If you’ve baked Amish Friendship Bread before, you know that it doesn’t take long before you have Amish Friendship Bread starter coming out of your ears. You’ve run out of friends to give baggies to and you’re all baked out. Plus the ongoing care and feeding of Amish Friendship Bread…yes, you need an AFB vacation.
So you visit our FAQs and see that you can freeze the starter. What?! And once you freeze it, you can fuhgettaboutit. Seriously?!
Yes, seriously. Not only that, the starter will keep indefinitely, as in years. You put 1 cup of starter in a gallon-sized freezer Ziploc, label and date it, and stick it in the freezer. Adios!
Fast forward ten years. It’s 2025, and you’ve craving something sweet. You dig around your freezer and behold…a bag of Amish Friendship Bread starter dated 2015. (Mine is dated 2013, but you get the idea). It’s like a dream come true. So what now?
It’s time to revive your starter and get baking.
First, dust off the ice crystals and let the bag thaw at room temperature in a large mixing bowl on the counter.
You have a few options here:
- Treat it like it’s Day 1: Run through the 10 days as if you had received your starter from another person. The instructions are here, or
- Treat it like it’s Day 6 [RECOMMENDED]: Add one cup sugar, one cup milk and one cup flour. Squish for the next four days and then follow the directions for Day 10 (result: patience is a virtue, but you’re back on an AFB cycle of feeding, care, dividing, baking. You’ll also have leftover starter to share or freeze), or
- Treat it like it’s Day 10: Once the starter is thawed, about three to six hours, you can bake with that one cup of starter (result: immediate gratification, but no starter left), or
- Treat it like it’s Day 10: Once the starter is thawed, about three to six hours, add 1 ½ cup each sugar, milk and flour. Mix well then divide into 1 cup bags to give away (or re-freeze). Continue following the instructions for baking (result: immediate gratification with starter to keep or give away).
If you choose options 3 or 4, you are ready to bake once your starter has thawed. Some people like to let it thaw overnight to give the starter a chance to fully wake up and get active again, but it rarely does without a good feeding so don’t expect to see loads of bubbles, if at all. Once your starter is thawed, give it a good stir, and you’re off.
If you choose option 2, here’s the play-by-play of what I do:
Once it’s thawed or thawed enough to pour into the bowl, in it goes (use 1 cup of frozen starter only). Give it a good stir. It’ll look like runny pancake batter with little to no bubbles. The smell shouldn’t be sharp, like acetone or nail polish remover, but yeasty (the smell may be faint). If your starter looks discolored or has an unfamiliar smell, discard it and make a new starter from scratch.
Add 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk and 1 cup flour.
Give it another good stir until all ingredients are incorporated (note: it’s okay if it’s a little lumpy). I used natural cane sugar here, so its brown instead of white.
Cover with a loose dishtowel or plastic wrap. Place out of the sun but on your kitchen counter in a draft-free area or in an unused oven (just don’t forget about it or preheat the oven by accident).
The next day, there should be bubbles. Give it a stir. Still look flat? Give it another stir, and a little more time. If your starter was good going into the freezer, it should perk up soon. In fact, you might see it doing this fairly soon …
Here’s a close up …
And the next day …
Keep stirring. Continue through until Day Ten, following the instructions for feeding and dividing your starter. You’ll be baking in no time!
IMPORTANT! In order to successfully revive a starter, it has to be ACTIVE and HAPPY right before you freeze it. Usually freezing within 24 hours after a freezing is perfect, when you have bubbles and growth and general starter happiness. If you have a flat and unbubbly starter, freezing it and then reviving it if a gamble. Maybe it’ll perk up, maybe not, so make sure your starter is in a good place before it goes in for the deep freeze.
>> Check out more tutorials here.
>> Post a picture of your starter on Facebook here or add it to our starter gallery by submitting it here.
My mom gave me a starter and I just finished day 10 and baked my first batch. I decided to Portion the rest in 1 cup sizes to freeze instead of passing along.I some how have 5 cups of starter. I thought it would have been closer to 3 for some reason to portion. I know you divide by 3 to give away so there might be more or less.I just wanted to make sure I didn’t mess up in measurement
I am going to try this, does it make good pancakes? Thank You
Hi! A couple of months back, I frozen about 4 bags of starter because I was tired of fooling with it. I saved your page, so I could reference back when I decided to thaw and bake, using a starter bag. I used option 3 from this recipe: thawed my starter, added ingredients and baked. I didn’t change a thing on the recipe. I was extremely nervous I had just wasted all the ingredients and it wouldn’t work from frozen starter, but to my surprise, it turned out perfect! It looks beautiful and tastes amazing! I may have just enjoyed a second piece with coffee! Thanks for sharing!!!
Can you bake on day 6 of your starter instead of waiting for day 10 and how would you do it.
My husband is a diebetic. Can I use sweetner or any other alternatives?
Hi Judith! You can try our low-sugar starter (https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/afb-starter-sugar-free/) and low-sugar AFB (https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/sugar-free-afb/), but just keep in mind that the flour in the recipe still adds carbohydrates to the bread.
Hi I am a little confused about reviving the starter. I took my frozen starter out..thawed it and then added 1 1/2 cup of sugar ,flor and milk as if I am on day 10. why are the measurements different if I were acting as if day 6? I want to make one today (same day I thawed) but also want starters to freeze. Was just curious why it’s .5 cup more?
Hi Katlin! The amount that you’re adding to your starter when you feed it should be a 1:1 ratio. Meaning, if you have a cup of starter on day 6, then you’d feed it a cup of flour, a cup of sugar, and a cup of milk. But if you have about 1 1/2 cups of starter, then you’d feed it 1 1/2 cup of each ingredient. Does that make sense?
Have you ever made the bread gluten-free? My son loves when I bake, but his girlfriend is gluten-free and I’d like to be able to make something she can enjoy, as well.
Thanks!
Hi Patti! Currently our gluten-free option for the starter/bread is the potato flaker starter (https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/potato-flake-starter-afb/) and making the potato flake bread with a gluten-free flour blend (https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/potato-flake-amish-friendship-bread/)! Let us know if you have any other questions, Patti! ❤️
Hi! I just made my first batches of starter and have two baking in the oven. What if I take one of my starters and just want to bake two more cakes without making extra starters… what steps or ingredients would I delete? Ty!!
Hi Jane! You can just use your starter in your recipe until you have no more starter left. Usually, if you are keeping your starter going, once you’ve fed your starter on day 10, you would separate the starter and keep a cup on the counter to keep your starter going. Does that make sense?
Hi there. Wondering if there is a way to feed the starter on the 10th day so you end up with just 2 cups instead of 4 cups? I am not sure if I can just use 1/2 the ingredients once you put it the bowl if that would work. Hope that makes sense. You run out of friends to give it to.
Hi Janice! Here’s a great post on keeping a smaller starter: https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/keeping-a-smaller-amish-friendship-bread-starter/
Another option for baking less often, as well, is keeping it in the fridge: https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/faq-store-my-starter-in-the-fridge/
Let us know if you have any other questions!
Hi, I’m still confused on when to freeze the starter and how to revive. I have a lot of them and no one to give them to, so I was happy to learn they can be frozen. I have 1 cup portions in a gallon size zip lock bag. I’m currently on Day 5, so I mushed the bags for the past 5 days and tomorrow will be Day 6. Do I feed the starter on Day 6 (since its best to have fed the starter within the last 24 hours) and then freeze them? And then when I take it out of the freezer, you said treat it like Day 6-add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk-but If I already did that before freezing am I supposed to add more? Should I have just frozen the starter on Day 1? I really don’t want to give up but it’s getting to be too much and I’m so confused. Thank you for any advice.
Hi Heather! You can freeze them at any point during your cycle. However, the best day to freeze them is when they have been fed within the last 24 hrs prior and they are bubbly and happy. If you freeze them when they are not super active, chances are they won’t be super active when you revive them. Then when you are defrosting your starters, it is helpful to feed them again (as if you are on day 6), and let them react to the sugar. This will be a good way to tell if they are still healthy and active (if they get bubbly) or not.
Let us know if we can help with anything else, Heather! Good luck!
Hi I am a little confused about reviving the starter. I took my frozen starter out..thawed it and then added 1 cup of sugar ,flor and milk. so day 7, 8, 9 I will mush it. on day 10 am I adding 1 cup of milk, sugar and milk ? or go straight to dividing that ? I was planning on baking some and freezing some.
Hi Stephanie! Yes, you will feed your starter on day 10 before you divide! You should feed you starter an 1:1 ratio, so if (by day 10) your starter is closer to 1 and 1/2 cups, then you should feed you starter 1 & 1/2 cups of flour, sugar, and milk. Let us know if you have any more questions!
Hi! I had 4 starters last month but could only give away 2 of them. So I delivered the 2 starters (on Day 3) then put the other 2 starters in the freezer (also day 3). I wanted to bake some bread today, but I’m not sure if I just thaw a starter and bake it or if I must feed the starter first? I’m confused since I didn’t freeze the starters until day 3.
Hi Crimson! If you’re baking a sweet bread (like the original Amish Friendship Bread), then it should be totally fine for you to bake with them right after defrosting them! However, if you are using a recipe that requires the starter to do more of the leavening (i.e. the traditional sourdough recipes), then you will want to feed it after defrosting to help the starter grow and become more active. Let us know if you have any other questions!
Hi!!!! I have several older bags of one cup starter in my freezer labeled DAY 6~
Can I bake with them NOW after I let them sit out for 3 hours???
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME & ADVICE!!❤️
Hi Christi! You definitely can bake with them, especially if you are making a sweet bread (like the original recipe). However, if you’re attempting rolls or more traditional breads that require the starter to do some of the “heavy lifting,” then it’s recommended you go through a cycle of feeding it before you bake with your starter. Let us know if you have anymore questions!
I feed my starter today and have three bags ready to wait until day ten to bake. Do I have go divide the starter into one cup bags or can I freeze as is? My recipe is for two loaves
Hi Myrna! You can freeze the starter as it is without separating it into one cup portions. However, it is easier when you revive your starter to have it portioned out. The original recipe makes two loaves but only calls for one cup of starter. Let us know if you have any other questions!
Hi.
I have 4 starters and want to end it..
How do I go ahead and prepare to bake All 4 starters.? How many liars will I have?
Hi Sandy! If all four of your starters are active, you can just bake with them till you are out of starter! Most recipes call for 1 cup of starter. Happy baking!
Hi! I thawed my starter on Saturday, but haven’t baked it. It’s been 3 days now. Should I toss it? Should I feed it (as if it was day 6?). Should I bake as is? Please help
Hi. I have the same question, and I see this is unanswered. Does anyone in the community know how long thawed starter lasts on the counter without attention?
All starters (and kitchens) are unique, so a lot comes into play when it comes to the healthiness of your starter after you defrost it (e.i. what day you froze your starter on, the temperature of your kitchen). Our advice would be to feed your starter and see how it reacts. Here’s a great post on checking a healthy vs not healthy starter: https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/tutorial-good-vs-not-so-good-amish-friendship-bread-starter/
However, if it doesn’t react to your feeding at all (get bubbly) or starts to smell really funky, or has mold, our advice would be to throw it out and try again. As we say in The Kitchen, “If in doubt, throw it out!”
My freezer door has been left open a few times, and things have started to defrost. Is my starter still good?
Hi Lauren! It should be fine, as long as it hasn’t defrosted totally. I would just keep an eye on it when you take it out to use!
Ok I have 4 starters in 4 bags that are ready to make.
Can I just fed and then make the recipe without separating out the 1cup to share?
Do I need to Modify the recipe?
Hi Reva! Most of the recipes call for one cup of starter, which is why you separate the starter when you feed it on day ten. However, if you double/triple the recipe to make more, you can use more of your starter instead of giving it away. Hope that helps!
My husband put my starter that I was on day 2 with in the fridge. It is now day 6 and I’ve added flour, milk sugar. It has been in fridge day 2-6 so should I keep it in fridge?
Hi Chelsa! Check out the second section on our FAQ page (“Caring for My Starter”) here: https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/faqs/
It should give you a little more about what to do if you’ve refrigerated your starter!
I have a question in regards to freezing the starter bag. I was on my 2nd round of making the bread and only had 1 friend to pass it to, so I decided to freeze the starters. Today was my 10th day, so I followed all the steps and baked my one batch and threw the rest in the freezer. Was I supposed to wait? I’m very confused as to when is the right time to put in the freezer.
Hi Juliana! Yes, that should work fine! As long as your starter has been active and bubbly and you have fed it in the last 24 hours, it should be good to go! Just remember that when you defrost it, our recommendation is that you treat like day 6 (feed it and squish for 4 days before using). That way you’ll be able to see how active it is. 🙂
I just did my day 10 as well. I think you’re probably fine, but I’m going to put mine in the freezer tomorrow, since it just got “fed”. Haven’t done this in years, just received it from a friend, so I’m a little dusty at this! (Cinnamon rolls are sounding wonderful…)
I used to make Amish Friendship Bread as a newlywed back in the 1980’s! Last fall I stumbled on the recipe and thought I’d make it again. The bread turned out delicious, and I froze 3 plastic 1 cup bowls of starter that.
This past Thurs. I took one out and thawed it in a zipper bag. I added the 1 cup of everything, squeezing very well, sealed it and stood the bag in a bowl on my counter. I counted that as day 6, and squeezed well every day.
Today is day 9. I’ve been noticing very few bubble forming but I thought that by today it would be bubbling like crazy, but there were still only a couple of bubbles. I opened it and it smelled mostly like spoiled milk, so I decided to give up and throw it away.
I am starting another now, letting it defrost in an old Tupperware mixing bowl, I will keep it in the bowl instead of a bag. I’m very curious if it letting air in will make a difference or if I just messed up with the first. The starter was frozen at the same time I was making the bread so it was active at that point.
Any Thoughts? Did keeping it in the bag suffocate it? Thanks for any advice.!
Hi Lisa,
If it smells spoiled (versus yeasty and fermenting), definitely throw it out. A lot of this depends on the quality of the starter going in (ie, it should have just been fed before being frozen, which you did). I’m not sure what happened and why it didn’t revive unless the temperature in your kitchen is too cool or something happened during the freezing process. Also, using a bag or bowl is up to you, but I’ve always founded it easier to use a bowl. Being stored and fed in a bag shouldn’t be a problem, however — when it needs more air, the bag will usually puff up so you’ll know you need to unzip it to let in new air. You can’t suffocate it as long as there are some air and lots of food — your starter will tell you when it needs to breathe! I hope this helps — let me know if you have any other questions!
Hi Darien,
Thanks for your reply. Starter #2 is bubbling away quite happily. I must have messed up something the first time.
Hi Darien, my second batch failed too. It was nice and bubbly the day after I fed it, but after stirring, it never bubbled again. My kitchen is usually between 65 (overnight) and 75 degrees, I don’t think it’s too cool. I’m going to throw away the last cup I still have in the freezer and start a new one.
Hi Lisa! Don’t throw it out yet! Sometimes you only get super active bubbles the day of or after your starter is fed. And then it’s “quiet” until feeding time again. Your kitchen is cool enough in the evenings for your starter to be napping, and then the temperature would need to jump up during the day to really get it going. Unless you live in a really warm climate and feed your starter frequently (most then every 5-6 days), this is normal! If it smells like fermented batter, it’s okay. Remember that you feed it right before you bake with it, too. If you’re still concerned, post some pictures of your starter on our private Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/amishfriendshipbread/ and I can troubleshoot that way.
Is it possible to use something other than cow’s milk for this recipe (I.e.almond, sow)? If so, could I use a flavored one or would it have to be plain? I had this bread some years ago and would love to make it again but I’m now dairy free.
Hi Karleigh! Yes, you can use any nut milk or soy milk, flavored or plain (just know that the flavored milk will affect the flavor of your starter). You can also just use water if you don’t have any milk available, though the naturally occurring sugars in both cow’s milk and nut milks help feed the starter. Hope this helps!
Yes! I’m so glad you put this info out there for bakers! My Friendship bread starter dates to 1985ish. Back then, all we got with the starter was a pinfeed printout with instructions on how to care for it for the first 10 days and one recipe to make aloaf with WAAAY too much sugar and oil. Over the years, with a small family, I managed to keep it alive. Then just as we were about to move, I took the chance to freeze it. No info at all at that time… it worked out and now I’ve shared this starter with just about everyone i know! I enjoy your blog. Keep up the good work!
Before finding FBK I had no idea you could freeze starter. Yay! No more throwing away the starter! Thank You!
I need this. I have moved to a new neighborhood, where I discovered that no one cooks or bakes! I am going to make a fresh starter, and then freeze what is left.
We’re selling our house, so I am cleaning out our freezer. I found some AFB dated 2017, so this will come in very handy to help me get it started again.
I would never have thought of freezing and reviving bread dough. This was really informative. I might try this when I feel up to the challenge of making Amish bread. How long can you freeze for before the starter dough is useless? Maybe for Christmas?
I recently used this tutorial because I have several starters in the freezer and planned on baking on Sunday. I wanted to confirm that I could let it thaw, give it a good “stir” or mashing, and bake. Thank you!
This year will be my first year freezing a starter, so I’m very glad to see these tutorials, especially how to revive a frozen starter.
I’m a little confused as to how much starter is needed for one recipe. If start with day 1 n add all that you put in including flour, sugar, n milk on day 10, you have like 8.5 cups of starter but you only take out 4. So I’m wondering why you can make a batch straight out of the freezer with only one cup?? Does my question make sense??
Hi Nellie! The original recipe uses 1 cup of starter. When you are make a starter from scratch (or receive it from a friend) and go through the 10 day feeding cycle, you are adding ingredients. Some of the ingredients get metabolized (eaten) by the starter, but you will end up with more starter than you started with. On Day 10, you divide your starter into equal portions of 1 cup each (it’s usually 4 cups total but some people can have double if their starter has been crazy active). Bake with one, and then give away or freeze the rest. Each cup should be in its own bag, though. So when you freeze it, if you have 4 cups for example, you would have 4 bags. You would not freeze 4 cups in one bag. Hope this helps!
Please help me. Can I use a mixer with metal beaters to make the bread? Do I have to mix with wooden spoons and bowls? Please help me. I want to make this bread for a friend. Thank you, Mary Ann
Yes, you can! Just don’t use old tin or aluminum pans that aren’t coated. Your mixer will be fine!
Can I treat day 9 like day 10 and make bread a day early?
Can I treat day 9 like day 10 and bake a day early?
Hi, I want to add dried fruit to it. Do I rehydrate the fruit and if so with what? Just started day one but my husband loves sweet bread with fruit usually I rehydrate with warm water and on the holidays brandy. Thank you Cynthia
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Every time I make the bread the top gets very dry and cracked. What am I doing wrong or is it supposed to do that? I don’t over bake it because the bread taste great. Just wondering if it’s supposed to crack like that.
Can I freeze it in jelly jars?
Hi JoAnn! I have never personally used jars when freezing Amish Friendship Bread Starter. Ziploc bags tend to seal well and allow for easy mixing when it’s time to thaw. That’s what we use here at the kitchen, but if you are more comfortable using jars, then give it a try. We’d love to hear how it goes! We’re always looking for new and innovative ways to manage Amish Friendship Bread Starter.
i’m a bit confused…. i went thru the process to day 10 which adds flour, milk, sugar. on day 11, i read directions to make bread and it indicates to take the starter and divide it into 3 bags; one cup each and then go forward with the recipe as detailed. i didn’t have extra 3 cups of starter and still have the one cup to make bread. what am i doing???? originally i made starter and divided it into 3 different containers and l cup to make .
Hi Sandra! Not everyone will have 3 bags of starter + 1 cup to bake with on Day 10, but you should have at least a couple of cups. The reason why is that you begin on Day 1 with 1 cup of starter (either given to you or made from scratch). On Day 6, you feed it with 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk. Then on Day 10, you feed it again, with 1½ cup flour, 1½ cup sugar, 1½ cup milk. Once everything is well mixed, THEN you divide it into 1 cup portions. Over the course of 10 days, you’ve added 7½ cups of ingredients to your original 1 cup! Of course, a lot of the sugar is metabolized by the starter, but that’s still a significant amount of starter left over. So on Day 10, after you’ve divided the starter, you keep one and give the rest away. You bake on Day 10 with that one cup of starter.
Unless you keep any of the extra starter for yourself, you won’t have any left over for you. Does that help? There is technically no Day 11. If you keep an extra cup of starter to begin the cycle again, it becomes Day 1 with that one cup of starter and you go through the 10-day process once more.
I had to toss a starter I had because it was no longer active. My friend had one in her freezer and gave it to me so I can start again. She froze it on day 10 (so it had the ingredients added from day 6 when she froze). Now that it’s thawed, I want to bake, but not sure how to treat it. Do I need to add anything to it since it already had the 1 cup milk, flour and sugar? Or do I still need to add 1 cup milk, flour and sugar? If I do, how much batter would that be? Would I need to divide it up into more than 4 bags?
Hi Holly! What you do with your starter depends on how much leftover starter you want. If you just want to bake and be done, with no starter left, then let your starter thaw and bake with it. If you want starter leftover, then let your starter thaw, add 1 1/2 cups of milk, flour, and sugar, separate your starter into bags, and bake with one portion. If you’re not ready to bake, just let your starter thaw, and feed it like its Day 6. Happy Baking!
This website is SO fantastic!! So am I reading this right, I’ve got my thawed starter and I want zero leftover, so I’m literally pouring the entire bag into my loaf pan and baking, adding nothing… is this correct? Just sugar and cinnamon my loaf pan and bake on 325?
Hi my name is Jennie. Today I thawed a 1 cup starter, I’m treating it like day 10. I don’t want to have leftovers. Besides 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of flour, what other ingredients should I need? Thank you for your help.
Hi Jennie! If you don’t want to have any leftover starter, don’t feed the thawed starter before baking. Just let your starter thaw, then bake with it. If you want starter left over to save or give away, feed it with 1½ cup each of sugar, milk, and flour. Mix well, then bake with one cup and divide the rest of the starter into one cup bags. Happy baking!
Can I freeze and thaw Potato Flake Starter like your instructions on regular starter?
I really want to be able to bake whenever I want (more frequently than every 10 days) after the first cycle, but I am confused about how to do this. I have seen a couple of places where you have mentioned using a “running starter,” I was wondering what you meant by this and how to maintain it.
Does it matter what day of the 10 day cycle I freeze the starter, once it has completed at least one 10 day cycle?
Not sure how old the starter is as I received it from my daughter, who had received it from a friend. I went through the 10 day cycle once and divided some and baked a couple, but don’t have that many people to pass on to so wanted to freeze before dividing again. Also, what day do I consider it when I thaw it?
Hi Angela! Yes, it does matter. You want to freeze it when it’s really active, so the day of or day after a feeding. Those starters perk up immediately (or within a few hours) when it comes time to defrost them. If you freeze a flat (inactive/quiet starter), it sometimes doesn’t have enough oomph to kick start again (though I have had luck feeding them immediately but it’s hit or miss). So for best results, freeze after you’ve seen your starter bubble up and get frothy.
If i do get bubbles what day would this be considered?
Some people get bubbles most days, so it’s not really considered a specific day, but if you get bubbles after defrosting your starter without adding any new ingredients, I would treat it as Day 1.
Day 1 (if you didn’t add ingredients) — if you did add ingredients and got bubbles, then Day 6. Some people get bubbles for several days during the 10 day period so it’s not necessarily related to one specific day.
My starter has been in freezer since 2015. Got a bag it and let it thaw. It smelled yeasty when I first got out but i think it has a vinegar smell now. What do u think?
I would give it a small feeding — 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk (you can add the milk slowly and use less if your starter is really runny). Give it a couple of days and see if it revives — it’s definitely worth keeping active starters that are older (more flavor and history!) but you want to make sure it’s in good shape. If you get good bubbles with 24 hours of a feeding, you’re good to go!
thank you so much -i am storing the starter in plastic bags and on day 10 using a wood bowl for my new starters and batter -do you think that is ok or should i purchase a glass bowl / thank you
hi -so glad i found this site my first time around with afb – ialso have starter that is 4 days old -if i freeze -when i take it out do i treat it like day one or day 4 ?also i amusing a big wooden salad bowl – is that ok ? thank you
Hi Marie,
I wouldn’t recommend wood — use glass or BPA-free plastic. Since the starter is sitting in the bowl for a long period of time, it could leach stuff from the wood. You always treat it as Day 6 coming out of the freezer. Make sure your starter is active and bubbly when you freeze it — a flat starter going in will be a flat starter coming out!
22 years ago I was so happy to receive a starter batch. It didn’t take but a few months though & I had become wore out on it. There were way fewer recipe options & it was always said not to freeze it. If only I had known then what I have learned on this site, I’d still be working from that 1st batch! Many thanks for making it possible to start again without fear of overload & SO many more recipe possibilities. 😀
You’re welcome, Karma! I hope you have fun and please share any photos of what you make!
>> https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/recipe-box/submit-photo/
Does freezing work for the sugarless starter, too? When I did this years ago, when the kids were little, I’m pretty sure I followed the usual recipe (just with soy milk instead). Those starter bags in the freezer did great. This time around, though, I can’t have the sugar, so can I put this one’s extras in the freezer, too, or does it need the sugar to help with the freezing?
HI Carina! I haven’t tried it without the sugar but I believe other users have said it works — the key is to give it a good feeding when you revive it to make sure it flourishes again. 🙂
Thanks! I will try it and see what happens.
I made starter a few weeks back and split it into 7 bags. Gave 2 away and with everything going on at the time just threw the rest in the refrigerator… and forgot about them. Will they be ok to put in the freezer now or should I dump them and start over? I’m guessing it’s been at least 3 weeks. Thanks
Hi Kristy! Sadly I’d recommend tossing them — they’ll survive in the freezer unfed but not in the fridge, and 3 weeks is a long time. You should only freeze starter that is active and thriving — freezing old or inactive starter just results in taking up freezer space with something that will most likely fail when you try to revive it. Hope this helps!
I found 9 bags dated 3/14/09, any suggestions?
Hi Margie, we have bags of starter in our freezer dating back to 2006. I’d recommend reviving one bag and see if the starter is active and bubbly. If so, thaw the other bags. Otherwise you can start a new batch of starter from scratch. Here’s the link if you want to create a new starter: https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/amish-friendship-bread-starter/
Hope this is helpful!
Do you have to bake the AFB in a glass pan or can it be metal, such as aluminum? And what am I doing wrong if the outside of my bread is kind of hard. It tastes good but the crust is hard.
Bake it in regular loaf pans, the oxo ones are amazing. I was just gifted a set of two, and there is hardly any clean up. The bread comes out nice and clean. When you are mixing it, that is when you want to use glass. I use to use plastic but after researching this site I went to glass.
As to the outside being crunchy, perhaps the internal temperature of your oven is a little hotter then it registers. Try baking at 45 minutes.
Hi Bonnie! If the crust is too hard, either you’re baking it at the wrong temperature or the plan is too close to the heating element. You can try to cover it with foil for the last 15-20 minutes if this continues to be a problem. Aluminum is not a good idea, but a coated metal pan is fine. If there are scratches in the pan, however, so that the metal shows through, it could affect the batter. We use nonstick metals pans and ceramic pans in the Kitchen. Hope this helps!
I do have one question, you stated mixing the batter in plastic can become an issue, but freezing in the plastic is fine. I have a 2 cup freezer container that would be perfect for my intentions. Would it be ok, in your opinion to freeze it in this plastic ziploc container (loaf shaped) instead of a bag?
Thank you!
Hi Joseph,
The only reason we recommend the Ziploc bag is because each bag contains one cup of starter (not two), which makes it easy to grab a bag when you want to bake. If you have two cups of starter in a container, you have to thaw the whole thing in order to get your one cup, and then you’ll have a second cup left over. If you want to bake it all, however, then it should be fine. Keeping it in a baggie also makes it easier to shove it into the corner of your freezer so it doesn’t take up as much space, LOL. Good luck!
Thank you so much for this information. I’ve been cooking friendship bread for nearly 10 years. The longest batch I had going led to 10 sets. I grew tired of having to throw starters away because nobody wanted them or was continuing their own. I never thought I could freeze them, until I learned differently tonight.
Ironically, I am due to fix my first two loaves tomorrow, creating two fresh starters. One will be frozen, and since I have a food saver now…..that’s how it will go. I will freeze in a container immediately and once frozen, vacuum seal it.
I am also making a lot of this bread to freeze at the same time. The Mrs has a way of picking random times going “I’d really like a loaf of friendship bread.” Lol
I have a starter that is currently on Day 5. I realized that with family coming in, I would rather hold off on this one and start it to bake at the end of next week. Is it okay to freeze today since it’s on Day 5? Or should I wait and freeze it on another day?If it’s okay to freeze today, then once I thaw it, which Day should I begin on? Thanks for your help!!
You can go ahead and freeze it now and then 4-5 days before they arrive, take it out and continue feeding it (so feed it on Day 6, mash it daily until Day 10, when you do a final feed, divide and/or bake). Since it’s so close I would personally just keep it on the counter and follow the feeding schedule, except on Day 10, do a Day 6 feeding and don’t divide. This does mean that you’ll end up with more starter, which you could then freeze or give away, but then you don’t stress the starter by putting it in and out of the freezer for such a short period of time (it’ll be fine if you do, though). Hope this helps!
Thanks so much for your quick reply! I decided not to freeze. I feed on Day 6. Today is my second Day 10. I’d like to hold off and bake it Friday. Is it okay to do so? I didn’t do anything to it today besides mash, keeping my fingers crossed that an extra couple of days won’t hurt. Thanks again!
I got my start out of the freezer and started it like day 1 now on day 6 i added the 1cuo sugar 1cup flour 1cup milk. But itbhas not swelled or anything does this mean it is no good? Have i ruined it? Or do i continue on ?
Thanks for posting the great options. I received my started a couple of days ago and will be in a hotel on day 10. Would it mess the process up if I divided it out and then baked my portion on day 8?
You’re welcome, Debbie! Happy baking!
Thank you for this tip! As I really don’t have many baking buddies, but LOVE AFB I have soooooo much starter! So in two days will be the 10th day, I will bag up starters, and bake a load for me! Thanks again. Debbie Wagner
I’m so happy this website exists! Thank you!!
Just a quick question: my starter is pretty good. At one time it was producing a good bit of air but it really hasn’t been lately. Is there a way to make a “meh” starter a “wow!” starter? Or should I just start over?
Thanks again!
Hi Ashleigh! I’m so happy you found us! I would try to feed it more often, even if it means pouring some of the starter out if you get overwhelmed. Starters are happiest when they are fed often and kept in warm, cozy kitchens. The idea behind an older starter is that the flavor develops, and it’s always fun to say you’ve had your starter for ages. 🙂 But if you can’t get it going again (and you should definitely be seeing bubbles and activity 12-24 hours after a feeding), then I’d either find someone with a thriving or starter or make your own again. 🙂 Good luck!
Thanks so much for this post. I must have six bags of starter in the freezer and I didn’t want to start all over at day one and then freeze more. I wasn’t sure if I could just start at day 10 so again thanks!
You’re welcome, Kim!
I am so excited to start the starter and then freeze it because I stopped making friendship bread because I was overloaded with baggies of starter. Now, I can use the starter when I want and keep freezing it and give it away as a gift with recipes and your site. Can’t wait to get started.
I’m glad to know that starters can be frozen. When taken out of the freezer, the starter can be counted as Day 1, Day 6, or Day 10. If the starter is given to someone it’s Day 1. But I could start it on Day 10. Is that correct? Are the other nine days unnecessary in the process then ? How important are the nine days of processing?
Hi Sue! So once a starter has gone through at least one 10 day period, it is ready to go. You can bake immediately or maintain, which means feeding it every 5-6 days if it is at room temperature. The reason you want to do this is because the starter becomes more flavorful with each feeding, but yes, if you take it out of the freezer you can treat it as Day1, Day 6 or Day 10, which would either be a baking day or an add ingredients, split/share, and baking day. I bake straight from the freezer all of the time (after it thaws, of course), but if I have more time I will give it one feeding just to get it going again. This gives me enough to bake with as well as enough to throw back in the freezer for next time. Hope this helps!
Call me ridiculous, but please can you list and exactly what order like for instants, removing starter from freezer, then can I use directly from freezer, or do I add flour sugar and milk to it to rejuvenate it and then I have to wait another 10 days, or what thank you
Hi Tere,
Sure, Tere! It depends your intention first.
If you want to bake immediately and have NO starter left over: (1) remove the freezer, (2) allow to defrost at room temperature, (3) bake within 3-24 hours.
If you want to maintain or make more starter: (1) remove from freezer, (2) allow to defrost at room temperature, (3) do a Day 6 feeding, (4) squish bag daily until Day 10, (5) do a Day 10 feeding, divide the starter, and bake immediately with one 1 cup of the starter.
Hope this helps!
I have seen amish women add less than the 1 cup flout,milk and sugar when feeding? They keep theirs going all the time however and its kept on a wood stove lol 😉 so my question…do we have to add all that?? Or do just a half cup of each as they do?
Hi Danielle! Because the starter has living organisms (yeast) that require constant feeding, as long as you maintain a ratio of 1 cup starter to 1 cup EACH flour, sugar and milk every 5-6 days, your starter will thrive. If you feed it less, you risk killing ff your starter. One reason you may see Amish women feeding their starter less is because they use the starter more frequently, sometimes 2-3 times a week, and thus need to regularly replenish/feed their starter. Unless you’re baking at a clip like them, feeding your starter just a little bit every 5-6 days runs the risk of your starter not being fed enough and dying off. Every kitchen is different, so you can play with this to see what works for you. The feeding schedule here is a pretty safe bet if you’re baking once every 10 days. Hope this helps! xo Darien
Hi, all after all this loving care, I hate to tell you what happened. First, thank you for getting back to me…Anyway, Stella, my batters name, was very happily growing, bubbly, smelled like it should.. Then, yesterday I was going to give Stella a stir because I still had it in the plastic bowl with a lid and it was touching the lid it was so happy…or so I thought. I opened the lid to give it a stir and I HAD a wooden spoon right beside but I put it in the sink and just instinctively reached for a spoon from the dish rack and gave Stella a real good stir with a METAL spoon , put the lid back on and didn’t think anything of it. About 3-4 hours later I was going to divide Stella up as I found your website (love it) and read all kinds of things about freezing, splitting , contamination etc,,so decided to freeze some and bake some. Well, I opened the lid , Stella looked great, nice and bubbly, creamy colour, but it smelled like someone poured a bottle of nail polish remover in it..Wow, it was strong to ! I just couldn’t understand because Stella was so happy a few hours earlier.I picked up the spoon that I used earlier and gave it a stir and it just occurred to me Oh No, a metal spoon !!!! Well I guess that is what happened, , I know I read on your website that if you think it is contaminated, but not to bad maybe it is fixable, and to feed Stella a bit of flour. I took Mount a cup of Stella from the bowl and put it in a zip lock bag and added 1/2 cup flour, mashed it up, zipped it up, talked to it ,lol, …This morning I checked Stella II , and the bag was ready to burst and wow, it smelled like I just took my nail polish off and was making yeast,,, anyway, no it didn’t fix ..So that’s my story, and the point of it was just to let you know how fast it gets contaminated…I guess I have to make some now from the start… Have a great week everyone!! Thanks..
Hi Lydia! That is such a bummer — I know how disappointing it can be when a good starter goes bad. 😉 In the future if you have a great starter going, and you think you’ll be baking every now and then throughout the year, take a cup of that growing starter and freeze it. Then in case anything happens you’ll have some of the original starter to work with again.
Plastic is also not a great container for starter because there is so much happening during the fermentation process — it could pull other bacteria from the plastic even if it’s been cleaned and sanitized a million times. I’d recommend considering glass. Ziploc bags don’t seem to be a problem though, but you can’t really grow more than a couple of cups in it.
Good luck and thanks for sharing!
I used a plastic 1 gallon ice cream bucket. I had been talking to a friend about starting a new batch up after a few years . i didnt have any saved so I got a new batch started. I went through the ten days baked up a couple loaves now i have some in the freezer again . This time when we baked it, I threw in a ¼ cup of brown sugar and chocolate chips oh it was sooo so good. When I went to bag up everything I got 6 and ⅓ cups out of my ice cream bucket. I’m not sure how ended up with so much but its all for the good this batch was better than I remembered. Now I have Christmas gifts …lol
Hi, I have a question.. Yesterday was my # 10, I did feed the batter but didn’t get to baking it, something came up…anyway, is it OK if it is a day later when I bake it or should I just divide it into 4 and start again..Does it matter if it is a day late baking it??
Hi Lydia! At this point you can bake at ANY time — once you get past the first 10 days, you can either (1) split and share your starter (in 1 cup baggies), (2) split and share and bake, (3) bake all of it (some people don’t want to pass the starter along), (4) bake some of it and freeze the rest (in 1 cup baggies) to bake sometime in the future, AND (finally!) (5) just keep maintaining a starter, baking and sharing as you go. At this point, Day 10 becomes Day 1 and you start the process over again.
The starter is also really forgiving so it’s not a big deal if you miss a day or two. The key is to be feeding the starter regularly (if you don’t want to do this, then give it away or freeze it), plus mixing or mashing.
Good luck and let us know what you end up baking!
On Day 10 do I have to take out the 4 cups of starter or can I just bake the bread without taking anything out? I would probably take out only 1 cup of starter and freeze it.
Yes you can bake all but 1 cup. Then, you can start over with the 10 day routine, or you can freeze it as mentioned. If found that way the easiest for making mass loaves if I’m gifting the bread itself instead of the starter. Actually gifting the bread first is a great way to let people taste how wonderful it is first. They ALWAYS want to know the recipe. : )
Oh my God this bread I love it so much I sharing it all my friends and I’m still making some have to make some today I thank you.
Yay! It really works! Had a hankering for my fave Triple Lemon AFB and pulled out a four year old bag of starter from my freezer. It seemed a bit thin after thawing, so I added a little flour and set it in a warm place for a few hours until slightly bubbly. The whole recipe fits in a bundt pan which makes a really pretty cake with glaze dripping down the sides. Took it to a meeting and it was gobbled up with rave reviews. Thanks so much for the tutorial. I’m pulling out another frozen bag to feed and try the Day one routine. Hi FB gals…I’m ba-a-a-ack!!!
Woot! Welcome home, Bessy! And you know we love pictures of those pretty cakes — snap a shot next time!
Hi,
I have a quick question that I hope will make sense once I get it typed…..
I’ve got my Amish Friendship Starter going now and will be baking next Thursday. I’d love to share a bag with my daughter, who I won’t be seeing until Christmas Day. Since I don’t have many baking buddies close by, I’ll be freezing extra starter-1 cup per gallon freezer bag-for another day.
I’d love to thaw one to bring up to my daughter so she and her family can have fun baking with it and she has a lot of friends who’d love it too. Once thawed, should I feed it 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour and 1 cup milk, mash it around, then give her that and she would begin the 10 day process the next day? Or do I use the 1 1/2 cup sugar, 1 1/2 cup flour and 1 1/2 cup milk then give it to her?
Gosh I hope made sense….I think she and her boys would have a grand time with this….and her husband would be a happy taste tester. 🙂
Thanks so much.
Hi Carol!
If you’re going to bake on Thursday, make a bag for her then and toss it in the freezer. You can take it out the day you see her. People who receive a bag of starter can treat it like it’s Day 1 (the day you receive your starter) or Day 10 (bake with the 1 cup immediately). I’d recommend that instead of making a new starter IF you have a good starter already going. The flavor (and the history of the starter) is better. Good luck!
Thanks so much! That’s what I’ll do-bring a bag of starter up with me and have her begin from day 1. I think my youngest grandson will have fun mooshing the bag and feeding it…..that will be a good project for him.
Fingers crossed that this starter turns out to be a winner! 🙂
Carol