Oh no!
It's very possible that your starters did not actually die, but just went dormant for lack of food, which is what happens to my Lazarus when I go months and months and months without feeding it. It may seem like it's dead, but when I remove half of it and feed the remains with more flour and water over a few days time at room temp, it miraculously comes back to life. Bake with Jack on Youtube has a great video that talks about that. He's a professional baker and it's his opinion that there is no such thing as a dead starter:
Like blueginkgo, Bake with Jack has become one of my favorites, too. He's got a whole series of YouTube videos on sourdough, which I only just discovered earlier this month, and I'm so happy I found him because he's helped tremendously to simplify and demystify so many things for me regarding sourdough. His Sourdough Myths video and his Sourdough Scrapings Method video especially have been a goldmine of helpful, simplifying info for me.
Regarding my Lazarus and Wildfire.....they were both created using Arrowhead Mills whole grain rye flour and bottled spring water. I didn't use our tap water because our city treats it with chlorine and that would surely have worked to kill it for real.
When I created Lazarus years ago, I used the directions in Dan Leader's book Bread Alone, which makes an overly large amount (enough to fill up a 32 oz container and then some when lively). If I had known then what I know now, I would never have made such a large amount, but when one doesn't know 'come here' from 'sic'em' about sourdough, one follows the directions one has at hand. lol Over the years, I've cut Lazarus down to a much more manageable size of about 7 oz/210g in weight instead of the whopping 28 oz it was at the beginning, and I'm thinking of cutting it down even further to 25 grams after watching Bake With Jack. For what it's worth, here are the basic directions I followed from the book using Mr. Leader's amounts:
Day 1: In 2 to 3 quart container vigorously mix 4 fluid ounces of spring water with 3 ounces weight of wholegrain rye flour along with a pinch of active dry yeast (less than 1/16 tsp.) Scrape down the sides, cover and place in a 74 to 80 degreeF place for 24 hours.
Day 2: Repeat step 1, only don't add anymore yeast.
Day 3: Repeat step 2.
Day 4: Repeat step 2
By day 4 you should have a lively starter that is ready to use to make bread. However much of the starter you remove to make your bread, replenish the remaining starter left behind with the same amount using the same ratio of water to flour.
It's really no different from any other sourdough starter recipe out there, except that it just makes sooooo much. My Wildfire starter was made using Mary Nests's Foolproof Sourdough Starter directions (can be found on YouTube), which uses much less flour and water and no added yeast. Here are her directions that I followed to a 'T':
Day 1: In an 8-oz size bowl or jar, vigorously mix 1 tablespoon of wholegrain rye flour with 1 tablespoon water. Loosely cover and set somewhere at about 75F. (I covered mine with cheesecloth and set it on my dining room table which was receiving a warm gentle cross breeze from my open window. It was about 75F outside.
Day 2: do nothing.
Day 3: vigorously stir in 1 tablespoon rye flour, but no water. Cover loosely and set back in its spot.
Day 4: vigorously mix in 2 tablespoons rye flour and 2 tablespoons water. Re-cover loosely and place it back in its spot. Sometime during this day the starter should be getting quite lively. If by Day 5 it has not doubled or tripled, repeat Day 4 and it should be good to go.
Mine was ready and rearing to go by the end of day 4 and by the morning of Day 5 had tripled in size and was beginning to climb out of the jar! I made bread with it that day and it rose beautifully and baked up beautifully without me 'helping' by adding any yeast. I was so excited!
I've been storing Wildfire in the fridge alongside Lazarus and I've been using the very un-fussy, no waste, 'no discard' method that Bake With Jack advocates, which I think is absolutely brilliant because it fits in with my neglectful sourdough habits. lol
IrishLass
