June 15, 2020 - 3:25am
Traveling with your starter.
Hello everyone,
looking for some advices in regards to traveling with your starter. With borders finally opening in EU I decided I will spend the 1 month in my home country. Because I have a dog, I will travel by car and will have to drive over 3000km, that would be 3 days 2 nights. Not only I don't want to risk killing my starter by leaving in the fridge so long without being attended, I also want to keep baking bread back home, can't wait to try my moms wood oven.
So what recommendations or tips would you give me?
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Couldn’t you feed it before you leave and keep it in a cooler along with some road trip snacks?
Make sure it is well fed before the trip so you have a goodly population. Then you have a few options and can actually do both if you are concerned one way may not work.
1. Dry some. I smear a layer of very well fed,active starter in a thin layer on a baking sheet of parchment paper and let it dry. I put it into an air-conditioned room and it dries in no time. Crumble it up and put it into a plastic bag. On the other end, just add water and a little flour to re-constitute. Feed as usual and rebuild volume as needed. Just make sure it is COMPLETELY dry or you will have mold grow.
2. Take some or all with. Just put it into a container after it is well fed and very populated,keep cool/cold for the duration and travel. Keeping it cool makes it go dormant. It should do fine after a 4 day trip. Just feed and proceed.
I have travelled by air and by car with sourdough and kefir cultures. The key really is to keep them cool. Just like people, they can tolerate a few days without food. Esp. when they are "sleeping" (which is what they do when they are cool).
Another idea: If you have a thermos with a larger opening, put some starter in a plastic bag and put it into the thermos and then into the cooler.
Even another thought: You can also thicken the starter up to a clay-like texture and keep it cool. That, also, may help slow it down.
My biggest fear is with temperature fluctuation. I can keep it in a cooler with some ice pack inside but in a 10h-12h trip in the summer by the time I arrive at hotel I think it will only be slightly cooler. I was think bringing a scale and flour with me and feed it at night in arrive in hotel, what do you think?
I think it is possible but I would also dry some starter.
Keep some of the dried at home and take a bit on your travel.
Historically, starter has traveled across country in covered wagons in summer, it has been kept in leather pouches next to the unwashed (for months) skin of gold miners in the Yukon, it has rested on the back of wood stoves in otherwise unheated cabins in all kinds of climates. A road trip in a cooler will be a piece of cake. If it warms up and gets hungry then bring along some flour and water and feed it. If it stays cool then feed it when you arrive.