Many bakers know that the secret to artisan bread is a strong, active sourdough starter. But sourdough starters can seem fickle at times.
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. While a cup might not seem like a lot at first, it can quickly add up. And if you don’t bake often, that discard will end up in the trash.
Do you really need to discard sourdough starter daily?
Well, that depends on a few factors.
How Often Do You Bake?
I don’t run a bakery at my house, and my family is fairly small. Even though I bake regularly, I couldn’t possibly use a cup of sourdough discard on a daily basis.
To minimize waste, I keep much smaller amounts of my sourdough discard. Instead of 1/2 a cup twice daily, I only feed my starter 1/4 cup once in the mornings. This ensures I have a constant supply of sourdough starter when I need it. Unfortunately, it is also means my sourdough starter is slower and less active as a result.
If you don’t want to discard sourdough starter daily, scale back your feedings by 1/4 cup amounts. Still feels like you’re baking too much? You can further reduce your feedings to a weekly basis if you keep your starter in the fridge rather than on the countertop.
What Do You Want to Make?
Sourdough starters require regular feedings to stay active. 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.
But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, depending on what you want to bake with it.
Although you need an active, well-maintained starter for certain artisan breads, you can still make tasty bread with a sluggish, slow starter so you don’t have to discard sourdough starter daily.
In fact, many of my favorite sourdough bread recipes use discard for flavoring to give bread that classic tang. To get a better rise in the oven, these recipes combine sourdough discard with commercial yeast. No need to worry about timing your baking with your starter feedings.
7 Sourdough Discard Bread Recipes
If you have a new starter or if you struggle to maintain your current starter, I recommend the following sourdough recipes. These recipes make beautiful bread with a combination of discard and commercial yeast, making them a great option for beginning bakers. When you opt for recipes like these, you can discard sourdough starter daily without waste.
1
Honey Wheat and Rye Sourdough Sandwich Bread
A beautiful blend of flavors, this sandwich bread combines the sweet from the honey, the tang from the sourdough, and the earthy undertones of whole wheat and rye.
Check out this recipe
2
Satin Smooth Sourdough Sandwich Bread
A soft and airy sandwich loaf
Check out this recipe
3
Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough Bread
A bread recipe that blends the sweet with the tangy
Check out this recipe
4
Sourdough Discard Bread
Use up your sourdough starter with this beginner's artisan loaf
Check out this recipe
5
Honey Whole Wheat Sourdough
A wholesome whole wheat recipe with just a hint of honey
Check out this recipe
6
Crusty Sourdough Cottage Bread
A sourdough sandwich bread recipe with a tasty crunchy crust
Check out this recipe
7
Beginner Sourdough Sandwich Bread
New to making sourdough bread? This easy sandwich bread recipe is a great option for beginners.
Check out this recipe
7 Sourdough Discard Recipes That Aren’t Bread
I love bread. I absolutely love it. And I definitely make a lot of it because of how much I love it.
But even I get a little bored with the same recipes day in and day out. If you want to discard sourdough starter daily and minimize waste, give these fun recipes a try.
8
Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookies
A cake-like chewy cookie with a sourdough tang
9
10
Sourdough Discard Popovers
A fast and easy breakfast that uses up your sourdough discard
11
Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Muffins
Cinnamon sugar and sourdough? Yes please. These muffins make a great snack anytime.
12
Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Muffins
A chocolate chip variation of sourdough discard cinnamon muffins. A great breakfast and a great way to use up sourdough starter discard.
13
Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins
Use up that starter with this muffin recipe. Double the chocolate, double the yum.
14
Sourdough Discard Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
A tangy, sour yet sweet muffin. These tasty breakfast snacks use up your starter without sacrificing flavor.
My Secret for Baking With a Slow Starter
Sourdough discard recipes are a great way to bake with a slow and sluggish starter. You don’t have to worry about timing, and you can still enjoy that sourdough tang.
But what if you want to make naturally leavened artisan bread? Should you still discard sourdough starter daily?
Let me tell you my little secret: No. You don’t have to discard your starter every day.
In case you didn’t see my White, Wheat, and Rye Artisan Sourdough Bread Recipe, you may want to check it out. In that particular recipe, I make a levain with my starter the night before I mix my bread.
To make the levain in that recipe, I take 3/4 of a teaspoon of my starter and combine it with 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup water and set it aside. This essentially mimics feeding an active starter, as you’re giving a small amount of starter a large amount of food.
By the time morning rolls around and I’m ready to mix my dough, I have an active, bubbly starter that’s ready to go. I’ve successfully used this technique with multiple artisan bread recipes and my bread has still risen beautifully.
Do You Have Suggestions?
You don’t have to waste flour on a daily basis if you want to maintain a sourdough starter. By adjusting how much you feed your starter and by choosing discard recipes, you don’t have to discard your sourdough starter daily.
However, I realize that my recipe list is still somewhat small and limited. Do you have a favorite sourdough discard recipe that you don’t see here? Feel free to submit a recipe of your own, and I’ll share it on my site! Or tell me about what you do with your starter discard in the comments below.
