Sourdough Discard Tortilla Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What can I do with a lot of sourdough discard? ›

What to do with sourdough discard? Don't throw it away! Instead, use it to make delicious and nutritious treats like pancakes, waffles, muffins, and bread. Sourdough discard is a great source of natural yeast and flavor, and can add a unique tangy taste to your baked goods.

Only a small portion of the sourdough starter is reserved and fed during each feeding, the rest is referred to as discard, since typically it is thrown away. In efforts to reduce waste, discard is often collected from multiple feedings and stored in the fridge until enough is allotted to be used for discard recipes.

Technically, sourdough discard has the same benefits as sourdough starter, since they are both wild yeast ferments. In terms of beneficial lactic acid bacteria, natural yeasts acetic acid and colonies of microbes, they are both full of them.

Benefits of using sourdough discard

Flavor: Sourdough adds a delicious, nuanced flavor to desserts and savory baked goods. It adds a slight sour flavor without making them taste too off putting or acidic.

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.

I recommend keeping sourdough discard for up to one week.

If needed, mark the date on the container in your refrigerator. After one week, there is a higher chance of the discard growing bad bacteria or mold.

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. Eventually, you need to discard the used “food” (flour and water) that's been used to sustain your starter during the last fermentation period.

It can be at room temperature or come directly from the fridge. The texture is less bubbly (if bubbly at all) when compared to fluffy active starter. Sourdough discard is not active enough to make bread dough rise, and despite its name the “discard” does not have to be thrown away.

If you don't get rid of the excess, eventually you'll have more starter than your feedings can sustain. After a few days, your daily 1/4 cup flour and water won't be enough to sustain your entire jar of starter, and your starter will be slow and sluggish, not much better than discard itself.

While it will smell different to a fed, active starter, it won't smell unpleasant. The discard should be fine in the fridge, however if it is displaying signs of mold or any pink or orange tinges then it has gone bad and needs to be tossed.

Can I leave sourdough discard out overnight? ›

I left my sourdough discard out at room temperature for a few days. Is it okay? As long as your kitchen isn't too warm (I'd say 78°F or higher) your starter/discard will be fine stored at room temperature for at least a few days without feeding. The flavor will get more acidic the longer it sits.

Discarding half is wayyyy LESS wasteful than keeping it around or “sharing” the other half with a friend because… The sourdough starter is not a viable starter until 3 to 5 days old and sometimes longer. It takes that long for the organism balance to get established.

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.

While some people claim to have healed their gut problems by eating probiotic rich sourdough starter, it's not really advisable. Raw sourdough starter contains uncooked flour which can harbor harmful bacteria among other things. You can read more about why you shouldn't eat raw flour here.

You can utilize a cold starter in any sourdough discard recipe. These recipes don't require a sourdough starter for leavening, so you can use your starter directly from the fridge. These recipes offer a fantastic solution for using excess sourdough.

Can you freeze sourdough discard? Technically, yes. But for the best results, you are better off freezing an active and healthy sourdough starter. Because some of the yeast dies when frozen, you want the starter to have as much healthy yeast as possible prior to freezing.

One of the amazing benefits of sourdough discard is that you can use it to create new starters, which are known as levains. These off-shoots from the mother starter can be used to experiment with different types of flour or given as a gift – there's nothing quite like sharing an entire ecosystem with your loved ones.

Can you add sourdough discards together in the same jar? 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.

Teaming with good bacteria and microbes your soil and plants will love, your fermented sourdough starter could be the best homemade fertiliser you've ever used! You can use sourdough discard in your garden in the following ways: Use diluted sourdough discard as a liquid nutrient boost.