My sourdough spends more time dozing in the fridge than actively sitting on the countertop. After a few weeks in the cold, today it was time to wake it up again. And that’s one of the nice things about sourdough: you can keep it chilled for quite a long time, but sooner or later you’ll want to bake bread again instead of keeping a jar in permanent hibernation. Here’s how I do it.

Taking it out of the fridge

The first step is delightfully uneventful: simply take your sourdough out of the fridge. I usually work with about 124 grams of starter — a quantity I find very practical. Not so much that you end up discarding loads, but more than enough to get going properly.

The reactivation recipe

It really is exactly as simple as it sounds. I use equal parts of everything:

124 grams of sourdough starter from the fridge
124 grams of lukewarm water
124 grams of flour

That 1:1:1 ratio is easy to remember and simply does exactly what it needs to do. No advanced maths, no mysterious baker’s ritual, no checking the phase of the moon.

Mixing it into a smooth batter

Then I mix everything together well, until it becomes a smooth, uniform mixture. No dry bits left, but not excessively wet either. It should look like thick pancake batter: substantial, but still easy to stir. I simply mix it back into the same jar the starter was already in. Very practical, and it saves on washing up too — always a win.

Warmth for activation

This is an important part of the story: sourdough likes warmth when it needs to become active again. That’s why I place the jar somewhere warm — not hot, just pleasantly warm. Think about 20–25°C, or just a little above that. That helps the bacteria and yeasts get going again after their long nap.

Patience is your best friend here. Your sourdough isn’t going to start cheering and bubbling straight away. Give it a few hours and calmly watch what happens.

What now?

Over the next few hours, I check in on it now and then to see how it’s doing. If all goes well, bubbles will appear, you’ll smell that familiar tangy aroma, and you’ll see the volume increase. Then you know: the starter is awake again and ready to use.

That really remains the beauty of sourdough: you can let it sleep for months, and with a bit of water, flour and warmth, it’s simply ready to go again. No fuss, no mystery — mostly just some patience, and a remarkably tough survivor in a glass jar.

And look, 2 hours later, it has come back to life!