Save Your Sourdough Discard for These Tangy Scallion Pancakes (2024)

FAQs

Can you save sourdough discard? ›

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.

A jar of sourdough discard serves as an insurance policy against starter death. If you have some discard on hand, remove a spoonful of it and feed it fresh flour and water in a clean jar. You should have a bubbly starter ready to bake with after a couple of feedings, depending on the discard's condition.

By feeding the discard with fresh flour and water over a few consecutive feedings, the microbial activity can be restored, eventually turning it into a viable and active sourdough starter.

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.

When in the process of making a new sourdough starter you should not save the sourdough discard. During the beginning stages of making a starter it is more susceptible to mold and other bad bacteria. You will want to wait until the starter is doubling in size and bubbling with each feeding.

You can use old sourdough discard if it's been stored in the fridge, however, you really want to use it up within a week - 2 weeks max. It's better to use "fresh" discard in a sweet sourdough discard recipe. Use older discards in more savory recipes.

You must discard some of your sourdough starter each time you feed it. You'll discover that discarding is necessary to build a healthy and thriving sourdough starter - but it's not actually as wasteful as you might think.

We have a whole collection of Sourdough Discard Recipes that you can bake with your sourdough discard; in these recipes, discard adds flavor but doesn't do much in the leavening department. Some of our favorite sourdough discard recipes include: Classic Sourdough Waffles or Pancakes.

Sourdough discard only lasts a day or two at room temperature. As such, it is best to keep your discard in the fridge, where it will last for up to one week. Of course, you can only rely on it lasting that long if you store it correctly.

I left my sourdough discard out at room temperature for a few days. Is it okay? As long as your kitchen isn't too warm (I'd say 78°F or higher) your starter/discard will be fine stored at room temperature for at least a few days without feeding. The flavor will get more acidic the longer it sits.

Should you keep sourdough starter lid on or off? ›

According to Pellegrinelli, refrigerated sourdough starter should be covered tightly. If you're storing the sourdough starter on the counter, she suggests covering it loosely with fabric and a rubber band or parchment paper and the screw ring of a jar.

Yes, you can give your friend a portion of sourdough discard to start their own sourdough starter, however it's best if your starter is mature (at least 3 months old) when you do this, so that your friend can start baking straight away.

If you've been looking for organic fertilizer to help your garden flourish this spring, you might need to look no further than your kitchen cabinets. Sourdough starter is an easy way to give your plants a well-rounded fertilizer that will help them grow and even prevent diseases.

Can you freeze sourdough discard? Technically, yes. But for the best results, you are better off freezing an active and healthy sourdough starter. Because some of the yeast dies when frozen, you want the starter to have as much healthy yeast as possible prior to freezing.

Discarding helps keep the acidity low in your sourdough culture, which keeps it strong and healthy. If you didn't discard, you'd also eventually have an unwieldily sum. You can always use this discard by directly mixing it into a dough for baking.

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).

You can utilize a cold starter in any sourdough discard recipe. These recipes don't require a sourdough starter for leavening, so you can use your starter directly from the fridge. These recipes offer a fantastic solution for using excess sourdough.