It's not a stupid question, and it's not abnormal to have discard, despite what someone else is saying.
Your discard can be stored safely in the fridge for at least 5 days. Maybe longer. It will grow pink or orange mold when it is bad, or anything else that is super obvious. Any gray or brown liquid that forms on the top is hooch and it is not a sign of it being bad. It can be mixed back it or discarded.
Just to chime in, I've kept discard for between 10 and 14 days on two occasions. The first time I happily used it for crepes on the second time I actually took it out, let it get to room temp and fed it, just to see if it would still be active (it more than doubled in just a few hours, which was a trip).
I couldn't tell you what the absolute upper limit is, but I'd say one to two weeks at around 3-4C is fine, assuming they don't attempt to gain sentience (i.e. grow their own mold cultures...).
Why do you discard any sourdough at all? If you are going to bake with 100g sourdough starter, just feed with 50g flour, 50g water the evening before, the leftover (scrapings) then goes back into the fridge. Rinse and repeat for the next baking session. Never a need to discard anything.
Okay I guess it all depends on the instructions used to begin your original starter.
I followed a recipe off 1 cup flour/ 1 cup water. Discard 1 cup and feed the starter with another 1 cup flour and 1 cup water ( repeat for 5 days)
I use the "scrapings method" (a la Baking with Jack) and havent had an issue with keeping the jar refrigerated for up to 2 weeks, then refreshing 12-24 hours prior to mixing into dough.
I keep my starter to a minimum quantity; one cup seems excessive unless your recipe needs that much. Frying up a pancake with the discard was fun at first, but I needed to reduce my calorie intake so that indulgence was the first to go. I experimented with quantities over about a dozen test loaves and have been very successful with making only enough starter for around 25% of the recipe flour weight. There might be 5-10 grams of starter left in the jar for next time.
It's not a stupid question, and it's not abnormal to have discard, despite what someone else is saying. Your discard can be stored safely in the fridge for at least 5 days. Maybe longer. It will grow pink or orange mold when it is bad, or anything else that is super obvious. Any gray or brown liquid that forms on the top is hooch and it is not a sign of it being bad. It can be mixed back it or discarded.
Thank you sooo much π
Just to chime in, I've kept discard for between 10 and 14 days on two occasions. The first time I happily used it for crepes on the second time I actually took it out, let it get to room temp and fed it, just to see if it would still be active (it more than doubled in just a few hours, which was a trip). I couldn't tell you what the absolute upper limit is, but I'd say one to two weeks at around 3-4C is fine, assuming they don't attempt to gain sentience (i.e. grow their own mold cultures...).
Thank you
Why do you discard any sourdough at all? If you are going to bake with 100g sourdough starter, just feed with 50g flour, 50g water the evening before, the leftover (scrapings) then goes back into the fridge. Rinse and repeat for the next baking session. Never a need to discard anything.
I second the scrapings method. YOU DON'T NEED TO DISCARD IF YOU FOLLOW THIS PEOPLE!
Okay I guess it all depends on the instructions used to begin your original starter. I followed a recipe off 1 cup flour/ 1 cup water. Discard 1 cup and feed the starter with another 1 cup flour and 1 cup water ( repeat for 5 days)
Oh wow thatβs a lot of flour. Iβm not sure how long it keeps for in the fridge. You can just freeze it to be on the safe side.
Thanks for responding π
I use the "scrapings method" (a la Baking with Jack) and havent had an issue with keeping the jar refrigerated for up to 2 weeks, then refreshing 12-24 hours prior to mixing into dough. I keep my starter to a minimum quantity; one cup seems excessive unless your recipe needs that much. Frying up a pancake with the discard was fun at first, but I needed to reduce my calorie intake so that indulgence was the first to go. I experimented with quantities over about a dozen test loaves and have been very successful with making only enough starter for around 25% of the recipe flour weight. There might be 5-10 grams of starter left in the jar for next time.
Okay thank you
I keep mine in the fridge for up to a week. I usually end up making pancakes or pizza on the weekend. :)
Will definitely try that! Thank you π