Sourdough starter died after 8 months, tried a backup I froze and it worked

My starter was going strong since January, fed it every morning like clockwork. Then last Tuesday I forgot it on the counter during a heatwave and it turned gray with a weird smell, totally dead. I almost tossed the whole jar but remembered I froze a backup scoop back in March on a whim. Thawed it out, fed it twice over 48 hours, and it came back with better rise than the original. Made a loaf yesterday and it had that perfect tangy crumb I'd been chasing for months. Has anyone else tried freezing their starter as insurance, or am I just weird for keeping a backup of a backup?

1 comments

1 Comment

rubyk2628d agoMost Upvoted

The backup froze thing reminds me of how I keep a second jar of pickles in the back of the fridge just in case the first one runs out, except pickles never resurrect themselves. It's honestly smarter than my whole system, which relies on me not forgetting things for eight months straight. I'm glad your starter pulled through, because losing a pet you've been feeding daily is rough even if it's just yeast.