Sourdough Discard Tortilla Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Do you discard every time you feed sourdough starter? ›

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 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.

The best part about using leftover sourdough discard in your baking and cooking? You get the added benefit of fermented grains – making it easier to digest and better absorbed by the body.

Can sourdough discard be used as starter? While sourdough discard can't replace an active starter in a recipe that relies on a robust leavening agent, it can be revitalized and used to create a new starter.

If your recipe calls for more than 227g (about 1 cup) of starter, feed it without discarding until you've reached the amount you need (plus 113g to keep and feed again).

Can I leave my starter out overnight after feeding it? Yes, if you have just fed it.

Can I Use Old Sourdough Discard? You can use old sourdough discard if it's been stored in the fridge, however, you really want to use it up within a week - 2 weeks max. It's better to use "fresh" discard in a sweet sourdough discard recipe.

I recommend keeping sourdough discard for about one week, but I do know others who keep it for much longer. After one week, there is a higher risk of mold or bad bacteria growing on the discard.

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.

You can store mature sourdough discard in the refrigerator indefinitely. As long as there is no mold, it is good to use.

What's the point of sourdough discard? ›

It adds a delicious flavor and imparts moisture to recipes which keeps bakes tasting fresher for much longer. You can also use sourdough discard to ferment recipes which makes them healthier and easier to digest.

Sourdough Discard is Best Stored in the Fridge

Because sourdough discard is not as active as the starter you're feeding to use for bread making, and because you don't need it to be super bubbly and active, it's safest to keep it somewhere dark and cool where you don't have to worry about temperature fluctuations.

Use sourdough discard to make pancakes or waffles for a tangy twist on a classic breakfast dish. An easy, simple ingredient recipe to make your own “cheez-it” style crackers at home.

Nope! Once the sourdough starter is established on day 8, all you have to do is just give it flour and water. You no longer need to discard half of it.

While the age of your starter won't make your bread any better — turns out, only good sourdough practices can do that — it's a link in the long legacy of sourdough, one of the oldest forms of baking that exists. Whether your starter is a week or a decade old, you can become part of that lineage as well.

You don't need any more starter than that, keeping your starter lean enables you to feed the whole starter every time your use it, which helps it make it stronger and stronger with every use. If you try and keep more it will become slow and sluggish and inactive.

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.

Active sourdough starter is starter that has been fed water + flour and allowed to sit until it is bubbly and about doubled in size. Sourdough discard is after the starter has peaked, and it has started to come down.