How to Dehydrate Sourdough Starter

Learn how to dehydrate your sourdough starter so you can share it with friends, and have a back up if yours ever dies (it can happen!)

We all love our sourdough bread, don’t we? Creating your own sourdough starter is the first fundamental step to starting that journey. It’s a journey of science and art, trial and error, success and failure.

Most of all, it’s a crucial step to take agency over the food we consume and nourish our bodies with daily. It is so empowering to know exactly what goes into your food, rather than taking a big corporation’s word for it.

If you want to create your very own sourdough starter from scratch in 7 days, click here for the FULL TUTORIAL.

First Steps to dehydrating your sourdough starter

• Start by feeding your sourdough starter with a 2:1 ratio, 2 parts flour and water to 1 part existing sourdough starter. Once the starter is well fed and watered, let is rise up at room temperature 8-10 hours.
• When the sourdough starter is at its peak of activity and is very bubbly, it is time to dehydrate it. It’s a super simple process!

How to dehydrate your Sourdough Starter

1. Line a rimmed baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
2. Scoop about 2-3 tablespoons of the fed starter out onto the parchment paper.
3. Use an offset spatula to spread the sourdough starter out into a very thin layer over the surface of the entire parchment paper. The thinner, the better!
4. Wait for the wet starter to COMPLETELY dry out. Depending on the temperature in your home, or the weather, this usually takes 4-6 hours. Set the baking pan aside, and forget about it for half the day.
5. Once the starter is completely dried out, it should become very brittle and crackly. Use your hands to break up the starter into smaller pieces.
6. Store the pieces in an airtight bag or glass jar at room temperature, and will last for up to 1-2 years. At this point your starter is ready to be easily shared with family and friends. You did it! 

spread a thin layer of active bubbly sourdough starter onto parchment paper

let it dry out completely at room temperature – 4-6 hours

crack it up into small pieces an store in an airtight container

share the dehydrated sourdough starter with family and friends and always save a BACKUP for yourself

Why would you want to dehydrate your sourdough starter

There are two main reasons:

• It is infinitely easier to share your dehydrated sourdough starter with friends and family. You can keep the dehydrated starter at room temperature, and it weighs next to nothing. You won’t end up with spilled goopy starter, or worse, broken glass jars in your suitcase/the mail. I’ve mailed dehydrated starter to friends all over the country, it’s too easy.
• If you travel often, or have a very rigorous day to day pace, it’s possible to neglect/forget about your starter. It’s sad but true, and we’ve all been there. Having a dehydrated “back up” will make getting back on track so much easier, and you won’t have to start building a starter from scratch.

There you have it! Something so easy can definitely save you so much time and energy in the future.

Leave a comment down below if you tried this dehydration method, I’d love to know how you make sourdough work in your own kitchens!

What goes up must come down, or vise versa, so be sure to check out my tutorial on how to REHYDRATE Your Sourdough Starter – also, super simple!

Happy baking xoxo LeAnne