Today we will cover the question: Can you freeze sourdough starter? The short answer is yes – and it’s a really simple way to save your beloved starter for future use. Earlier this week I talked about how to dry sourdough starter for later use. This is just another way to preserve your active sourdough starter.
Why should you freeze sourdough starter?
After I made my first sourdough starter and realized that it was quite a bit of work and used a LOT of flour in the process, I began to worry about killing this beloved starter baby of mine! That’s when I started experimenting with different preservation methods. With preserved active sourdough starter, I could be sure that if I accidentally used it all or killed it, I could have a really simple way to get back to baking without starting all over again.
If you don’t have an active sourdough starter, you can get my Sourdough Checklist HERE that will teach you how to start your own! As a warning, you should not freeze a brand new sourdough starter, as it doesn’t have strong enough wild yeast to withstand freezing. make sure you use it and feed it for a few months and have a mature sourdough starter before you attempt freezing the sourdough starter. If you don’t have a thriving active starter, it won’t bounce back once you pull it out of the freezer.
Because it’s so time consuming to get started, that’s why I always have a backup on hand. Earlier this week, we covered how to dry sourdough starter for later use. Today I’m going to deal with a question I had – can you freeze sourdough starter? Yes you can! Follow along for a really simple way to preserve starter in the freezer.
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Freezing Sourdough Starter in a Jar:
How to freeze sourdough starter
Step 1: Feed Your Active Starter
I always start this process off with a healthy starter at peak activity. I usually feed my starter with about 100g starter, 100g filtered water and 100g of unbleached flour. Let it sit for 6-8 hours in a warm spot until it has doubled and it’s all nice and bubbly.
For this process, I normally use a quart sized mason jar and this King Arthur flour. Once I feed it, I use a rubber band to mark the top of the freshly fed starter. This way, I can easily see when it has doubled.
I check it after 6 hours and the mason jars make it super easy because the measurements on the side help me to see how much it has grown. If it hasn’t doubled, give it a couple more hours!
Step 2: Prepare for the Freezing Process
Once your active sourdough starter is bubbly and strong, scoop a few tablespoons into a glass jar. I always use glass mason jars to store my sourdough starter, so I use a jelly jar for this part. An airtight container is important because it prevents freezer burn and ice crystals from forming.
Put a lid on it and pop it right into the freezer. You will want to put it into the coldest part of your freezer. I make sure to keep mine in the back.
Since I’m preserving this for long term use down the road, I know it’s going to stay in there a long time. Because of that, I don’t want it to experience a lot of temperature fluctuations as I open and shut the freezer daily.
Leave plenty of room at the top of the jar since the starter may continue to expand slightly before it freezes.
Can You Freeze Sourdough Starter Other Ways?
While I absolutely love to freeze sourdough starter in glass jars, I think there are other methods that work really well! If you’re short on freezer space, or if you like to share your sourdough starter, you can freeze it in smaller amounts. Here are a few great options to give you small portions of frozen sourdough starter.
- Ice cube trays: Take the room temperature active starter and spoon it into ice cube trays. Place in the freezer for a few hours until they are frozen solid. Take out of the molds and store in an airtight container, ziplock bag, or vacuum sealed bag in the coldest part of your freezer.
- Silicone molds: Use the above method, but use food safe silicone molds, silicone cupcake liners, or silicone cube trays. These will give you larger portions of frozen starter to use or share.
- Baking sheet method: This is very similar to my dry sourdough starter method. In this option, you spread a thin layer of starter on a piece of parchment paper and freeze it. Once it’s solid, break it into small pieces and store in a freezer-safe bag.
- Other glass containers: You don’t just need to use mason jars! Any airtight glass containers work perfectly to store frozen sourdough starter.
Each method works well. It really just depends on how much freezer space you have, and how much sourdough starter you need to preserve for later use.
3. How do you reactivate or revive a frozen sourdough starter?
How do you reactivate a frozen sourdough starter? It’s actually not hard at all! Once you’re ready to use the frozen stash, pull it out of the freezer and let it sit on the counter for an hour or two to defrost.
You’ll want to pop the lid open at this point. When it begins to defrost, it may continue to feed on the flour you gave it before you froze it, so it may build up gas pressure.
How to Use Frozen Sourdough Starter
After it reaches room temperature, feed that baby! I would recommend taking the full amount of starter and putting it into a quart mason jar to feed it. That will give it more room to expand.
It normally takes me a few days of regular feedings to get this preserved starter energized again. The first time I feed it, I let it sit out for 24 hours. Then I just add another 100g of filtered water (warm water helps) and 100g of unbleached flour along with everything else, mix it all up, and let it sit out another 24 hours.
Keep doing this process until it doubles in size in 6-8 hours. It may take a few days to get it going again. That’s ok! While wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria are some of the most resilient life-forms, it takes a little while to feed and reenergize them. But the good news is that soon you’ll have a healthy starter, full of natural yeast and ready to use!
Now you can get back to making that first loaf of homemade sourdough bread!
*as a side note, fresh flour that has been freshly milled really gives the frozen starter a boost!
FAQs
What are the benefits of freezing sourdough starter?
There are so many benefits to freezing sourdough starter. Like I mentioned at the beginning, I think it’s a good idea to have a backup starter just in case. Keeping it in the freezer is an excellent way to ensure long term storage for when you need it for future use. I keep some in my freezer and I dry sourdough starter to ensure I don’t lose it if I accidentally use it all or kill it.
Another way to use frozen sourdough starter is to share it with others. I often share sourdough starter with friends in smaller amounts. It’s super easy to grab it from the freezer and share preserved starter with friends. There’s nothing like sending them home with frozen starter cubes or a little sourdough starter in a jar.
Can I freeze sourdough discard?
Yes you absolutely can – but there is a caveat! Sourdough starter discard can be very sluggish when you first reactivate it, since it was not freshly fed and bubbly when you froze it. If I were freezing sourdough discard, I would freeze it in the portions that work for discard recipes.
For example, I use:
- 3/4c in my sourdough discard pancakes
- 1/2c in my sourdough pumpkin waffles
- 1/4c in my sourdough pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
If you saved the sourdough discard in silicone molds in remeasured amounts, you could pull out the frozen sourdough discard and use it directly in those recipes. Since they don’t incorporate the sourdough in a way that utilizes the wild yeast for rising, it works perfectly!
You probably just don’t want to use frozen sourdough discard for yeasted bread products because the wild yeast in discard can get quite sluggish when it has been frozen.
However, if you’re just looking to preserve it by freezing, you may be able to give it regular feedings after it comes out of the freezer and have it in tip top shape quickly. So if you have a bunch of excess starter that’s not freshly fed, just freeze it and use it for discard recipes!
Is it better to freeze sourdough starter, or dry it?
I don’t think I’d say one is better than the other. I find that freezing sourdough starter is really simple and easy to do. On the other hand, drying sourdough starter is a little more complicated and takes longer. Additionally, if it doesn’t dry completely before you store it, mold can grow in the airtight container.
However, when you feed it and get back to using it, dry sourdough starter comes back to life WAY faster! So I guess it depends on if you want to spend time on the front end of the process or on the back end of the process.
I usually have a bit preserved each way so that I have a back up of my back up! I do NOT want to go through the process of making that culture all over again 🙂
So, can you freeze sourdough starter? Absolutely!!! Have you tried it? Did it work for you? I’d love to hear!
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