How to store a sourdough starter in the fridge, and what to do when you go away

Going away doesn't mean starting over. The cold of your fridge slows a starter down enough to wait for you. Here's how to put it to bed, how long it can stay there, and which backups King Arthur Baking and university extension services actually stand behind.

Before it goes in the fridge

Make sure it's established. South Dakota State University Extension says not to refrigerate a new starter until it has an established microbiome, after 7 to 10 days. King Arthur's test: once it reliably doubles within 8 hours of a feeding, it's ready to bake with or store.

Feed it first. Give it a normal feeding, for example 50 g starter, 50 g flour and 50 g water.

Leave it out for a while. Let the fed starter sit at room temperature so it starts fermenting. King Arthur's guides give anywhere from about an hour to a few hours, and suggest the longer end if your kitchen is cool.

From then on, feed it about once a week, as the feeding schedule post explains.

The right jar and the right spot

King Arthur suggests:

• A lidded container that holds triple the starter's volume, so it has room to grow.
• A wide opening, so you can stir right in the jar.
• A lid that fits securely but isn't airtight. Starters give off gas, which can build up and cause a messy blowout. Colorado State University Extension also says to keep starter loosely covered.

Any shelf works, King Arthur says, but ideally not the spots that run warm, like the very top shelf or the door.

How long can it go unfed?

Weekly feeding is the routine, not the limit. King Arthur says a starter can go months in the fridge without a meal. If you miss a week or two, their advice is not to worry. Feeding it every 12 hours until it's healthy will almost certainly bring it back.

Here's what changes the longer it waits:

• A layer of liquid forms on top. This is hooch, alcohol made by the yeast. Stir it back in or pour it off. Sources say either is fine. More in what hooch on your starter means.
• It gets sluggish. King Arthur notes that a starter left too long between feedings doesn't produce many bubbles.
• It gets more acidic. Illinois Extension explains that the longer a starter goes without food, the higher its acidity, and with too much acid the beneficial bacteria can't survive.
• Waking it takes longer. King Arthur says a starter forgotten for months on end can probably still be brought back, but it may take nearly as long as making a new starter from scratch.

Short trips: a few days to a couple of weeks

If your starter lives on the counter and you're leaving town for a few days, King Arthur's advice is simple: put it in the fridge until you're back. It lasts much longer in the fridge without a meal than it does on the counter.

For a trip of a week or two, feed it right before you go, give it its time on the counter, then refrigerate it. If it misses a feeding while you're away, King Arthur says it's probably still alive, just very hungry. It may need more feedings than usual before it's ready to bake.

Long breaks: weeks or months

The fridge alone can stretch further, but the wake-up gets longer. For long breaks, King Arthur and Illinois Extension both point to drying. King Arthur calls it the best way to preserve a starter for anything from a couple of weeks to years.

You don't have to pick one. King Arthur says you can dry some and keep the rest in the fridge.

To dry starter:

1. Feed it and let it rest, covered, until it's very bubbly. Illinois says to let it double.
2. Spread it as thin as you can on parchment. A baking sheet underneath makes it easy to move.
3. Dry it at room temperature until brittle. King Arthur says that takes anywhere from a day to three to five days, depending on the weather. In a humid place you can use the oven, but with only the oven light on. Turning the oven on could make it too hot and kill the starter.
4. Check that it's done. It should peel easily off the parchment and snap between your fingers. If it weighed 4 oz (113 g) when you spread it, it should weigh about 2 oz (57 g) dry.
5. Break it into chips and store them in an airtight glass jar, labeled and dated, in a cool, dark place, away from sunlight and heat.

King Arthur has heard of dried starter still viable after more than a decade.

What about freezing, or a stiff starter?

Freezing: sources disagree. King Arthur says freezing will kill your starter. Illinois Extension says you can freeze it, but freezing can damage the cell structure, so it may perform poorly once thawed. Both say drying is the better choice for long-term storage.

A stiff starter is a dough-like starter made with twice as much flour as water by weight. You may read that it holds up better in the fridge. King Arthur once said so, then removed the claim after input from a microbiologist. So treat it as unproven.

Bringing it back when you return

From the fridge:

1. Check it first. Throw it out and start over if you see mold, pink or orange streaks, or it smells putrid, like garbage or rotting food. Alcohol, vinegar or acetone smells just mean it's hungry, King Arthur says. See what your starter's smell means.
2. Deal with the hooch. Stir it in or pour it off.
3. Feed it and watch it for 12 hours. If it grows at all, King Arthur says it's still alive. After a long rest it may show nothing after the first feeding, or even the first several.
4. Keep feeding every 12 hours until it doubles within 6 to 8 hours. A little rye or whole wheat flour in the feedings can speed things up, King Arthur says.

Then follow the wake-up routine before baking. If it still won't budge after several days, see how to tell if your starter is dead and why a starter stops rising.

From dried chips: follow how to revive a dried sourdough starter.

How Sourdough Starter Tracker helps while you're away

In our app, each starter has a status, Active, Refrigerated or Dormant, and the reminders follow it:

• Active: 1 to 3 reminders a day, at times you choose.
• Refrigerated: a reminder every 7, 14 or 21 days.
• Dormant: no reminders while it rests.

When you get home, switch the starter from Refrigerated to Active as you start waking it up, and the reminders change with it. Each starter's face shows when it's getting hungry. If you dried some, add it with From dried, and a 7-day guide walks you through reviving it day by day.

Sources

• King Arthur Baking: How to store sourdough starter, What if I forgot to feed my sourdough starter?, Putting your sourdough starter on hold, Sourdough starter feeding schedule (2026), Feeding and maintaining your starter, Maintaining your starter, Sourdough baking FAQ, I have sourdough starter. Now what?, Artisan sourdough bread tips, part 1, Sourdough Tips and Recipes (2026)
• University of Illinois Extension: Sourdough 101
• Colorado State University Extension: Sourdough starter best practices
• South Dakota State University Extension: Sourdough starters