Leftover Sourdough Starter Recipes: The Ultimate List (2024)

FAQs

What can I do with my extra sourdough starter? ›

Instead of throwing away (or composting) your excess sourdough starter during the feeding process, bake with it! Unlock the power of sourdough discard to both enhance your bakes with a subtle tang and make the most of those leftovers.

You can use 1-2 week old discard in “discard recipes”… think cookies, brownies, muffins, non-yeast breads, tortillas (pretty much anything that doesn't require active starter (aka wild yeast).

Technically, sourdough discard has the same benefits as sourdough starter, since they are both wild yeast ferments. In terms of beneficial lactic acid bacteria, natural yeasts acetic acid and colonies of microbes, they are both full of them.

Other people prefer to store their sourdough discard until they have enough to bake with. No matter what, it's still technically sourdough starter; At any point you can take a portion of the discard out, feed it in a new clean container, and have nice bubbly sourdough starter for making bread.

WHAT IS SOURDOUGH DISCARD? Sourdough discard is the portion of your starter that is removed and discarded before feeding what's left in the jar. It can be at room temperature or come directly from the fridge. The texture is less bubbly (if bubbly at all) when compared to fluffy active starter.

It would be best if you discarded some portion of your starter each time you feed it unless you want to continue to let it grow. Eventually, you need to discard the used “food” (flour and water) that's been used to sustain your starter during the last fermentation period.

Yes you can use sourdough discard straight from the fridge, you don't need to let it come to room temperature if you don't want to. What is this? If you are using it straight from the fridge it may be a little stiff or thick, so you'll need to ensure you mix it really well.

Store it for future baking: You can store sourdough discard in an airtight container in the refrigerator for future baking with sourdough discard recipes. When you're ready to use it, let the discard come to room temperature before using it to bake. I will keep sourdough discard in the fridge for about one week.

You can store mature sourdough discard in the refrigerator indefinitely. As long as there is no mold, it is good to use. It may develop a grayish liquid on top called “hooch” which can be poured off before use or stirred in. If you stir it in, the flavor will become more sour.

What is the difference between sourdough starter and sourdough discard? ›

Only a small portion of the sourdough starter is reserved and fed during each feeding, the rest is referred to as discard, since typically it is thrown away. In efforts to reduce waste, discard is often collected from multiple feedings and stored in the fridge until enough is allotted to be used for discard recipes.

Ideally, you should use a medium sized, clear glass jar with a lid that can be loosely rested or screwed on tight. At a glance, the best sourdough starter jar should be: Medium sized. Clear or transparent.

If you think you killed your starter with heat, always use a probe thermometer to take the temperature in the center of the starter. If it is below 130F/54C it is still alive, even if it was exposed to a higher oven temperature for a short time.

The world's oldest sourdough starter is supposedly over 5,000 years old. The statistic states that there exists a sourdough starter, a mixture of flour and water used to ferment dough, which is believed to be over 5,000 years old, making it the oldest known sourdough starter in the world.

Yeast will die if exposed to temps of 60C or above (140F). It is very likely that your sourdough starter will actually die at temps lower than this. Anything above 120F (50C) would be considered too hot for a sourdough starter and will kill the wild yeast if exposed for long periods.

You can keep it in the fridge like you're saying, give it a feeding once a week, then when you want to use it for bread, take it out the day before and give it two feedings, once in the morning and once in the evening. After you use it, feed it, put it back in the fridge.

Sourdough starter stored in the fridge will stay in good shape for the occasional baker who might be making a loaf or two every couple of weeks. But if you need to store it longer—for instance, if you won't be baking much in the summer—the freezer is your best option.

Sourdough starter can be stored on the counter or in the refrigerator. "If you're someone who bakes sourdough bread more than a couple of times a week, keep your starter in a cool, dry place. If you don't bake every week, keep it in the refrigerator," Pellegrinelli explains.

Absolutely yes, this won't be a problem. Any flour that you would use for baking, it can also be used to feed your starter. You can go back to your flour as soon as you get some of it. Or you might actually notice your starter is much happier with the new one.