14/05/2026
Our sourdoughs are now more than 7 years old – and we’ve kept them strong and well in the same jars over these years. We keep the jars in the refrigerator where we only have to feed them once per week, if we’re not baking. And when we take them out, we let stand to get to room temp and then feed them, leaving them 15-30 minutes (depending on how warm it is in the room) before placing them back in the fridge.
Of course, if we’re baking with them, then we need to feed them to have enough to bake with + something left, so we can re-feed it 12 hours later.
Mostly when baking, we feed with 1:1:1 (i.e. one part of each sourdough, water, flour). But if we know it’s going into the fridge for a full week, we’ll feed it 1:2:2 (one part SD, and two parts water+flour).
Often, we don’t keep more than 60g in the jar (in the fridge). Keeping it low, means we don’t have to throw so much away when we discard ahead of a new feed.
We keep our jars very clean and neat – after mixing, we always scrape down the sides with a spatula and dry off the sides with a paper towel. BUT, we always make sure that any spoons, spatulas or measuring cups have been thoroughly rinsed in water, to ensure that NO soap residue gets near the sourdough (because that will kill it).
We also have a scale that weighs with a 0,1g precision-level; and we of course know exactly what the jar weighs – so we always know how much water & flour to add.
As you can see – 7 years in the same jars. And going stronger by the day!
