Over the years, I’ve had my fair share of sourdough starter discard to worry about. Particularly when you first get a sourdough starter going, you may end up with a lot of discard.
Here's a list of 16 different ways to use up leftover sourdough starter, in both common, and not so common ways. You can feel good about reducing waste, and hopefully discover some new ideas along the way.
1. Freeze it – it can stay in the freezer for up to a year if covered well enough until you are in the mood to deal with it.
2. Refrigerate it – it will be fine for at least a few months until you are ready to use it. It’s also pretty easy to keep adding any discard to it on a daily/weekly basis until you have enough of it for a particular recipe.
Now, here are a few novel ways to use it up if you don’t want to use it for a recipe:1.Add it to your compost pile – sourdough starter is surprisingly good for your compost heap.
2. Add it to your skincare regime – Yes, you read that correctly. Lactic acid bacteria and probiotics in skincare is all the rage now.According to this study, the type of bacteria found in sourdough starter is good for skin. Try adding it to a mixture of natural yogurt and honey, to be used as a facial, or body mask.
Sourdough DumplingsSourdough discard can be mixed with herbs, spices, salt and pepper and then dumped as dough balls into a hot bubbling gravy or soup to create awesome dumplings as an extra addition to any stew like meal.
Use Sourdough Discard as a Sauce ThickenerSourdough Discard can be used as a sauce thickener for things like gravy, bechamel, or cheese sauce. It will add a bit of a tang to your sauces, so to counter balance this, I add in a little honey.