Sourdough strategies?

My sourdough skills are vastly improving. After a bout of YouTube videos and some experimentation in the kitchen, my starter is now Olympic in its strength.

I was feeding it twice a day and adding about 20 percent rye flour in with the bread flour and water.

My problem now is, even with once-per-day feedings, and only making bread about 2x per week, I'm throwing away a lot of starter. And I can't tell you how many Mason jars I'm using when I transfer because it is embarrassing (Ok, sometimes five)!

Does anyone have a good strategy for starter transfer between jars, to keep things to a minimum?

And what about recipes for excess starter?

j

stick it in the fridge. I was having this problem, and it's hotter here so the fermentation goes faster. I took it out overnight when I wanted to feed or use it, i was feeding just once a week and it worked just fine.

if you're baking twice a week though, that might not be a great solution. could you just cut down the volume? I had mine in a mason jar, and probably not even half full. when i took out the discard i used it right away or stored it elsewhere.

Also, some threads you may enjoy.
https://permies.com/t/171980/Favorite-Sourdough-Christmas-Recipes
https://permies.com/t/194964/Sourdough
https://permies.com/t/197/sourdough-pancakes
this one is brilliant https://permies.com/t/53607/Creative-sourdough-stuff-bread

Most of my sourdough starter discard is used in this recipe from King Arthur, their sourdough crackers. It uses a full cup of discard, is very easy to do (and remember), the dough can be frozen for later use, (also keeps up to three days in the fridge without becoming too sour) and it makes a wonderful cracker-crust pizza just rolled out flat and topped (pizza purists, look away!!!). When I make crackers, I thin slice little bits of onion and lay them on top, they are addictive.

Sourdough Crackers:
1 Cup Flour
1 Cup Discard
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix it all together until it forms a cohesive dough- add more flour if needed.
Separate into two rounds, refrigerate for one hour or up to three days
Roll out your dough to desired thickness (I go thin as possible for crackers, a bit less for pizza, 1/8 inch or so)
Cut your cracker shapes (or not, for pizza). I use a ravioli wheel.
Prick your crackers or the part of the pizza that receives topping, with a fork.
Add (or don't) toppings.
Bake at 350F for 12-18 minutes, until desired color is reached. I like them crispy.

Edited to add: if you do pizza, go higher with the heat: 400-450F. Heated pizza stone or cast iron takes the crust up a notch, as well.

Thank you! I'm sending you pie. Not any ordinary pie, though... thin-crust pizza pie.

Those sound scrumptious, and I'm a thin-crust pizza kind of guy, too. So these will work for me.  

My biggest problem has been that I don't want to toss the discard. So I leave it in the jar after feeding my starter in a new jar, thinking that I'll make something with it. And then the next day when I go to feed my starter again, there's the deflated, unhappy discard in a third jar. It's been a vicious cycle. I think your strategy will help. And maybe I can barter with my growing supply of sourdough crackers.

j

Rio Rose wrote:Most of my sourdough starter discard is used in this recipe from King Arthur, their sourdough crackers. It uses a full cup of discard, is very easy to do (and remember), the dough can be frozen for later use, (also keeps up to three days in the fridge without becoming too sour) and it makes a wonderful cracker-crust pizza just rolled out flat and topped (pizza purists, look away!!!). When I make crackers, I thin slice little bits of onion and lay them on top, they are addictive.

Sourdough Crackers:
1 Cup Flour
1 Cup Discard
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix it all together until it forms a cohesive dough- add more flour if needed.
Separate into two rounds, refrigerate for one hour or up to three days
Roll out your dough to desired thickness (I go thin as possible for crackers, a bit less for pizza, 1/8 inch or so)
Cut your cracker shapes (or not, for pizza). I use a ravioli wheel.
Prick your crackers or the part of the pizza that receives topping, with a fork.
Add (or don't) toppings.
Bake at 350F for 12-18 minutes, until desired color is reached. I like them crispy.

Edited to add: if you do pizza, go higher with the heat: 400-450F. Heated pizza stone or cast iron takes the crust up a notch, as well.

I'm sure loads of people will chime in with lots of great ideas.  Personally, as I hate waste, I never throw away discard.  I make pancakes, pizza, crackers, English muffins, flat bread, tortillas, chapatis and more.  Search the internet for discard recipes, there are loads.

As for my starter, I only keep 2 cm of if in a small jar in the fridge and depending on the weather and how much I want to bake, I'll feed it once or twice before baking i.e. the night before or 2 days in a row.  Obviously, I transfer it to a bigger jar before feeding it.  I use what I need and put another 2 cm back in the fridge. until next time.  Sometimes I just feed it extra, just to have some discard!

I hope this helps a bit.  Good luck!

Anna from Fermented Homestead has some good ideas on what to do with sourdough discard:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ijLfQfff6g&t=335s

Some interesting recipes with discard and not a bit of bread in sight!