Carl's invincible starter!
 

Well, I slacked off for a while. I had some of Carl's starter that I had
been using exclusively. But we were going to be gone on vacation for a
month, so I took the starter and mixed it with as much flour as it would
hold to form a very hard dough. I then put this ball (about 3 inches in
diameter) in a ziplock bag, squeezed out all the air, and sealed it. This
ball of starter sat in my fridge from about Nov. 20th 2005 until about a
week ago.

When I finally took it out, I had to use a knife to break it apart. I
dropped the pieces in some warm water to let them soften up. I then put in
enough plain white bread flour (what I usually feed with) to bring it to
"normal" consistency. After about a day, I saw some definite activity. I
then proceeded to throw away a bunch and feed like normal.

This weekend, I made bread with it. By all indications, it seems to be back
to it's old normal state.

Anyway, I just wanted to share because I've heard of people who have kept
starter in that state for half a year or so, but I made it about 14 months.
Anyway, just thought someone might be interested.

Aaron

--
To reply directly, remove j's from email address.

Carl's invincible starter!
 

On 30 Jan, 18:35, "Aaron" >
wrote:
> Well, I slacked off for a while. I had some of Carl's starter that I had
> been using exclusively. But we were going to be gone on vacation for a
> month, so I took the starter and mixed it with as much flour as it would
> hold to form a very hard dough. I then put this ball (about 3 inches in
> diameter) in a ziplock bag, squeezed out all the air, and sealed it. This
> ball of starter sat in my fridge from about Nov. 20th 2005 until about a
> week ago.
>
> When I finally took it out, I had to use a knife to break it apart. I
> dropped the pieces in some warm water to let them soften up. I then put in
> enough plain white bread flour (what I usually feed with) to bring it to
> "normal" consistency. After about a day, I saw some definite activity. I
> then proceeded to throw away a bunch and feed like normal.
>
> This weekend, I made bread with it. By all indications, it seems to be back
> to it's old normal state.
>
> Anyway, I just wanted to share because I've heard of people who have kept
> starter in that state for half a year or so, but I made it about 14 months.
> Anyway, just thought someone might be interested.
>
> Aaron

Hi Aaron,

this isn't so surprising. It's not that long a time. I've had them
revive after much longer, 10 months I think is the longest. Are they
the same starter after? Some would say probably not. I don't know but
I have found that they revive so quickly given the right treatment, by
quickly I mean 24 hours that I'm sure they are the same. But anyway as
long is it does the job, that's all that matters.

Jim