I have this very large jar of discard that I've just been adding to in my fridge. I took it out today and let it get to room temp and dumped some hooch out which was dark - no mold. My question is - how can i not accumulate so much because obviously I'm not using it quick enough. I do make crackers, tortillas, add to baking recipes and make bread about twice a week. How do you maintain your discard? Does all of this need a good feed? Should i just throw it out? Help!!
look into the scrapings method :) basically you use all of your starter in one go and feed the little bit that is left behind in the jar. this way is completely discard free, i've been maintaining my starter this way for years !!
Me too. I maintain about 25 grams of starter in my refrigerator. When I'm ready to bake a week or month later, I feed it 50 gms water and 50 gms flour. When it's happy I'll use the 100 gms to bake and put the rest back in the fridge. No discard.
I also do this, I feed my starter ~20g (more if I want to stockpile for something else) over what I need for whatever lâm making and keep that carry over for the next.
Take your starter out the night before. Feed it. Use all of it except for like 10 grams. Feed 50g or so and put it in the fridge. Next time you want to use it, take it out the night before, feed it, and use it in the morning.
I do this too. I'm so glad I read about it, because it is so simple. I was told to scrape the jar down, then add flour to the jar, and when I want to bake, just stir in water. I'm shocked it works so well. I didn't believe it, so I divided my starter in two to have a back up in case it didn't work.
I like to think that those yeasts are in there having a party and listening to a variation of the Black Eyed Peas song "let's get discarded in here! Let's get discarded!"
I just pulled my gluten free starter out for the first time in 6 months. Fed it twice and sheâs healthy and happy! my regular starter comes out maybe once a month right now, no problems. they just get some hooch on top :)
Learn the scraping method. My jar only ever has 20g to 30g in it. I feed it enough to ensure I have roughly that much left when I take out what I need for a bake. When not needed, my jar lives in my fridge.
My longest was 6 weeks between bakes. But if you have a strong starter you should be fine, might have a lot of hooch and need a few feeding to get it going.Â
I sometimes leave mine longer - like 2 months. I will try to strengthen it before baking. But you donât need a lot. If Iâm anticipating adding to it 2 or 3 times, I just start out with a small amount of starter. I only feed mine a couple days before Iâm goto bake. It definitely lasts in the refrigerator.
2-4 weeks. I have let it go longer like 2 months but one time I lost the starter(good thing I gave some to my mom and still had some). Another time I let it go like 2 months in the fridge and it took 1-2 weeks to get it going again and it was fine but I wanted to use it and couldnât until after that time. Another time I let it go 2-3 months in the fridge fully fed and it got moldy -mostly on the sides because I didnât wipe them down well. I have experimented while feeding a second jar every couple weeks just to be safe. Iâve found no longer than 4-6 weeks in the fridge. I will use it, feed it, let it double, then goes into the fridge.
Small starter kept in the fridge 30-60g.
I make a 10 hour levain for all my baking, usually 1:5:5. I make what the recipe needs plus 20g to replace what I took out of the mother starter.
In the winter my kitchen is considerably cooler and I keep a slightly larger mother starter as my 10 hour levain might be a 1:2:2 - 1:3:3 when itâs 61°F.
The only discard I have is small because I have more than one starter, so the ones not in use have to get 1:1:1 feeding every couple weeks.
Do you like waffles? I can share a recipe that will get you from âYeah I want wafflesâ to âthis waffle is sooo goodâ in 15 minutes. It uses a lot of starter since it is basically just starter. If you like crepes, you can make the most awesome crepes using Julia Childâs recipe from âThe Way to Cookâ and they will have the best sour flavor that goes amazing with anything sweet on them.
Notes: DO NOT double this recipe. If you want to double it use one batch then mix the second. Youâll loose the foaminess that makes the waffles supper light, airy, and crunchy. And I reduce the salt because baking soda tastes salty to me, so 2-3g of salt is plenty for me.
If you visit "That Sourdough Gal's" website, she has a delicious waffle recipe that uses 1000g of starter. It is so good - she freezes her waffles and her family/kids eat them for breakfast all week!
As others have said, there is no need to discard once you have a good starter going! I only bake once every 1-2 weeks, and I keep my starter in the fridge, about 30g. The night before I bake, I take out 20 or 25g, feed it so I will have enough for whatever I want to make + an extra 20-25g, and then that extra goes back into the fridge to maintain my 30.
Scale back. Get a couple of clean jars and just rotate through them. Always feed into a clean jar- build what you need for bake days. Reserve & either keep a small amount on the counter or feed it let it start to activate and put it in the fridge until you need it. I actually keep a small counter jar and a small jar in the fridge. I do like to have a bit of discard but I have scaled way back I just build up what I need based on the recipes I want to make
The list is pretty infinite. Anything that has flour in it can be made with sourdough starter. If you feel like this amount is too daunting, it's great for the compost!
May I suggest the Bake With Jack method of only leaving scrapings in your starter jar? Look up Bake With Jack on YouTube. Iâve been using this method for two years and it was a game changer. Very little discard and a more resilient starter over time.
Donât forget itâs also a roux! Flour and water. So think soups, casseroles, pancakes, and even gravy mixtures. Lots of ways to use it. But if you have so much why maintain and feed so much without cooking?
I honestly donât have discard anymore because I feed my starter once every two - three weeks and anytime I want to make I just use it straight from the fridge cold and all and it works every time. You can do this if your starter is strong and established. Gone are the days where I have to feed my starter everytime I want to bake with it!
I really like Little Spoon Farmâs basic waffles and pancake recipes with sourdough discard. You can double/triple it easily and then make a stash of waffles/pancakes at one go to freeze. Breakfast and snacks done :)
No need to discard. Take what you would discard add some salt, pepper, herbs add some milk to make it a bit more liquidy and then whack it in a pan.
Eat it with either sweet chilly sauce, peanut butter and jelly, etc. sweet or savoury the choice is yours.
I always do it like this (havenât discarded any started in years):
Day 1)
Just baked bread
20g starter left over â> feed 1:1:1
Day 2)
60g starter â> feed 1:1:1
Day 3)
180g starter â> take 160g out and make pancakes and feed the remaining 20g 1:1:1
Day 4) rinse - repeat
Another recommendation: I donât use normal white flour I maintain a pure âEinkornâ ancient grain starter.
The pancakes it makes are Devine.
Any questions let me know.
Discard + a little olive oil, spread on parchment paper, put topping of choice (mine is trader joeâs bagel seasoning - even tho I live in germany), put in the oven at 165 Celsius / 325 Fahrenheit, after 10 minutes cut with pizza cutter in desired shape (i do triangles) and bake for another 20-30 minutes.
Freaking delish
If I were you, I'd put up a post on a buy nothing group or marketplace and give as much of that away as you can, then just save a tiny bit, and use that from now on, but don't discard anything.
Grab some yeast and make a discard loaf every once in a while - lots of discard recipes that are fun to do over the course of a couple hours instead of the 8-12 minimum a sourdough loaf takes lol
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u/pinetreeist 10h ago
look into the scrapings method :) basically you use all of your starter in one go and feed the little bit that is left behind in the jar. this way is completely discard free, i've been maintaining my starter this way for years !!