Flour Child - Dehydrated Sourdough

Equipment & Ingredients

Weigh your jar.
- Place the clean jar on the scale and hit “tare” to zero it out.
Add dehydrated starter.
- Carefully spoon in 10 g of your dried starter flakes.
Measure water.
- Add 30 g (ml) of water at 75–80 °F.
- This temperature jump-starts the enzymes without shocking the culture.
Initial mix.
- Stir gently until no dry bits remain—just a thick paste.
- Scrape down the sides so the flour and water fully hydrate the starter.
Cover & rest.
- Loosely cover with your breathable lid.
- Let sit at 72–75 °F (ideal room temp) for 4 hours.

Assess & discard.
- You should see tiny bubbles forming at the edges.
- Stir, then discard half of the mixture (about 20 g total).
Feed ratio 1:1:1.
- Feed with 20 g water (75 °F) + 20 g flour.
- Stir until smooth, scraping all starter off the jar walls.
Cover & ferment.
- Recover, and rest at 72–75 °F for 12 hours.
- Bubbles should be more numerous, and the mixture will rise slightly.

Day 2 Morning
- Discard half (approx. 40 g), feed with 40 g water + 40 g flour.
- Rest 8–12 hrs.
Day 2 Evening
- Discard half, feed 1:1:1 at the new batch weight.
- Rest 6–8 hrs.

Each feeding ramps up activity and trains the yeast and bacteria to bloom.

Peak performance check.
- Your starter should double in volume 4–6 hours after a feeding.
- It will look foamy, smell tangy-sweet, and hold little bubbles throughout.
Final feed & store.
- Feed 1:1:1 one last time (e.g. 50 g starter: 50 g water: 50 g flour).
- After it peaks, you can:
- Use in your favorite sourdough recipe.
- Or refrigerate (covered) for weekly feed-and-go maintenance.

Water quality matters: avoid chlorinated tap if you can.
Temperature is key: cooler slows fermentation; warmer speeds it up.
Cleanliness keeps off unwanted microbes—rinse your jar and tools with hot water.
Label each jar with date, time, and feeding ratio.
With these steps, your dehydrated starter will blossom back into a lively, bubbly culture ready to bake up tangy, tender loaves. Happy fermenting!