Last year, before graduating and moving away from Berkeley, I
collected two sourdough starters from bakeries that I loved and had
special significance for me during my years there. I abided by the
instructions for feeding and kept them alive for a few months, but
after moving again, I had all but abandoned them in the back of the
fridge (I believe they were last fed in late May 07). As expected,
both seem to have the greyish appearance and a pool of liquid (well,
actually only one has the liquid as both starters came to me in
different conditions: one was white flour and a bit looser while the
other was whole wheat and much stiffer). I have read in a few places
that it is possible to revive a starter after long periods of
inactivity, but before I do that, I have two questions:
1. What would be the best procedure to bring them back to a healthy
vibrant state? Should I just follow the instructions from each bakery
for normal feeding until it appears back to normal, or is there a
special treatment for neglected starters?
2. Once I have revived them, would they return back to their original
states, or somehow be morphed into something different? Has anyone
else had similar experience with reviving starters and remembers the
qualities it had before and after?
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