23 hours.

Feed a second time

Repeat the process of a 1:4:4 feeding and let it double a second time. (Feed only 10 grams again; see the video above for what I did with the remaining starter.)

Mine doubled in only 3 hours, and I immediately used it to mix up sourdough bread!

Sourdough starter from the fridge

I always keep my starter in the refrigerator and I never discard starter! I have a full video on YouTube about my zero sourdough discard method! (Spoiler: you don't have to feed your sourdough starter every day, week, or month!)

It saves me time, money, and energy, and keeps me sane!

Sourdough works on my schedule, not the other way around!

How to revive sourdough starter

Again, all you need to do to revive your starter is give it a good feeding. You can discard the liquid on top (or not - see above), scrape off that top layer of old starter, and then feed a small amount of starter with a 1:4:4 ratio.

You may need to feed it one more time to fully revive the starter. 

When your starter is doubling in 6-8 hours (or sooner), it is likely ready to use in sourdough baking!

I made this delicious loaf of bread with this starter - and the entire process (waking up the starter, bulk fermenting the bread dough, and cold proofing the dough) only took 48 hours!

What questions do you have about sourdough? Please visit my YouTube channel and check out my sourdough playlist, where I love to show people how EASY sourdough can be! (And we bust a few sourdough myths while we're at it!)

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