Pandemic Baking: How to Revive Dehydrated Starter Flakes

Tools required:

(1) Second clean jar is needed on Day 3

(2) Small spatula

(3) Food scale

Helpful Tips:

(1) Decide when to start based on Day 3, which requires 3 feedings

(2) Weigh your empty jars without lid and write it down on the jar

(3) Measure water in a separate container before adding to the starter

(4) Make sure jars are big enough for the starter to grow double or triple its size

Revive Schedule	Day 1 AM e.g. 8AM	Day 1 AM+30min e.g. 8:30AM	Day 2 AM e.g. 8AM	Day 3 AM e.g. 8AM	Day 3 MID-DAY e.g. 3PM	Day 3 EVENING e.g. 10PM	Day 4 AM e.g. 8AM
Feeding Ratio	1:2:1 ratio		2:1:1 ratio	1:2:2 ratio	1:2:2 ratio	1:5:5 ratio	No feeding
Begin Starter Start Weight	5g of dehydrated flakes	15g paste, with small bubbles	20g more relaxed paste, still thick	Note large bubbles Move 5g into new jar (discard 35g)	Note small bubbles Move 5g into new jar (discard 20g)	Note small bubbles Move 5g into new jar (discard 20g)	Note that it has doubled in size 55g of paste
Water	+10g Mix well		+10g Mix well before adding flour	+10g Mix well before adding flour	+10g Mix well before adding flour	+25g Mix well before adding flour	N/A
Unbleached all-purpose flour		+5g Mix well	+10g Mix well	+10g Mix well	+10g Mix well	+25g Mix well	N/A
End Starter Final weight	15g of paste Cover jar loosely	20g of very thick paste Cover jar loosely	40g of paste Cover jar loosely	25g of paste Cover jar loosely	25g of paste Cover jar loosely	55g of paste Cover jar loosely	It is now fully revived Cover jar, refrigerate and follow the maintenance schedule the following week

Once the starter is fully revived, follow the maintenance schedule below.

Note that there will not be enough discard to bake on week 1, but there will be plenty of discard to bake up to 3 loaves on subsequent weeks (following thePerfectLoaf recipe using all-purpose flour.

Maintenance Schedule	Week 1: Build starter Feed without discard	Week 2 to n: Maintain starter Feed and discard
Feed Ratio	1:1:1 ratio	1:1:1 ratio
Starter	55g of starter (no discard available) Bring to room temp (about 2 hrs)	55g of starter into new jar (110g of discard available for baking) Bring to room temp (about 2 hrs)
Water	+55g	+55g to maintenance starter (as needed: +110g to discard for baking)
Unbleached all-purpose flour	+55g	+55g to maintenance starter (as needed: +110g to discard for baking)
Final Weight and Descriptions	165g of maintenance starter Cover jar loosely Wait until doubled/tripled in size (about 5-6 hrs) then cover jar and refrigerate	165g of maintenance starter Cover jar loosely Wait until doubled/tripled in size (about 5-6 hrs) then cover jar and refrigerate (as needed: 330g of fed discard-wait until doubled/tripled in size then mix dough)
Notes	There will not be enough discard on week 1 to bake bread	330g is enough discard to bake 3 loaves Suggest to only feed what is required to bake (since the rest will be thrown away)

The revived starter is doing very well and has shown to triple in size after week 1 feed.

Revived starter from dehydrated flakes on the left; regularly maintained starter on the right

Note: Always reserve 55g of starter to maintain, and use the rest for baking.