How do I revive a tired sourdough starter?

Posted by astarteny, November 1, 2007 at 8:00 AM

last january i thought i'd try to make my own sourdough starter and nurtured a mother starter out of organic grapes. i fed it every week and was turning out 2 loaves of really nice bread every sunday for my weekday lunches. as the weather got better, my urge to bake bread diminished and i went 3 weeks without feeding it. i managed to bring it back with daily feedings, and keeping it at room temp instead of the fridge.
that lasted another month, but then life intruded and i was going on holiday and then moving house, and then unpacking and the starter has been woefully neglected. all in all it's probably been about 8 weeks since i last fed it.

is it too late? do you think i've killed it? what would be a good way to know? or should i just start all over again?

also -- is there a minimum quantity i need to keep alive? my recipe calls for 250g of starter for 2 loaves, but the total weight of the starter was more like 750g -- could i have just chucked all that out?

all your advice and comments are much appreciated.

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Tags: baking, bread, Question of the Day, sourdough