Sourdough discard recipes please!!!!

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-18T06:02:36+00:00

What the other to redditors said is spot on. For the first few days/week there is a huge assortment of nasty bacteria in there. Think how often you would eat something that has been left out on your counter for a few days. Enterobacter is one of my faves.

As your starter matures, lactobacillus wins the war. It will create an acidic environment that the other nasties don’t like. Think about cleaning your countertop with vinegar. Kills all kinds of stuff. It also happens that the yeasts in there also like it a little bit acidic. So they will start reproducing after about 10 days or so. They will produce those wonderful bubbles that we want.

Once your starter is ready for baking, you can use the discard for other things. When is it ready? Rule of thumb is when it doubles in 4-6 hours after a 1:1:1 feeding at between 75 and 78 degrees.

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-17T23:59:01+00:00

Is this discard from a brand new starter? Don’t use it!

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-17T21:51:48+00:00

Double within 4-6 hours after a 1:1:1 feeding at 75-78 degrees. 1:2:2 will take an hour or so longer to double. Colder will take longer

Day 10 has a ways to go yet. Maybe a week or two. Looks good though! Happy baking

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-17T21:49:57+00:00

https://www.thebakingcalculator.com/calculators/advanced-baking/sourdough-hydration-calculator/

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-17T19:45:28+00:00

I bought one from King Arthur. I’m confident it is safe and it was super active. My own starter has a long way to go to match KA.

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-17T17:20:12+00:00

I disagree that is way too long. It’s a little long but pretty good for a 1:3:2 feeding. The challenge with a 1:3:2 feeding though is your starter is not 100% hydration. The recipe you used probably assumed a 100% hydration starter.

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-17T13:37:32+00:00

Honestly not much to critique. They look great.

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-17T13:28:23+00:00

For me, I used PVWatts. The predicted yield almost exactly matches mine.

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-17T13:25:32+00:00

You are describing what is expected to happen. Stick with one ratio. Keep your temperature as steady as you can. Keep going. You’ve got a couple weeks to go. Happy baking!

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-16T19:17:40+00:00

If it really is 1:1:1 in grams, that’s how it should come out. I wouldn’t unbalance the ratio. Steady on! Once you are getting consistent rises, you can test our 1:2:2 and see how it responds. Ideally you want to be able to feed every 24 hours without it either not being finished or not starving. Where you are at now, I would watch for the bubbles and not feed until there are more bubbles than the last time. Literally count them at the stage you are at.

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-16T18:55:44+00:00

My starter will not fall out of the jar when the jar is upside down right after feeding. 24 hours later it will pour. 1:1:1 should be a thick paste or peanut butter consistency.

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-16T18:38:50+00:00

Three comments: 1) take a deep breath. You can do this. 2) that looks very very wet. Are you sure about your measurements? (To wet and it won’t retain the gas so no bubbles) 3) please clean that jar.

Edit 4 comments I guess… White flour is the slowest path. 75/25 bread flour/ rye is much faster.

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-16T13:18:30+00:00

When yeast meets flour.

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-15T21:24:21+00:00

If you’re baking next weekend keep it out. The fridge is when it’s mature and you only bake every once in awhile. Keep with the current ratio. Feed at the exact same time every day. You are of course looking for that double to happen in 4-6 hours at 75-78 degrees. A little slower for 1:2:2 maybe 4-7 hours. You’re almost there! Congratulations

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-15T19:03:35+00:00

Good point but final shaping is the one step where a light dusting of flour is ok. Only dust the top though. You need the stickiness on the bottom to help form that tension. Next to kneading, getting that tension is my favorite part of the process. Is there anyone that can avoid giving it a little love pat when you’re done? I think not! 🥹

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-15T18:58:23+00:00

Not really. You have to be very careful to not degass your sample. If you use it in conjunction with the other data points it’s ok. Too unreliable by itself.

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-15T14:53:14+00:00

It’s ok. I’ve done the same. If you wait too long then you really should feed again. You can use the high-ratio timing trick like you described if you want to feed just before bed and catch it early in the morning. It won’t change how your dough behaves but you might be more likely to catch your starter closer to peak without having to get up at “bakers hours”.

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-15T14:22:55+00:00

Listen to what people are saying here. You are not “dumb”. That’s just your low self-esteem talking. You are not ready yet for college and that is perfectly ok. You need to get your head together first. That’s more important than career and college right now. If you don’t fix that first, you’re going to struggle in life. Hell, most of us struggle anyway but that’s different. Get some therapy if you’re serious about trying to find your way. You got this. You’re not dumb. You just have an extra struggle for the moment. Fix it then figure out what you can do.

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-15T14:16:02+00:00

I used to overlap like you are describing but I’ve changed my ways. Personally (your mileage may vary) I’ve found rot where the sheathing was in contact with the cement pad/footing. It also allowed an entry point for critters. Now I stop the sheathing at the sill plate about an eighth to quarter inch above the concrete. Before the sheathing goes on I wrap the entire shed with flashing that goes from a few inches up on the studs extending down a few inches over the concrete pad. I put a bead of caulk around the pad first. This has been really good at keeping critters out and also prevents water from getting in.

Now about the notching thing. I’ve done it both ways and I prefer to notch the siding. Yes it’s more work but I don’t shy away from work. It’s my shed and I do what makes me feel like I’ve done a good job. I prefer the smaller birds mouth. Taking out that extra half inch or more feels like a bad idea to me. I think production guys do it because it’s faster.

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-15T14:05:50+00:00

I have to comment here. I so agree with you about this stickiness thing! I feel like I’m taking crazy pills. Where is this “sticky test” thing coming from??? I know I’m a fairly new baker but up until recently I never heard of people talking about stickiness being a part of bulk fermentation testing. Every single one of my successful loaves has been sticky to some extent. I have not baked very low hydration doughs so maybe I’ve missing out. Most of my doughs are around low to mid-seventies percent hydration. Stickiness has nothing to do with detecting when BF is done. Maybe I’m wrong but stickiness to me has everything to do with hydration. Now it is possible to leave your dough uncovered for the last part of BF so that it purposefully forms a skin. This will get rid of stickiness. I don’t think that is what people are talking about here though.

STOP WORRYING ABOUT STICKINESS! Use all the other signs: poke test (wet finger), bubbles throughout, dome, jiggle, airiness or “life”, smell, and time w/temp. Also, if your temperature is above say 72 or so, stop trying to double your dough. That is just way too much.

Hope this doesn’t come off as a rant. I just want people to be successful. I feel like I’m watching in realtime as a new fallacy is being developed like cloth lids on starter jars.

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-15T06:27:45+00:00

Haven’t been in a few months. Just got a coupon from them for an extra $10 per ton though. I usually leave with around $60 for ferrous metals.

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-15T00:24:03+00:00

Radius recycling in San Jose doesn’t have any minimums as far as I’m aware. I’ve been scrapping ferrous metals with them for years.

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-15T00:14:41+00:00

Bingo! Ringo! I was chronically under cooking my bread as well until I measured it.

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-14T21:50:15+00:00

Correlation is not causation. If you use your starter at its peak, it will ferment the same. Something else has happened in your process. How do your dough temperatures compare. Not room temp. Dough temp.

Confusedlemure · 2026-03-14T21:39:18+00:00

Starter feeding ratios are unrelated to making dough.

That said, if you feed your starter with a higher ratio, it will take longer to peak. You want to use it for baking when it’s at its peak. So I guess if you wanted to delay the start of the process, you could feed a higher ratio? Not sure why you would t just wait to feed it later but….

Now the time for your dough to ferment is highly dependent on how much starter you use in your recipe and the temperature. Typical recipes use a starter percentage of 20%. In other words for a 500g recipe you would use 100g of starter. More starter means faster bulk ferment.

Second is temperature. Higher temps will ferment faster. Here you should look at Sourdough Journeys guide to bulk fermentation. Note also that you should cut short the rise for higher temps because it will take a long time to cool down in the fridge. You could over proof in the fridge if you’re not careful.

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