9 Recipes Using Sourdough Starter (2024)

FAQs

What else can I do with sourdough starter? ›

A good rule of thumb is to maintain a ratio of 1:1:1 (equal parts sourdough starter, water, and flour). The amount can be increased or decreased as needed. It is nice to keep a small amount when you are not intending to use it for baking as then there is less discard waste to manage.

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.

You can use leftover starter into banana bread, waffles, pancakes, tea cakes, muffins, pizza, cookies, and so on. If you want to use less flour overall, check out my guide to maintaining a smaller sourdough starter.

If you don't discard your sourdough starter, it will grow too big and be unmanageable. Not to mention you will go through an unmentionable amount of flour.

Remember, you can't use the discard from your homemade sourdough starter for the first 7 days. You can use sourdough discard in all kinds of sourdough discard recipes, including these no wait sourdough recipes, overnight sourdough discard recipes and sourdough discard recipes that use up a lot of discard.

The best flour blend for creating a new sourdough starter is 50% whole-meal flour (whole wheat or whole rye) and 50% bread flour or all-purpose flour. I recommend a 50/50 mix of whole wheat flour and bread flour. Why do you need to use these two types of flour?

Compared to whole wheat flour, rye flour is said to be the most nutrient- and amylase-dense option for a sourdough starter. Overall, it has a lower gluten protein content than wheat flour, which means it produces slack, sticky, and dense doughs.

Due to its wide availability and affordability, all-purpose flour is often my top recommendation for creating and maintaining a sourdough starter. In fact, I've been feeding my own sourdough starter Central Milling's all-purpose flour for the past 4 years.

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.

Do I stir the starter before feeding? ›

If you are going to feed your starter, let's say it is out of the fridge, you give it flour and water and stir it up really well. You do not want to instantly put it back in the fridge, even if you are not planning to use it.

I left my sourdough discard out at room temperature for a few days. Is it okay? 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. The flavor will get more acidic the longer it sits.

Never allow any form of metal such as a spoon or lid to come into direct contact with the stored, un-used sourdough starter as it will cause a chemical reaction that will contaminate and blacken the implement and eventually in time will kill (loose all activity) the starter and a blackish blue or pink liquid will ...

Should I keep my sourdough starter in an airtight container? Keep your starter in an airtight container when you are storing it in the fridge. If it is being kept at room temperature to be used, cover it with a towel or a coffee filter with a rubber band.

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

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.

You can keep a “peaked” starter in the refrigerator for about 12 hours (sometimes more), and still use it directly in your mix. You do not need to let it come up to room temperature. If your starter is well past peak (a few hours) and visibly falling, you can give it a “refresh” feeding to reactivate it.

Fortunately, you can chill or even freeze your sourdough starter to slow down the yeast's activity and preserve it until you're ready to bake.