This article explains what sourdough discard is, what it looks like, the stages of sourdough, and some recipes to use it in.
Sourdough discard is one of my favorite parts of sourdough because I can use it in a variety of discard recipes. Other names for it include unfed starter, spent starter or leftover starter.
What is Sourdough Discard like? Here are the characteristics:
Thin, liquid texture like ranch dressing
Strong sour smell
Little to no bubbles
It may have a watery liquid on top if it has been left for too long
Why does sourdough discard smell so strong and have that texture?
There are two main players in the sourdough starter: wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria.
After the wild yeast in the sourdough starter has eaten all the food (broken down the starches into simple sugars) it has become weakened and unsuitable for use as an active sourdough starter to rise as it should.
The lactic acid bacteria breaks down the gluten in the flour into pieces so that it can no longer hold in the carbon dioxide byproduct from the yeast. This is why it has little to no bubbles and a liquid-like texture.
Why do people save sourdough discard?
Even though it represents the waste leftover from feeding the sourdough starter, you can take a small amount and put it into a new jar and feed to refresh to make a new active starter.
After you use a small remainder for your next batch of starter, you can use the bulk of the discard in sourdough discard recipes. This post explains why you would want to keep it and not literally discard it (aka throw it away).
Easy sourdough discard recipes
Here are a few ways you can use sourdough discard in easy recipes to replace some baked favorites:
Sourdough goes through stages as a living ingredient–a whole ecosystem really! Each cycle through these stages is like another generation of the sourdough culture colony. You can read about the stages below or watch the embedded video.
This is the stage after you take a tablespoon or so from an older batch of sourdough starter then feed it fresh water and flour.
See an example of refreshing here:What is a Sourdough Starter?
At this stage, the starter is a thick paste and smells like raw flour.
Right after being refreshed the sourdough starter is not yet ready to use. Time and temperature will activate the starter.
Active
6-12 hours after the starter is refreshed, the sourdough starter becomes “active” . Once active, it will stay active for 1-4 hours, depending on room temperature.
At this stage, the starter is at least double in volume, has large bubbles, and has a ripe fruit smell or fresh wine depending on the starter chemistry.
An active starter has yeast primed for use in sourdough bread recipes. Most bread recipes will ask for an “active” starter or assume its use.
Discard
Approximately 12-24 hours after the starter was refreshed, or 6-12 hours after it became active, the sourdough starter becomes discard .
At this stage, the starter has fallen to a smaller volume, looks like a thick liquid, may have some very small bubbles, and has a more sour smell or overripe fruit. A really old batch of discard will smell like acetone or nail polish remover.
Discard has many uses, which I’ll give an overview of in a future post. The yeast is too depleted to use in a sourdough bread recipe and will not rise in the timing of the recipe. It can be used for a discard bread recipe that has a specific formula and timing to follow.
Using Sourdough Discard
Just like in your life, it’s never to late to make a fresh start… or starter in the case of sourdough discard!
This post explains how to store discard in more detail.
I save mine in one jar in the fridge and use it in recipes on a regular basis.
Here are the sourdough discard recipes on my site you can check out. Or if you need a general overview of why or how to use it, you can read about that in those articles in more detail through the links at the end of this post.
Ready to learn more?
If you haven’t attempted sourdough yet or still feel confused on how to use it, check out my sourdough courses and resources here: Intro. to Sourdough online course
In my starter 101 section, I cover sourdough starter, discard, the cycle, how to care for it, and the mistake that many beginners make that could kill their starter.
deg som innehåller levande jäst och mjölksyrabakterier. Surdeg är en deg som med levande vildjäst- och mjölksyrabakterier-kultur, och som används som jäsämne i nyberedd deg vid bakning av bröd. Mer subjektiva påståenden är att den ger bröd med bredare smak och bättre struktur.
and sourdough discard is a mixture of flour and water that has been fermented. Sourdough discard is any portion of the sourdough starter that is not used to make bread or to sustain your mother starter.
Active starter and discard both come from the same sourdough starter. However, they are in different phases. Active starter has been fed flour and water within the last 12 hours or so and is growing until it hits its peak.Once it begins to fall it is considered discard.
When you feed sourdough starter, you must remove a portion of the starter to make room for the flour and water you're adding to the mixture. Sourdough discard is the portion of starter that gets removed as part of its routine maintenance.
If you don't get rid of the excess, eventually you'll have more starter than your feedings can sustain. After a few days, your daily 1/4 cup flour and water won't be enough to sustain your entire jar of starter, and your starter will be slow and sluggish, not much better than discard itself.
Do I have to discard my sourdough 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.
Culinary-wise, sourdough discard can be used in various recipes such as pancakes, waffles, muffins, sourdough pasta and quick breads like sourdough banana bread to impart a tangy flavor, reduce food waste, and add complexity of flavor to your baked goods.
Sourdough discard: If you don't sourdough discard saved up, feel free to use active sourdough starter. If you don't have a strater, add 56 grams of flour and 56 grams of water to your dough.
Absolutely you can! Active starter can be used in the same way as sourdough discard in sweet or savory baking. You can add active sourdough starter to any recipe you would add discard to following the same calculation.
Store your discard in a jar in the refrigerator where it will continue to ferment, albeit very slowly, whereas at room temperature, it will ferment quickly and you will soon have very ripe discard on your hands that won't be useful for much of anything. You can also store your discard in the freezer.
Room-temperature starter should be fed every 12 hours (twice a day) using the standard maintenance feeding procedure: discard all but 113g, and feed that 113g starter with 113g each water and flour.
Store your starter in the fridge with a fitted lid on in between uses. Your starter stays happily dormant in the fridge, you will see just how magic it is when you take it out of the fridge and it looks sludgy and dull, and then it comes up to room temperature and you feed it and it bounces back.
It's important to note that overfeeding can also have negative effects on a sourdough starter if done excessively or too frequently. If the starter is overfed, it can become too acidic or develop an unpleasant odor which is the result of excess food rotting in the jar.
The culture is maintained indefinitely, fed with fresh flour and water (also called refreshing) consistently. A sourdough starter is used to seed fermentation in new dough when baking bread and is responsible for leavening (making rise) and flavoring a loaf of sourdough bread.
Room-temperature starter should be fed every 12 hours (twice a day) using the standard maintenance feeding procedure: discard all but 113g, and feed that 113g starter with 113g each water and flour.
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