Ways To Use Your Extra Sourdough Starter (2024)

FAQs

What can I do with my extra sourdough starter? ›

You can keep a starter alive by feeding it once a week and throwing away the half you don't use, or you can take half the starter and use it to begin the process of making delicious, tangy bread.

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.

And you guessed it..the more starter you use, the faster your dough will ferment - resulting in a less sour loaf. Using less starter in your recipe will help slow down the fermentation process.

Technically, a levain is an offshoot of your mother starter. It's made by feeding the sourdough discard directly (not the starter that's left in the jar). For example, if you pour some starter into a bowl (discard) and feed it with rye flour, you've just created a levain.

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 actually did use all of your sourdough starter and you've washed the jar - but you made some bread dough, you can keep your starter alive by using a small piece of dough. It's better if you do this before you've added the salt to the dough, but even if you have added the salt, it will be ok.

You do not need to catch your starter exactly at peak to use it for baking. At room temperature of 72F/22C, your starter can safely go an hour or two past peak and still be perfectly strong to use for baking.

I'VE BEEN FEEDING MY STARTER REGULARLY AND IT'S REALY LIQUID NOW AND I DON'T SEE MUCH ACTIVITY WHAT DO I DO? An overfed starter can be too diluted and it will be very watery. Your workers are there, they are just overwhelmed with too much food and water. When this happens, first leave it out in the warmth overnight.

In order to allow your starter to grow and flourish, you need to "refresh" it with fresh flour and water. Discarding some first allows you to add this fresh food, whilst maintaining your starter at a manageable size.

Can you skip a day of feeding your sourdough starter? ›

If you missed one feeding

Don't worry — your starter is fine. Just pick back up with your typical routine and your starter will settle in easily. To be safe, give it one or two feedings before you bake with it to make sure it's at full strength.

Absolutely you can! Active starter can be used in the same way as sourdough discard in sweet or savory baking. You can add active sourdough starter to any recipe you would add discard to following the same calculation.

But there are some instances where you might want to increase the amount of starter you use. Some instances could be: If it's particularly cold, you could increase your sourdough starter to make your bread ferment more quickly. When it's cold, you could easily ferment 100g of starter overnight.

A great way to use up your leftovers is waffles or pancakes, or I have three other recipes that are not only easy to make but also really delicious. Super Easy Snickerdoodle Cookies and Peppermint Sourdough Brownies are perfect for the holidays or any time.

Can I use sourdough discard to make a new sourdough starter? Absolutely! You can take a portion of sourdough discard and add a few grams of flour and a few grams of water to create a healthy active sourdough starter. You may need to feed your revived starter a few more times before its ready to make bread.

Storing: Crumble Into Dry Flour

This is by far my preferred method for long-term sourdough starter storage. Place a large dollop of your ripe sourdough starter in the bottom of a large bowl. Cover the starter with lots of flour—you can use the same flour used for feedings or 100% white flour.

Store your starter in the fridge with a fitted lid on in between uses. Your starter stays happily dormant in the fridge, you will see just how magic it is when you take it out of the fridge and it looks sludgy and dull, and then it comes up to room temperature and you feed it and it bounces back.

Day 2: Check for bubbles

Just leave it in a warmish place for another 24 hours. If a dark, smelly liquid has built up on the top of your starter (this is called hooch), don't worry. You'll pour this out tomorrow, but for now leave it as it is.

Discard a portion of the starter and feed it with fresh flour and water every 24 hours. Twice-Daily Feeding: In warmer environments or if you prefer a faster fermentation process, you can feed your starter twice a day, approximately every 12 hours. This helps maintain a more active and vigorous starter.