How do I store sourdough starter when not baking for a week?
For a 7 day gap, take your preferment or a piece of the dough and keep it in the fridge, where it holds for a long time, then pull it out and give it a feeding or two to wake it up a day before you bake. You do not need to make the mixture right after taking it, the fridge just pauses things. So the rhythm is: reserve the preferment, refrigerate, then refresh shortly before the next bake rather than juggling several fridge cycles.
Answered by Hendrik, The Bread Code
From the book
Simply take your leftover starter and place it inside of your fridge. It will stay good for a very long period. The only thing I see happening is the surface drying out in the fridge. So I recommend drowning the starter in a little bit of water. This extra layer of water provides good protection from the top part drying out. As mold is aerobic it can not grow efficiently under water [ 15 ]. Before using the starter again simply either stir the liquid into the dough or drain it. If you drain the liquid you can use it to make a lacto-fermented hot sauce for instance.
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