Dry starter revived successfully

Well, my dry starter has revived successfully!

Recall that I took some of my storage starter (from www.carlsfriends.org) and revived it last week. I then took part of the fresh starter and dried it. Once it was dry and ready for the freezer, I took some to test it to be sure it would revive.

This morning, that starter is good and frothy, very lively. It looks just like the main starter does this morning. W00t!

Here’s what I did:

1. I made sure I had lively fresh starter.
2. Right after a standard feeding of that starter, I took some out to dry.
3. I poured some of that just-fed starter into a square plastic sandwich container. You know, one of those “disposable” Glad containers or something. I poured it probably about an 1/8-inch thick — neither worrying about it being very thin nor trying to make it thick.
4. I covered that container so that nothing would fall in it. I covered it with a dry paper towel and placed it on the stove top where things would be warmest.
5. In about a day, I sliced through the dry top of the starter with a knife, scoring it in a checkerboard pattern. Pieces that were really dry and would break off, I broke them off and left them in the bowl. The goal is to expose the less dry layers.
6. In another day or so, all the starter felt dry, but some seemed still to stick to the bottom. I left it another day.
7. Finally, all the starter broke away easily from the plastic. Nothing stuck. I not used any grease at all. The starter, once dry, simply doesn’t stick.
8. I broke up the pieces by hand, then put them in a little 3-inch diameter food-processer/chopper to break the pieces up further.
9. I took about a tablespoon of crumbs to revive.
10. I put rest of the crumbs in a ziplock bag and put it in the freezer, labeled with the date.

Reviving the dry starter works well. I remember killing 1 starter when I first tried earlier this year. I made 2 mistakes. First, I worried to omuch about warm temperatures and kept it too warm. Even in a cool kitchen, countertop is sufficient. No need for proof boxes or controlled temperatures. Second, I missed the early signs of life in the starter. The earliest signs really are just bubbles, no froth and no volume growth. Just keep feeding it on a regular schedule, discarding 1/2 each time, and it will revive within a few days.