The summer holidays are just around the corner. This means time for relaxation, cosiness and perhaps a trip. Either you get a lot more time to bake with your sourdough – or is it time to let your sourdough come on holiday too?
You can easily do without your sourdough during the summer holidays. It can even easily survive a summer without any attention.
You can either choose to take your sourdough with you on the summer holiday or leave your sourdough to take care of itself at home while you are on holiday.
How to take your sourdough on holiday
Your sourdough can easily handle being transported. Feed your sourdough from home. For example 10 g sourdough, 100 g water and 100 g flour. I use this glass to keep my sourdough in (advertising link). There is a lid that you can put on – but there is still air for your sourdough, so your sourdough thrives. If you want your sourdough in a bag, choose a bucket with a lid. But then you can make sure that your sourdough has peaked before you close the lid completely tightly, as the sourdough can have so much force that it can push the bucket’s lid off when it continues to develop and rise.
When you arrive at your holiday destination, you can feed your sourdough daily, e.g. 1:6:6. Feel free to make a flour mixture from home for feedings, so you only need to bring it and not bags of flour.
How to take a summer holiday from your sourdough
When you want to give your sourdough a summer holiday break, you can store it in the fridge. Here, your sourdough can take care of itself for 2-4 weeks without feeding or other attention.
How to prepare your sourdough for the summer holidays: Feed your sourdough as usual. Leave your sourdough on the kitchen counter until it almost reaches its peak. Refrigerate your sourdough. Now your sourdough is full of good yeast cells and lactic acid bacteria, and this is important, as you need something to work on when you want to make your sourdough active and ready to bake again. Leave the sourdough in the fridge with a lid that doesn’t close completely (I store my sourdough in this glass in the fridge, with the lid completely on.
When your sourdough is in the fridge, it will become sourer and sourer. It will collapse and become more liquid. It can also separate, leaving a layer of liquid on top. The liquid can even become completely dark – and your sourdough can smell strong and almost unpleasant after a few weeks. It’s completely fine! No panic. Just let your sourdough take care of itself for a few weeks in the fridge. You don’t need to do anything about it. Enjoy the holiday instead.
How to wake up your sourdough after the holiday: When the holiday is over, your sourdough must be made ready to bake again. Take your sourdough out of the fridge. Pour if necessary liquid on top. Stir in the sourdough. Now you feed your sourdough so that yeast cells and lactic acid bacteria can reproduce. It takes a few days and feedings before your sourdough is ready to bake again. Yeast cells and lactic acid bacteria must be multiplied.
1st feeding:
1 tsp. sourdough in new glass (discard the rest of the sourdough),
100 g lukewarm water,
20 g wholemeal rye flour + 80 g wheat flour (advertising links).
- Leave your sourdough with the lid on at room temperature. It typically takes 8-24 hours before it shows good activity. When your sourdough has collapsed a little again, you make another feeding.
2nd feeding:
10 g sourdough,
60 g lukewarm water,
60 g flour.
- Again, leave your sourdough to peak and collapse a little before the next feeding.
3rd feeding
60 g sourdough
60 g water
60 g flour
- If your sourdough peaks after 3-4 hours after feeding it here, it is ready to bake. If it is significantly longer than that, give it another feeding.
