Going Away? How to Pause Your Sourdough Starter

One of the first worries new sourdough bakers have is what happens to the starter when life gets in the way. A holiday, a work trip, a busy month, or simply not feeling like baking for a while. The good news is that a sourdough starter is far more resilient than most people expect — and pausing one properly takes about five minutes.

Pick the method that matches how long you'll be away.

Up to One Week — Just Use the Fridge

Feed the starter as normal, leave it at room temperature for two to four hours so fermentation gets going, then put it in the fridge with the lid on loosely.

Cold slows the yeast and bacteria dramatically. The starter will keep ticking over slowly, and you'll come home to a jar that looks flat with a layer of hooch on top. That's normal and not a problem.

To restart: bring it to room temperature, discard down to about 20g, and feed 1:1:1. One or two feeds and it's baking-ready.

One to Four Weeks — Fridge, With a Bigger Feed First

Same approach, with one adjustment. Before you go, feed at a larger ratio — 1:5:5 instead of 1:1:1 (20g starter, 100g flour, 100g water). More food means the culture takes longer to exhaust its supply and doesn't become excessively acidic while you're away.

Leave it out for three to four hours, then refrigerate. A starter fed this way sits comfortably for three to four weeks.

Expect it to look grim when you return — dark hooch, a sharp smell, no visible activity. That's a hungry starter, not a dead one. Discard down to 20g and feed 1:2:2 twice a day for two days. It comes back reliably.

One to Three Months — Dry a Backup

Beyond a month, refrigeration alone gets unreliable. This is where you make a dehydrated backup — the same thing we sell as our dehydrated starters, and something you can do at home in a few minutes of active work.

1. Take a healthy starter at or just past peak.
2. Spread it in a very thin layer across a sheet of baking paper — the thinner the better.
3. Leave it somewhere warm and dry with good airflow, out of direct sunlight, for one to three days until it's completely brittle and snaps rather than bends.
4. Crumble or grind it into flakes.
5. Store in an airtight jar or sealed bag in a cool dark cupboard.

Dried like this, a starter stays viable for around 12 months, often longer. Do this once and you have permanent insurance — even if the live jar is lost, mouldy, or forgotten, you can rebuild the same culture from the flakes.

We'd recommend every baker does this at least once, regardless of travel plans.

How to Revive a Dried Starter

1. Mix 10g of the dried flakes with 40g of warm water. Stir and leave for one to two hours to rehydrate fully.
2. Add 40g flour and stir to a thick paste. Leave at room temperature.
3. From the next day, feed daily at 1:1:1, discarding half each time.
4. Expect nothing for the first day or two. Real activity usually appears around day three to five, and full strength by day seven to ten.

Full detail is in our step-by-step feeding guide.

Can You Freeze a Sourdough Starter?

You can, and it usually works, but it's the least reliable of the three methods. Freezing damages some of the yeast cells, so revival takes longer and is less predictable than either the fridge or a dried backup.

If you do freeze one, use it as a secondary backup rather than your only one. Portion into a small airtight container, freeze, and thaw in the fridge overnight before feeding daily for a week.

Drying is better. It's more reliable, takes up no freezer space, and survives a power cut.

What About Asking Someone to Feed It?

Honestly, it's more risk than it's worth for a short trip. A neighbour unfamiliar with sourdough is more likely to over-feed, under-feed, or seal the lid tight than to keep it thriving — and the fridge does the job with no favours owed.

For longer absences where someone is house-sitting anyway, leave written instructions: discard half, feed equal weights of flour and water, once a week, lid loose. That's genuinely all there is to it.

The Short Version

• Under a week: feed, then fridge.
• One to four weeks: feed at 1:5:5, then fridge.
• Over a month: dry a backup, and fridge the live jar as well if you like.
• Always: keep a dried backup somewhere, whether you're travelling or not.

If It Doesn't Come Back

Work through our guide on why a starter won't rise — in almost every case it's temperature or feeding frequency rather than a dead culture.

And if a starter you bought from us doesn't recover, get in touch. We replace it free, no questions asked. If you'd rather keep a spare on the shelf, our dehydrated starters store for up to 12 months.