How to reactivate Dry Sourdough Starter:
Supplies: dry sourdough starter (Hestia), filtered water, unbleached white all purpose flour (preferably organic), a large glass jar, a wood or silicone spatula, and a kitchen scale.
Note: the jar must be cleaned as best as possible with a spatula after each feeding in order to grow effectively. Clean all space where glass is not covered by starter in order to remove all residue.
Day 1 — In the glass jar add 1.5 tablespoons of dry starter and 1.5 tablespoons lukewarm filtered water. Let it sit for a few minutes and then stir gently. Then add 1 tablespoon of flour and stir until thickens. Cover it with a lid and let it sit for 24h at room temperature.
Day 2 — Add 1 tablespoon of flour and 2 teaspoons of water into the jar. Mix well and clean up the jar, let it sit covered for another 24h at room temperature.
Day 3 — You may start seeing some bubbles in your starter. Add 1 tablespoon of flour and 2 teaspoons of water. Stir, clean up and let it sit covered until tomorrow at room temperature. Your starter may begin to rise. Mark the level of where your starter is today to see if it rises (grows).
Day 4 — Add ⅓ cup of flour and ¼ cup of water, mix well until fairly smooth, clean up the jar. Cover and mark the level of the starter in the jar until tomorrow at room temperature. Within 12h you should see bubbles in your starter and it doubling in size.
Day 5 — Now that your starter is active and bubbly, place a clean jar on your kitchen scale and put the scale on zero. You are going to feed your starter a 1:1:1 ratio — in grams, measure the same amount of starter, lukewarm water, and flour. Mix well and mark the level of your starter with a rubber band. Before using it, it should have already risen and at least doubled in size. Example: 50g starter, 50g water, 50g flour.
Maintenance before every recipe that calls for active sourdough starter: measure with a kitchen scale the same amount in grams of starter, flour, and water. Mix it well and clean up your jar.
Since I keep my sourdough in the refrigerator, I feed it twice before using it for bread, but once for any other recipe.
This is how I feed my starter, 1:1:1 ratio: 100 grams of starter, 100 grams of filtered water, and 100 grams of organic flour.
