Sourdough Feeding, Vacation & Storage
Feeding

You can choose to feed a mature sourdough everyday, every 3 days, or every
week, give or take a couple days. Sourdough is hardy and resilient once it has
matured (been well kept for a couple weeks after the initial activatation). If you want
to feed it every 3-10 days, just feed the starter atleast triple its volume, and stick it in
the fridge (and repeat weekly, to keep it active). You will still see it feed (and
double), just at a much slower pace. Use your best judgement for when it looks like
its deflating and needing a new feeding. Adjust its food amount if it ate more quickly
than you wanted it to.

Vacation

Sometimes we all need a break, including your starter! You don’t need to stress too
much about leaving it unattended if you can’t find a babysitter! Many people have
stories of pulling out a long-forgotten starter from the back of their fridge and still
being able to revive it. When you return, you will just want to take it out to room
temperature for a few days and give it some regular feedings to rebalance and
revive it. Don’t try to feed it large amounts of food before leaving- just feed it
normally (otherwise it may struggle competing with spoilage bacteria).

Extended Breaks / Back-up Storage

If you can’t feed it and won’t be able to for a month or more, stick the starter (in its
container) in the freezer. OR, you can dry a bit, by spreading the starter thinly on a
clean cookie sheet and covering it with papertowels until completely dry. Store it in a
dry, cold dark place (you can put the dried flakes in an envelope in the fridge or the
cupboard) and re-activate it later! It should keep for many months with both of these
methods (even a year or more possibly). They will need about a week or so of re-
activation when brought back out of storage.
Copyright © 2010 Yemoos Nourishing Cultures. All rights reserved.