9 Recipes Using Sourdough Starter (2024)

FAQs

What else can you do with sourdough starter? ›

It's usually pretty obvious when your starter has gone bad. You will either see mold or discoloration (generally pink or orange). If you see either of these things, you will need to toss your starter. The smell is usually a big give away.

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 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.

Technically, sourdough discard has the same benefits as sourdough starter, since they are both wild yeast ferments. In terms of beneficial lactic acid bacteria, natural yeasts acetic acid and colonies of microbes, they are both full of them.

Discarding some first allows you to add this fresh food, whilst maintaining your starter at a manageable size. Not discarding your starter will also affect the flavor of your starter. Not discarding before you feed will cause too much acidity which may eventually be detrimental to your microbes.

In short, to “activate” each, you simply add flour and water, stir, and wait — that's all there is to feeding a sourdough starter.

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.

If your starter gets completely covered on top with bubbles but does not rise, it is healthy but may just be a wet mix. Try reducing the water in your next feeding and see if you have different results. Also, the type of flour you are using can impede the rise of your starter.

Can I leave sourdough discard out overnight? ›

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.

Yes, you can bake with sourdough starter straight from the fridge | King Arthur Baking.

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 sourdough starter becomes sourdough discard you have two options. Refeed all of the discard.

Some of the yeast in your sourdough starter do come from the air, so having some access to fresh air is part of colonising a starter. Generally, the air it is exposed to when you feed it is enough, but in my experience, sourdough starters love to be stirred up - even between feedings.

If your starter is well past peak (a few hours) and visibly falling, you can give it a “refresh” feeding to reactivate it.

Sourdough Starter

This is obviously well-suited to grain dishes and baked goods, but can also be used to culture beans, fruits, and even vegetables. You can also use sourdough bread to make kvass, which has a bread-yeast beer flavor.

Store it in the fridge when you aren't using it. Feed it once every week or so, and always right before you bake a loaf of bread. Put it back in the fridge after you've fed and used it. Use excess starter to make 'sourdough discard' recipes (there are so many on the internet!).

Once your starter is alive and active it only needs to be fed when you want to use it. Store your starter in the fridge with a fitted lid on in between uses.

Your sourdough starter is the foundation of baking sourdough bread. Through proper maintenance and a little attention, it can last indefinitely and provide you with countless healthy and delicious loaves of bread.