24 Comments

Hi there! How are pie crusts in both category 1 and 4?

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Marcia: short vs. flaky, which are prepared differently!

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I have never been successful with sourdough discard pancakes (fluffy ones vs thin ones) as the batter always seems runny.

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Shaila - you usually need to add some fresh flour to stiffen the batter up, as I do in mine.

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Oct 15, 2020Liked by Andrew Janjigian

Thank you for this explanation. I’m getting a better understanding of how to manage my starter and discard!

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Oct 15, 2020Liked by Andrew Janjigian

great explanation! i was thinking about discard crepes and stuck on whether it would replace flour or liquid, or both. this gives me more confidence :)

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Personally I have given up on trying to use discard because by my calculations it is "penny wise and pound foolish."

I went over to Restaurant Depot and bought 50 lbs of bread flour for $16. I use 100 g of flour per refreshment. That costs about 7 cents. Any recipe I might make with discard will undoubtedly require much more than 7 cents of ingredients. So unless I was already going to make a product, I won't make a special product to avoid wasting 7 cents of flour.

Even if one buys flour at a hefty retail prices of $1/pound, that's still only 22 cents per refreshment...just a bit more than the cost of 1 generic egg at Trader Joe's.

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Allen - fair enough. I think plenty of people would still decide to use discard (rather than well, _discarding_ it), even if they knew how little $$$ it represented.

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Oct 23, 2020Liked by Andrew Janjigian

Without looking from the money prespective, you don't see any benefits for using it such as flavour or reducing waste? Freezing it until you have enough for a recipe isn't an option?

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Before making one of these recipes-using-discard, ask yourself if you would have made anything at all if not for the desire to not waste the discard. If the answer is not a resounding yes, then in some sense all the additional ingredients required (whose value is much more than 7-22 cents) are wasted.

If money was no object and I wanted improved flavor then I would just refresh the starter before making a baked good so that it was perfectly and uniformly mature.

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Ok, I now understand what you're saying. I haven't seen it from that prespective because for me that is not the case. I freeze it and use it only when I have enough for a recipe that I was going to make anyway..

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Very interesting! I had never thought about discard in terms of$$

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Now that I'm only refreshing once a week, my discard amount has decreased dramatically. Can I use it in a discard recipe if it's 6-8 weeks old? Ie., the amount of time probably needed to make it a workable amount for me.

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I think in most cases yes! The stuff seems pretty bulletproof, though it does get looser over time, so it could mean that recipes that call for a certain amount of additional water and/or flour might need to be adjusted accordingly. I'd be careful if you find it seems overly soupy.

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Oct 16, 2020Liked by Andrew Janjigian

Awesome, thank you. Just wanted to make sure I didn't poison myself.

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Oct 16, 2020Liked by Andrew Janjigian

All of the recipe ideas sound great, especially exited for: pasta, crackers, tortillas, any flatbread (naan, lavash, etc), scones, biscuits!

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Can I admit that having a good source of discard as an ingredient is just as much a draw for me as the sourdough bread itself...?? I love the tangy, complex taste it imparts so much! So far I've used it to make tastier tortillas, English muffins, and especially good crackers. I will sometimes add some to pizza dough for the flavor, but still use yeast for the actual leavening. (I have yet to have real success with an all-sourdough pizza dough...not sure why, it just tends to be more fussy to handle than making it with yeast Anyone have one they swear by?)

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Elaine - I have one! I'm still testing it, but it will be out next month...

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and yes, you can admit it!

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Hi Andrew, I use a lot of sourdough starter. My husband loves the crackers.

I have 3 or 4 recipes that I use all the time. Rosemary & garlic powder,

Everything bagel seed, fennel and garlic powder. I’d be happy to share the recipes.

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Does discard “go bad”? I keep mine in a mason jar, and sometimes it gets a gray tinge on the top, and liquid separates from it. What gives?

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That is what is commonly called "hooch" and it's just a watery liquid that is exuded by the starter as it ages. I recently read someone suggest that it helps to keep the starter from going bad, but I'm not so sure about that. Some people say to stir it back in, others to pour it off before using the discard. I tend to do the latter. Either way, it's definitely harmless.

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Hi Andrew. If a recipe calls for “sourdough starter” but doesn’t specify if discard is ok, but the recipe isn’t bread and is just a mix and bake (in this case a coffeecake), is there any reason why discard can’t be used? The recipe calls for ½ tsp baking soda and powder each (for a recipe with 1½ cups flour) so it doesn’t appear to be depending on the starter entirely for any rise. I’m just not sure if I should be using freshly fed starter of if using discard (of which I have a copious amount) would be ok. Thank you!

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If the recipe doesn't have any actual sourdough fermentation, then you can use discard for sure!

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