The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Wat do you do with your discarded starter?

Cara's picture
Cara

Wat do you do with your discarded starter?

Since my starter is to the point where I can discard it...............I was wondering what else there was to do with it besides throw it away.  Can I freeze it and thaw when I need to use it?

What other recipes can it be used in, etc.  Just curious what the options are here.

gaaarp's picture
gaaarp

What to do with discarded starter is an oft-asked question on this board.  Do a search for "discard", and you will find a bunch of threads with a recipes.  Basically, you can mix discard into any of your baked goods for added flavor.

JMonkey's picture
JMonkey

Here's a link to how I manage my starter and what I do with the leftovers. I bake all our bread, and I often use sourdough, so I like to keep active starter on the counter.

More details at the link, but basically, I keep a small amount -- 45 grams or about 1.5 ounces -- of stiff starter on the counter and feed it once or twice a day. I keep the discards in a bowl in the fridge and then use them to make sourdough English muffins and sourdough waffles.

Marni's picture
Marni

Cara,

First I agree with both gaaarp and JMonkey's suggestions.  I use the sourdough waffle recipe from King Arthur. 

I also suggest the sourdough cookie recipe here, most of the way down the page, there are other recipes there too, but I haven't tried them.

Recently I made scones with sourdough starter.  You can follow the link here.

My other favorite use of starter leftovers is pizza dough.  Sourdoughhome.com has a very simple recipe.

I'm glad to hear your starter is working, have fun!

Marni

DerekL's picture
DerekL

I just toss it.

Adelphos24's picture
Adelphos24

I feed it to the porcelain throne, after having diluted it with water.

Paddyscake's picture
Paddyscake

I agree with all above : waffles and pancakes are outstanding..extremely light and flavorful. Mike Avery's Sourdough Home has great recipes for whole wheat blueberry muffins and English Muffin bread. Those I can attest to. Marni's link above will take you to a chocolate cake, cookies and her scones.

Betty

Oh..just remembered..great for onion rings, and pizza dough which I freeze for future quick dinners.

summerbaker's picture
summerbaker

I don't know if you garden, but it makes really good compost.

LindyD's picture
LindyD

This is a pretty simple, but good SD pancake recipe I recently tried.

I plan to add dried buttermilk to the water the next time I mix it.

 

 

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

oops