Bringing your starter on vacation?

[amolapizza]

Am I crazy to consider bringing my starter on vacation? 

Not sure I'm going to bake at all, but like that I don't have to leave it alone for 3 weeks.  I'll also be able to regenerate it at my normal schedule.

Who knows maybe it will even pick something up from the foreign flour, water, and environment. Suppose that could be for good or for bad, but I do have some dried starter as a backup.

[TXCraig1]

I suspect that if TSA finds it in your luggage, it would likely cause you to miss your flight (at a minimum) and you probably would not get it back.

[Heikjo]

A starter will survive in the fridge for three weeks, so I wouldn't worry about it in the first place. It might just need a few more feedings before it's ready to go again.

If you really want to take it along, just feed it up, put half of it in the fridge and half of it in some suitable container for your suitcase. If the TSA doesn't find it or bother about it, you can feed it, bring it back home and toss the fridge one. If they take it from you, you always got the fridge starter.

[amolapizza]

AFAIK, it's no illegal or against security policy here in the EU to put some starter in the suitcase.

It's kind of silly but my starter is beginning to feel like a pet!

[Jersey Pie Boy]

Leave it some chew toys 

Seriously it'll be fine in the fridge

[Pete-zza]

amolapizza,

If you decide to take your starter with you on vacation, I would suggest that you treat it well. So you should bring the starter with you to the pool and to restaurants and any entertainment venues. If you just leave it in the room at the hotel, it may call room service and order all kinds of things that you might not want to pay for. And it may go down to the bar and run up a big tab, and maybe try to pick up something to bring back to the room. Following the above suggestions will get you a friend that will always respect you and be good to you once you call upon it to perform.

Peter

[Jersey Pie Boy]

 

[TXCraig1]

AFAIK, it's no illegal or against security policy here in the EU to put some starter in the suitcase.

It's kind of silly but my starter is beginning to feel like a pet!

I'm not saying it's illegal - rather, have fun trying to explain it. My guess is they take it away from you - that or you miss your flight while you try to explain it and they decide if they believe you.

[TXCraig1]

A starter will survive in the fridge for three weeks,

I've gone six months in the fridge without feeding and with no ill effect so far as I can tell.

[halfprice]

My back up starter is only fed every 4 or 5 months.   My other starter is fed every 1 or 2 weeks

[HansB]

I agree with those above that there is no reason that you can't leave it at home refrigerated. If you decide to take it, checked bag will not be a problem. For carry on just be sure it is less than 3.4 ounce (100ml) and should not be a problem either.

[Heikjo]

I've seen a few examples of people putting their starters "to sleep" if they don't plan to use them for a while. Does anyone have some experience with this and if it makes a difference? I've neglected my own starter for months and it's worked fine when I fed it back up, but I don't know if that changed the properties of it it some negative way.

One example I saw on Instagram was a guy adding 2% salt and reducing the hydration to 70% before going away for a few weeks.

[Jersey Pie Boy]

The thing you can do if you're nervous to is feed it well and get it nice and active, scoop some out an let it dry...parchment paper is great for this...wax paper tends to stick biut s okay, not sure about just on a plate...But spread a thin layer using maybe a quarter cup or so..maybe more, as long as it's thin coverage on your surface, and let it air dry...might take a day or two. It will harden and be brittle. Then you can break it into chips and store in glass jar or Ziploc bag...If your starter doesn't survive (though it will) you can rebuild it fro the dried version...works just fine.