How to Manage Your Jar of Sourdough Discard - Zero-Waste Chef (2024)

Go here for 23 simple recipes that call for sourdough discard.

I get a bit nervous when my jar of sourdough discard runneth under. I love having pungent, easier-to-digest, fermented flour in the refrigerator, ready to use in a discard recipe such as banana bread, pizza or pita bread. But I don’t want to accumulate several jars of discard. I have only so much space in the refrigerator—and my tummy.

I regularly teach free sourdough starter workshops and the questions below regarding discard come up the most frequently. If you have a question about discard that I haven’t addressed here, please ask away in the comments.

What is sourdough discard?

When you feed your sourdough starter, you remove most of it from its jar before stirring in its meal of fresh flour and water. The starter you remove doesn’t have enough life it in—bacteria and yeast—to leaven a loaf of bread. But just as waste isn’t waste until you waste it, discard isn’t discard until you discard it, which you don’t need to do.

Why would I want to store my sourdough discard instead of throwing it out?

Baking with discard reduces food waste and thus, greenhouse gas emissions. Wasted food comprises 21 percent of the US waste stream and if the amount of food wasted globally were a country, it would be the third largest polluter in the world, behind China and the US. But besides the environmental benefits of eating discard, it adds flavor to all kinds of food. The most sustainable food often tastes the most delicious.

Sourdough discard works well in many baked goods that don’t require lively yeast—flat foods like crackers, tortillas and pancakes. Or you can use it to flavor recipes that rely on leavening from other sources, such as active dry yeast, baking soda and baking powder.

Where should I store my jar of sourdough discard?

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.

How long does discard keep? How old is too old?

It depends.

I constantly recycle my jar of discard in the refrigerator. I’ll add a quarter cup of discard to it a couple of nights in a row and then might remove a cup to make pizza dough the next day. After I add discard to the jar, I stir it into the existing contents (usually…sometimes I’m in a hurry to get the feeding done asap and don’t bother stirring). So, my sourdough discard is never actually very old.

I will continue to recycle discard in its jar until either the lid becomes too crusty to open and close or I completely empty the jar. In other words, my jar of discard stays in the refrigerator for many months before I start collecting it in a clean jar.

Now, if you don’t regularly add and remove discard from your jar—if it just sits there in the refrigerator without any additional food for many weeks—it will become extremely sour and difficult to work with. Cracker dough won’t roll out, for example—it falls apart.

Stored in the freezer, sourdough discard will theoretically keep indefinitely. I’ve left it in the freezer for as long as six months, untouched (i.e., I don’t add or remove discard). Before using it, let it thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature, never in the microwave. The microwave will cook/kill it.

My discard tastes too sour. Can I fix it?

If you don’t like the sour flavor, you have a couple of options to reduce it. The addition of baking soda in sourdough crackers, for example, neutralizes the sour flavor. I once accidentally omitted baking soda in my dough and it tasted pretty awful. Fortunately, I had tasted it before rolling it out and merely mixed in the baking soda to remedy the problem (always taste as you go!). The crackers tasted delicious as usual.

You can reduce the sour flavor by feeding your discard some fresh flour and water. At that point, it’s more of an active starter than discard. Your recipe will not only taste less sour but also rise a bit more than usual with the extra yeast in it.

What should I do with my sourdough discard if mold develops?

If a bit of white mold appears on the surface of your sourdough discard, remove it. If it appears more entrenched, you may want to compost it. If pink or orange mold develops, definitely compost your discard. I have never had mold form on my discard. I think it is quite rare. The acids in the discard help prevent mold from forming.

If I neglect my discard, do I have to toss it?

If it looks okay but you have left it for so long that it will impart too sour a flavor in whatever you cook with it, or will not render good dough or batter, rather than throwing it out, feed it some flour and water to perk it up—how much depends on the amount of discard in there. Or remove a small amount of discard, feed that, wait and bake with it after a few hours. Sourdough leaves lots of room for experimentation.

What is this grey liquid on top of my discard? Should I throw the discard out?

Often a layer of grey liquid will form on top of the discard—or even your starter. I usually pour this hooch off but you can also simply stir it in. If it smells strong like acetone, I’d pour that off to reduce the bacteria strain creating that aroma. It won’t hurt you—your discard is merely hungry—but it smells awful.

A SCOBY has formed on top of my discard. Does it think it’s kombucha?

If you leave your discard in the refrigerator for a month or longer, without adding new discard to it, a rubbery, dark layer may form on top. When I was stranded in Canada at the beginning of Covid for nearly four months, my discard back in California developed a 5mm-thick SCOBY on top. I had never seen this before. Underneath, the starter looked fine. I composted the SCOBY, removed a spoonful of discard and fed it in a clean jar. After a couple of feedings, the revived starter bubbled happily in its jar.

I always have way too much sourdough discard. How can I manage it better?

When I first started baking with sourdough, I kept a much larger starter—I fed 100 grams each of flour and water to 35 grams of starter. Do that every day and you can easily accumulate many jars of discard. I keep my starter small today—I feed 40 grams each of flour and water to a scant tablespoon of starter. This keeps my discard jar low—but not empty. I get nervous when the jar runs out.

I accidentally used all of my starter in a recipe. Can I revive sourdough discard?

Absolutely! A jar of sourdough discard serves as an insurance policy against starter death. If you have some discard on hand, remove a spoonful of it and feed it fresh flour and water in a clean jar. You should have a bubbly starter ready to bake with after a couple of feedings, depending on the discard’s condition.

Have questions about the sourdough starter itself?

I have a list of FAQs for that too. Go here to read it.

  • How to Manage Your Jar of Sourdough Discard - Zero-Waste Chef (1)
  • How to Manage Your Jar of Sourdough Discard - Zero-Waste Chef (2)
  • How to Manage Your Jar of Sourdough Discard - Zero-Waste Chef (3)
  • How to Manage Your Jar of Sourdough Discard - Zero-Waste Chef (4)
  • How to Manage Your Jar of Sourdough Discard - Zero-Waste Chef (5)

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How to Manage Your Jar of Sourdough Discard - Zero-Waste Chef (2024)

FAQs

How to Manage Your Jar of Sourdough Discard - Zero-Waste Chef? ›

Stored in the freezer, sourdough discard will theoretically keep indefinitely. I've left it in the freezer for as long as six months, untouched (i.e., I don't add or remove discard). Before using it, let it thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature, never in the microwave. The microwave will cook/kill it.

How do you manage sourdough discard? ›

Store it for future baking: You can store sourdough discard in an airtight container in the refrigerator for future baking with sourdough discard recipes. When you're ready to use it, let the discard come to room temperature before using it to bake. I will keep sourdough discard in the fridge for about one week.

What to do with a lot of sourdough discard? ›

Easy sourdough discard recipes
  1. Sourdough breakfast buns. Make brilliant use of any left-over sourdough starter with these pillowy breakfast buns, filled with citrus fruit, thyme and a sticky brown sugar filling. ...
  2. Pepperoni pizza. ...
  3. Sourdough pancakes. ...
  4. Sourdough cookies. ...
  5. Sourdough discard tempura.

How do I keep my sourdough starter jar clean? ›

use a flexible jar spatula to scrape down the sides of the jar. use a paper towel or damp cloth to wipe the rim of the jar after feeding. regular feeding of your sourdough starter will help keep the bacteria and natural yeast working to avoid mold.

Should sourdough starter jar be open or closed? ›

Should I Cover My Sourdough Starter Jar? I like to keep mine covered loosely to keep anything from falling inside the jar and the starter from drying out. The lid does not have to be airtight.

Do you have to discard starter every time you feed it? ›

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.

Does sourdough discard need to be room temperature before baking? ›

Yes you can use sourdough discard straight from the fridge, you don't need to let it come to room temperature if you don't want to.

How to tell if sourdough discard is bad? ›

You can store mature sourdough discard in the refrigerator indefinitely. As long as there is no mold, it is good to use. It may develop a grayish liquid on top called “hooch” which can be poured off before use or stirred in. If you stir it in, the flavor will become more sour.

Can I keep adding to my sourdough discard? ›

Yes you can add sourdough discards from different days together in the same jar. You just need to make sure you stir it well and you don't leave it sitting in the fridge for too long. Sourdough discard should be used within two weeks. You can read more about how to store sourdough discard in the fridge here.

When should you throw out a sourdough discard? ›

You can store sourdough discard in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. It's fine to leave it on the counter for up 24 hours, however if you aren't planning to use it straight away it's always better to store it in the fridge.

How often should I clean my sourdough jar? ›

I keep my starter jar very clean by scraping down the sides and wiping the rim every time I feed it, so I transfer it to a clean jar once every few weeks. If you keep a very messy starter jar you may want to transfer it to a clean jar more frequently. The only thing that can really kill your starter is mold.

What do you cover sourdough starter jars with? ›

FIRST TWO WEEKS - a paper towel or light cotton cloth (secured with an elastic band) when first establishing your sourdough starter. WHEN PUTTING IN THE FRIDGE - a tight fitting lid (as long as the jar is large enough) is perfect when storing your sourdough starter in the fridge.

Can a jar be too big for sourdough starter? ›

If it's too large it will be difficult to judge the activity. Your sourdough starter is a living colony of micro organisms. It contains wild yeast and bacteria that make their home in the jar you choose. I always think a sourdough starter rises best in a medium sized jar!

Can I use a coffee filter to cover my sourdough starter? ›

To create your sourdough starter, you need a food-safe jar with a lid. I recommend a wide-mouth, one- pint (500ml) glass canning jar with a plastic screw top lid. You can use any food-safe container with loose-fitting, solid lid. Do not cover your starter jar with coffee filters, paper towels, or cheesecloth.

What happens if you don't discard 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.

How long can you keep sourdough discard before using? ›

You can store mature sourdough discard in the refrigerator indefinitely. As long as there is no mold, it is good to use. It may develop a grayish liquid on top called “hooch” which can be poured off before use or stirred in. If you stir it in, the flavor will become more sour.

How long can you keep sourdough discard before it goes bad? ›

Sourdough discard only lasts a day or two at room temperature. As such, it is best to keep your discard in the fridge, where it will last for up to one week. Of course, you can only rely on it lasting that long if you store it correctly.

Do you have to use sourdough discard right away? ›

You can store sourdough discard in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. It's fine to leave it on the counter for up 24 hours, however if you aren't planning to use it straight away it's always better to store it in the fridge. You can continue to add sourdough starter from different days to the same jar.

Do you have to throw away sourdough discard? ›

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.

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