How to Store and Maintain Your Sourdough Starter in the Fridge

Darlin’, let me tell you about the time I almost lost my sourdough starter to pure, old-fashioned neglect. Life got busy, as it does, and my beloved jar of bubbly goodness sat in the fridge for far too long, looking sad, gray, and forgotten in the back like leftovers from last month’s potluck. But just like a good Southern biscuit recipe, a sourdough starter is forgiving if you know how to store your sourdough starter in the fridge and give it a little TLC now and then. With the right storage, a simple feeding routine, and a touch of patience, you can keep that starter happy, healthy, and ready to rise whenever you are.

So pull up a chair, sugar. We’re going to walk through exactly how to refrigerate your sourdough starter, how often to feed it, what that mysterious dark liquid is, and how to bring a tired starter back from the brink. Your future loaves will thank you.

If you’re not baking every single day, keeping your sourdough starter at room temperature can feel like caring for a very hungry pet. It needs regular feedings—sometimes twice a day—and that’s a big commitment when you’re juggling work, family, and everything else life throws your way.

That’s where the fridge comes in, honey. Refrigerating your sourdough starter slows down fermentation, which means it doesn’t chew through its food quite so fast. Instead of feeding it daily, you can stretch those feedings out to once a week or even every other week, depending on how often you bake. It’s the perfect solution for busy folks who still want homemade bread, sourdough pancakes, and Sunday morning waffles without the full-time babysitting.

Storing your sourdough starter in the refrigerator also gives you more flexibility. You can keep a smaller, well-maintained starter instead of a giant jar taking over your counter. When that craving for fresh bread hits, you simply wake it up, feed it, and you’re back in business.

Before you tuck your starter in for its chilly nap, it needs a good meal. Start with an active starter (even if it’s a little sluggish), discard down to the amount you want to keep, and then feed it as usual—typically equal parts flour and water by weight. For example, 50 g starter, 50 g water, 50 g flour.

Let the freshly fed starter sit at room temperature for about 1 to 2 hours. You want to see a few bubbles starting to form, but it doesn’t have to fully double before going into the fridge. This gives the yeast a head start so it has enough food to slowly snack on while it’s chilled.

Once it’s slightly active and just starting to rise, it’s ready for the refrigerator.

Container choice can make a big difference in how well your sourdough starter stores in the fridge. A clear glass jar is ideal because you can see what’s going on—bubbles, hooch, and rise lines all tell you how your starter is doing.

Use a loose-fitting lid, or screw the lid on lightly instead of sealing it tight. Your starter will still produce a bit of gas even in the cold, and you want it to have room to breathe. A plastic container with a snap-on lid that isn’t fully airtight also works just fine.

Avoid metal containers. The acidity in the starter can react with certain metals over time, which isn’t great for flavor or food safety. Stick with glass or food-safe plastic and you’ll be just fine.

One of the biggest perks of keeping your sourdough starter in the fridge is the relaxed feeding schedule. If you bake once a week, feeding your refrigerated starter every 7 days is usually perfect. Just take it out, discard, feed, let it sit at room temperature for an hour or so, then pop it back into the fridge.

If life gets away from you and it’s been closer to two weeks, don’t panic. Most healthy starters can bounce back with a couple of good feedings. You might notice stronger acidity or more hooch, but that just means it’s hungry, not ruined.

For long-term storage—say, you know you won’t bake for a while—keep it thicker by feeding it with a little less water. A stiff starter ferments more slowly and can handle longer stretches between feedings.

When you’re ready to bake, it’s time to wake your sleepy starter. Take the jar out of the fridge and let it warm up at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours. This gives the wild yeast and bacteria a chance to “wake up” before feeding.

Next, give it a generous feeding—discard most of the starter, keep a small amount (like 25–50 g), and feed it with fresh flour and water. If your starter has been chilling for a week, one or two feedings may be enough to get it bubbly, doubled, and ready to use in your dough.

If it’s been sitting for several weeks, plan on a few feedings over 1–2 days. Feed it, let it rise and fall, and repeat. When it reliably doubles in 4–8 hours at room temperature and smells pleasantly tangy, it’s back in business.

That dark, sometimes grayish liquid sitting on top of your starter? That’s called hooch, and it’s basically the starter’s way of saying, “I’m hungry, sugar.” Hooch is a naturally occurring alcohol produced as the yeast ferments the flour and runs out of food.

Hooch isn’t harmful. You can pour it off for a milder flavor or stir it back in for a stronger, more acidic tang before feeding. If you’re seeing a lot of hooch often, it’s a sign your starter needs more frequent feedings or a slightly bigger meal each time.

Most of the time, even a sad-looking starter can be saved with patience and consistent feeding. But there are a few signs that indicate it’s safer to start over:

• Strange colors: Pink, orange, or bright red streaks are a no-go.
• Fuzzy mold: Any visible mold growth on the surface or sides of the jar.
• Off-putting smell: Think rotten, putrid, or anything worse than tangy, boozy, or vinegary.

If you see any of those, it’s time to say goodbye and create a new starter. But nine times out of ten, even a gray, hooch-covered, sluggish starter can be revived with several rounds of discarding and feeding at room temperature.

If you know you’re going to be away for a long while, you can go a step further with long-term sourdough starter storage. A thicker starter keeps better, but you can also dry your starter into flakes and store them in an airtight jar for months. Later, you can rehydrate and rebuild it with a few feedings.

Label your jar with the date of the last feeding so you don’t have to guess how long it’s been. And consider keeping a small backup starter in a separate jar—just in case the main one has an accident.

Keeping your sourdough starter in the fridge is a lot like caring for a good cast-iron skillet—it doesn’t need constant attention, but a little love now and then keeps it in tip-top shape. When you know how to store your sourdough starter in the fridge, you can step away for a few days (or even a few weeks) without losing that precious culture you’ve nurtured.

Feed it before chilling, give it the right container, watch for hooch and warning signs, and don’t be afraid to revive it with a few hearty feedings when it’s been resting for a while. Let your starter nap in the fridge, knowing you can wake it up whenever that craving for fresh, homemade sourdough bread hits, darlin’—warm, crusty, and straight from your kitchen.