Do You Have to Discard Sourdough Starter Daily? (2024)

FAQs

Do You Have to Discard Sourdough Starter Daily? ›

Experts recommend feeding a starter twice daily. And at each feeding, you hold onto 1/2 cup of your original starter, discard the rest, and then add its same weight in water and flour. With this schedule, you'd discard almost a cup of sourdough starter every day.

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.

If your recipe calls for more than 227g (about 1 cup) of starter, feed it without discarding until you've reached the amount you need (plus 113g to keep and feed again).

If you didn't discard a portion of your starter each time you feed it, two things would happen: Your starter would grow to an enormous, unmanageable size. Your starter would likely become more and more inhospitable to the bacteria and yeast we want as the mixture would become ever more acidic.

Leaving it out on the counter, it will need to be fed equal parts water and flour every 12-24 hours. Warmer homes or frequent baking will require more frequent feeding (around every 12 hours), while colder homes every 24 hours. Storing your sourdough starter in the fridge will require feeding around once a week.

Sourdough starter can be stored at room temperature or in the fridge. If you're feeding and making bread with your starter regularly (once a week or so) you can leave it out at room temperature. If you're going away for a bit or if you don't use it that often (once a month or less), store it in the fridge.

Remember, you can't use the discard from your homemade sourdough starter for the first 7 days. You can use sourdough discard in all kinds of sourdough discard recipes, including these no wait sourdough recipes, overnight sourdough discard recipes and sourdough discard recipes that use up a lot of discard.

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.

A starter stored in the fridge can be fed once a week. If you plan to use it often, you can store it for up to two months without feeding. When you want to use the starter again, remove it from the fridge for a few hours, then feed it every 12 hours for 36 hours before you make bread with it.

As you can see (or smell!), a sourdough starter should have a sour, tangy, and yeasty aroma, with subtle undertones depending on the type of flour used. However, offensive or foul odours such as rancid, putrid, or mouldy smells are signs that something has gone wrong with the starter.

Can you turn sourdough discard into starter? ›

Can I use sourdough discard to make a new sourdough starter? Absolutely! You can take a portion of sourdough discard and add a few grams of flour and a few grams of water to create a healthy active sourdough starter. You may need to feed your revived starter a few more times before its ready to make bread.

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.

Room Temperature:

The yeast and bacteria in sourdough discard work very quickly at room temperature, so I would only keep discard at room temperature IF you're planning on using it within 1-2 days.

Experts recommend feeding a starter twice daily. And at each feeding, you hold onto 1/2 cup of your original starter, discard the rest, and then add its same weight in water and flour. With this schedule, you'd discard almost a cup of sourdough starter every day.

It is important that you stir the sourdough starter every day in the morning and in the evening. Feed the starter. Add 60 g flour and 60 g lukewarm water, stir well to combine, and let sit out for 24 hours.

I use two parts bread flour to one part whole wheat flour to feed my no-discard sourdough starter. Here is my simple feeding ratio for one loaf of sourdough bread. My basic sourdough recipe calls for 100 grams of ripe starter. Ripe starter is a sourdough starter that's fed, risen, and ready to bake with!

I wouldn't go more than 24 hours without feeding a very young sourdough starter (it may survive longer than this unfed however you will leave it open to the risk of mold). Mature sourdough starter aged more than 6 months old should be able to survive unfed on the counter for around 3-4 days without any risk of mold.

If you've just created your sourdough starter, wait until it's reliably rising and falling each day with signs of fermentation—some rise, bubbles, a progressive sour aroma—before storing discard in your cache.

How To Store Your Sourdough Starter For Long Periods. I use two methods to store my starter for long periods and usually opt for the first: crumbling and drying it out in flour. I've left my starter dried in my pantry and out of direct sunlight for up to 8 months (Update: I now have one stored for over two years!)