The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Where do you guys usually dump sourdough starter?

nmimagine's picture
nmimagine

Where do you guys usually dump sourdough starter?

Currently I accumulate dumped sourdough in layered plastic bag. I have been thinking too much about where my starter  go after I dump it. Like, how does the trash guy handle that pocket of funky smelled goo. I live in apartment, when I dump it, it will fall to the when reach the ground. I'm thinking about how if the pocket breaks and splash my starter down there. I'm also afraid that it will clog the sink.

So how do you guys usually dump sourdough starter?

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

because I do builds but the bit that is left over gets diluted with water and dumped down the sink. I have occasionally put some in the trash but like you, I am afraid it might make a big mess. 

I suggest you do a search for the No fuss, no muss starter on this site. It will give you an idea on how to keep a starter in the fridge long term and do builds from it so you actually aren't wasting flour. 

nmimagine's picture
nmimagine

I planned not to put mine in fridge because I want to make an even more powerful starter. I think I can dilute my starter before I'm throwing it like you do, I think it's safer.

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

you should have little or no discard. If you do then there are plenty of recipes where you can use the discard. The most obvious ones are pancakes and waffles but any recipe that requires flour + water will do.

nmimagine's picture
nmimagine

I'm a college student and I don't really have time for that. But I think I will cook it when I have time, so I don't waste too much. 

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

What you need to do is only build a little mother starter, e.g. 60g or so.

Find how much you need to build to last you enough time in the fridge between feeds without finding you're building too much. Might be 60g, more or less. Depends on how much you like to bake.

Allow it to bubble up by half and then place it in the fridge. This way your starter has plenty of food left and won't go hungry. Will last in the fridge a week or two. Also keep your starter a low hydration so it'll ferment slower giving you more time.

When it comes to baking just take a little off and build a preferment.

When your starter in the fridge runs low just take it out and feed it again. Allow it to bubble up by half and return it to the fridge... and so on.

This way you'll have no discard. By keeping a little it will last just long enough in the fridge so it doesn't go too long between feeds.

nmimagine's picture
nmimagine

I want to build even more strength to my starter. It's already ripe, 6 weeks old, it doubles in 4 hours and after 12 hours became frothy and very bubbly, so it's quite good. But I think that if I feed it everyday it will become better, right? but if I retard it, will it still improve in quality? it's in slower rate, right?

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

You keep your starter at room temperature and have fed it everyday for the last 6 weeks! You're student who doesn't have much time so i'm assuming you don't bake everyday. No wonder why you're building up so much discard.

Time to stop being slave to your starter.

Your starter must be quite mellow due to your maintenance which encourages more yeast growth.

You will find your starter will change when your maintenance changes. Lower hydration, feeding less often and keeping it in the fridge will encourage more tang. Building a preferment each time you bake your bread will mean it is freshly matured each time and will be as strong! If you find that for some reason it isn't as strong or you just want to encourage a better rise (even though if your starter is healthy there should be no problems) then you can always take some off the mother starter and do two builds.

Some people find one build is just fine and others like to do two or more depending on when the last feed was. All our starters are different and you should do what works for you.

nmimagine's picture
nmimagine

Ya, it has been bothering me for awhile. I have to wake up earlier to feed my starter, then quickly have breakfast and go to school. Not to mention I'm wasting flour. 

if lower hydration, how many percent is the ratio? 

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

You don't have to go lower but it does make it ferment slower and creates more tang. Everyone keeps their starter differently. There's no one correct way. So what i'll do is tell you my own method and you can use it if you wish or devise your own way.

I build a small amount of mother starter to the following specification...

70% bread flour, 20% whole-wheat and 10% whole rye @ 80% hydration.

 

So for example....

35g bread flour, 10g whole-wheat, 5g whole rye + 40g water = 90g mother starter @ 80% hydration

 

I will allow this to bubble up by half then refrigerate. Each time I bake i'll take a little off and build pre-ferments. Then when it runs low i'll take it out and top it up to the same ratios. I won't always build to the same amount but always to the same ratios. Depending on how much I find myself baking. All I do is I make sure that the starter that is left is fed equal to, or more, than it's own weight in flour. This is a good feed and will ensure a healthy starter.

You will find that your starter can last quite a while between feeds this way. Mine can go for up to two weeks this way but you need to go by your starters needs. If you find it is creating hooch then it needs another feed but I think you'll find it will be able to go for a while. Start off with at least weekly feeds and see how it reacts.

nmimagine's picture
nmimagine

thank you!

soon I will go back to my country for 2 weeks for term break, so it's okay to leave right? well I don't really like so much tang, just to clarify, so feeding it more often can reduce the tang right? 

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

Give it a very good feed, e.g. 1:3 - starter:flour, and drop the hydration to 75%. Allow it to bubble up by 1/4 then refrigerate. Your starter should last a good two weeks if not more.

Now while a low hydration starter that is fed less often does produce more tang one also has to take into account how it is used within the actual dough. To off set this tang you can take some off to build with, build a couple of times at 100% hydration at warmer temperatures to increase and encourage more yeast. Then ferment the actual dough at a warmer temperature.

drogon's picture
drogon

I never dump starter - it's used to make bread!

And they live in the fridge when I'm not making bread.

As fas as power is concerned... Mine goes from flat to  "a cauldron of bubbling activity" in about 4 hours. No "power" issues there.

In just over an hours time, (3:30pm) I'll take my starters out of the fridge, use them to make a production levian, top up the starter jars, and leave them all out for 4 hours. Then the jars go back in the fridge and the levian is used to make bread which will slowly ferment overnight. Tomorrow morning I'll get up, scale/shape/prove/bake the bread and it'll be in the shop by 9am.

 

Active starter/levian ready to be used...

-Gordon

nmimagine's picture
nmimagine

I don't bake often, around once a week. I want to know so I can compare. 

drogon's picture
drogon

I bake bread 5 days a week. Starter sits in jars in the fridge from Friday evening through Monday afternoon.

I've just been away on a holiday though - 9 days. Got back on Sunday night,  took my starters out of the fridge on Monday this week, made them up as usual and they were fine. Maybe not quite as lively as before, (and they were a little sourer), so a single "refresh" might have been in order if I'd not been a bit lazy after my break. After that it was 100% as before my holiday.

Wheat and Spelt starters are at 100% hydration, rye is 150%. I only make spelt 3 times a week, but use the spelt starter on Thursdays when I need to make up 2 big bowls of levian for Fridays bake (44 sourdough loaves this morning)

But a few years back when I was just baking once a week, I did the same thing. The jar lived in the fridge, I'd take it out, use most of it to make the levian for the loaves, top it up, then leave both at room temperature for 4-5 hours before using the levian and putting the jar back in the fridge.

-Gordon

nmimagine's picture
nmimagine

why u use 150% hydration for rye? to make it as soft as white flour? because I use 100% hydration for rye and it's so stiff (because it absorbs more right). and currently I don't even know if it's ripe or not since it won't show the frothy bubbly surface

drogon's picture
drogon

... because that's what it was at when I got it, and that's what all the recipes I've made expect it to be. My Rye bread comes out at about 97% hydration overall. It's almost pourable into the tins. If I remember, I'll take some photos today.

-Gordon

nmimagine's picture
nmimagine

pourable so that means it's like batter or like ciabatta? 

drogon's picture
drogon

This isn't me, but the dough is almost exactly identical to mine - as is the technique used to get it into tins.

 

Shaping rye bread










Actually, I think my dough is a little softer than that.. It's not quite pourable, but not far from it.

Now to make up my levians for tonights mixup.

-Gordon

drogon's picture
drogon

A few photos for you from last mights mix-up:

This is the starters as they come out of the fridge. White wheat on the left, Rye on the right.

Here, I've used the starters to make the levian in the bowls in-front of the jars. The wheat has 440g starter, 880g flour and 880g water the rye (on the right) has 300g starter, 120g flour, 180g water. I've topped up the jars here too. Rye with the same I put in the bowl, wheat with 220g flour and 220g water.

This is just over 4 hours later. Everything is bubbly and good to go. The jars go back in the fridge now and the levians in the bowls are used to make the breads.

finally, this if the rye all mixed up and ready to be divided into tins.

 

-Gordon

 

 

 

nmimagine's picture
nmimagine

your rye is nice and bubbly, is it light or dark rye? 

drogon's picture
drogon

I use dark (ie .wholegrain) rye when I can't get the light (partly sifted) stuff. Results are a little heavier but not that much.

-Gordon

Arjon's picture
Arjon

that usually use 100 or 120 gm per bake is to keep 150 gm of 100% hydration starter. When I take some out for a bake, I immediately rebuild to 150 gm by mixing in equal weights of flour and water. I leave the fed starter at room temp for a few hours, then refrigerate it before it peaks. 

There are many other ways to maintain a starter. I like this one because it's straightforward, doesn't require me to build a levain for each bake, and produces no discard. 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

bread with it and donate it to the soup kitchen or do this for no maintenance or discard ever again

No Muss No Fuss Starter

 

novels's picture
novels

Either in the trash, or used to flavor pancakes or biscuits if I'm making anything in the oven that day. I've also used it to flavor quiche, or given to friends.