Home»Food & Ferment»Sourdough
Last Updated on August 18 , 2023
broil homemade sourdough can be incredibly fulfil . It ’s fun , originative , healthier and less wasteful ( less packaging ) than store - bought bread . Yet it may palpate wasteful in other path , with all the feeding and “ discarding ” that sourdough appetizer takes to observe . So , let ’s blab about several cunning ways to use cast away sourdough starting motor – and not just by ready with it ! For example , did you bang that you may dehydrate or compost redundant crank ? But first , let ’s research how to create less waste in the first place .
Reducing Sourdough Discard Waste Upfront
Store starter in the fridge
If you are n’t already , storing your sourdough appetiser in the electric refrigerator will greatly slim the absolute frequency that it require to be fed , thereby reducing a plenty of flour utilization , discard , and waste product ! It ’s usually recommend to feast sourdough starter kept at room temperatureevery single day . On the other hand , sourdough starter that ’s stored in the icebox can goweeks to months between course . That ’s because the cold vastly decreases the bodily process of the bacterium and yeast in the starting motor . But do n’t worry , it perks right back up once it warms to board temperature again .
So , unless you ’re baking several times per week , refrigerating your starter is an idealistic storage option , an easy way to reduce waste , and also far less work for you !
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Stop discarding so much
You know , you don’tneedto discard sourdough starter every sentence you eat it justly ? A brand new starter does profit from mundane discarding and feeding for the colony of bacterium and yeast to grow strong . Yet once it ’s established , you’re able to change the way you use and feed in your ripe sourdough newcomer tominimize discarding .
For case , say you just made a loaf of boodle and have only a diminished amount of starter pass on over in your “ mother jar ” . Rather than feeding the crank again before commit it back into the icebox for entrepot ( and thus increasing the loudness ) you could just put it away as - is . Then , simply feast it with fresh flour and water next time you take it out to bake – no toss out necessary !
The only time you really “ need ” to discard before feeding is:1 ) if your starter has grown too large for its container and therefore does n’t have adequate room to be fed and uprise , 2 ) if it ’s been a really farsighted clip since it was last fed ( 3 hebdomad or longer ) or 3 ) if it ’s acting sluggish .
See our full education on how to revive and feed an old , neglected , or otherwise inactive starterhere . The scout also covers how to assure if a starter is still “ good ” or not , include the difference between hooch and mold .
6 Ways to Use Discarded Sourdough Starter
1) In sourdough starter discard recipes
Perhaps one of the most obvious way to use sourdough starter discard is to broil something with it ! There are one C ( if not yard ) of recipes out there that call for sourdough starter discard . A few of our personal favourite include :
- 2023 Update : agree out our unexampled tilt of the15 Best Sourdough Discard Recipes here !
2) Give starter away
scatter the sourdough love ! Another great way to use cast aside sourdough starter is to gift some to a ally , kin extremity , neighbor , co - worker , or other interested ( or unexpecting ) company . Surprise , here is a new experience thing for you to deal for!Lol just kidding , kind of .
I suggest feed the dispatcher before giving it by so the recipient wo n’t have to right away . but put your sourdough discard in a new jar , feed it with fresh flour and piss , and present it to its new menage . you could then channelize them tothis sourdough starter feeding and sustentation scout , which also has printable instructions that are easy to partake in .
Need to post sourdough starter to share it ? Dehydrate it first – explicate below !
3) Dehydrate extra sourdough starter
Did you know that sourdough dispatcher can stay good and active for many years in teetotal form ? It ’s also the easiest way to send and share starter with friends , take an extended break from bake , orstore supernumerary starter motor as back - up ! To keep up the beneficial bacterium and barm in the starter , it ’s fundamental to dehydrate it at a very low temperature ( aka , so it does n’t get cook active ) .
Learn how to desiccate sourdough starter here , and then conform to these loose instructionshow to rehydrate sourdough starter .
4) Freeze it
Like dehydrate , freezing extra sourdough dispatcher is a swell way topreserve it , create a backup neophyte , or otherwise save up some for later . To immobilise sourdough crank discard , just place it in a freezer - dependable container ( such as a small wide - mouth deoxyephedrine jolt or ziplock suitcase ) and salt away it in the freezer .
Frozen sourdough should endure for up to a yr . However , it will begin to suffer activity and become harder to animate the longer it ’s frozen . To revive frozen sourdough starter , simply allow it to defrost and then feed in with fresh flour and water supply as you normally would .
take down : I’ve never personally frozen sourdough neophyte , though I ’ve take heed mixed reviews about how well it bounces back to “ normal ” after freezing . So , I typically recommend desiccate starting motor ( which works astonishingly well and without fail ! ) over freeze it .
5) Compost sourdough starter discard
It ’s perfectly hunky-dory to compost sourdough starter . If anything , it will actuallyadd more good microbesto your compost ! Since it ’s pretty lactating and gooey , essay to mix and/or inhume the starter with leaf , straw , or other “ browns ” in the compost pile . We occasionally compost discarded sourdough starter in ourworm bintoo . Yet expert wet balance isespeciallyimportant in worm bins , so only bring small sum of starter ( and sum more browns if needed ) so the bin does n’t get excessively wet .
Learn how to position up and maintain a dewy-eyed worm compost bin here .
6) A healthy chicken treat
One last way to apply put away sourdough starter is to feed it to your poulet . After all , it ’s basically just fermented wheat berry and grains , and is load withhealth - promote enzymes , vitamin and probiotics !
Like any treat , sourdough starter should only be give inmoderation(not in place of their veritable food ) since it lacks the balanced nutrition and protein that chicken feed provides .
you may give chicken a scoop of starter in a bowl on its own , though be forewarned that it tend to get pretty encrusted in their face and bureau feather . Another selection is to mix the sourdough dispatcher with some water and crybaby feed , wrench it into a wet mash . in the end , look at add sourdough entrant to a batch offermented chicken feed ! It will spring - get the agitation physical process and introduce even more probiotics and nutrients .
7) Make a Sourdough Starter Slug Trap
surprisal ! Here is another way to use cast aside sourdough stater that I just recently let out . Have you heard of beer trap before ? It ’s when you coiffure out small containers of beer to appeal and kill slugs , snail , rollie pollies , and other pests in your garden . With a standardised sweet , fermented , zestful scent as beer , it turns out that slugs are extremely attracted to sourdough neophyte too . All you do is ruffle a spoonful of starter throwing away with some water in a wide shallow container , and they ’ll come running ! Or … come sluggishly inching along I suppose . Learn more about how to make and use slug traps here .
And that sums up how to use sourdough starter discard!
Do n’t drop our most popular sourdough formula :
