Calling sourdough starter experts!

[stclair]

As I can’t find yeast for love nor money, I’m on day 3 of a sourdough starter (from bbcgoodfood recipe). What I am confused about is the pouring off of half the starter when ready to bake. Is this to be used to add more flour and water to keep the starter going? Otherwise It seems wasteful! If it isn’t, why pour it away?

I've found my people!!!! I've a starter in working on made from plain flour. Does anyone have a successful loaf recipe using only plain flour (no Wholemeal or bread flour) I'm a bit overwhelmed by so much information online 🥴🥺 I have one recipe earmarked bit is like a tried and tested one. My starter is called Janet 😂

I've had my starter for just over 2 weeks now and it's finally active enough! My first couple of attempts were awful with such a close texture and as dense as a brick. But so proud of today's loaf I attached a pic! Think the only difference is now my starter is nice and active and smells like wine/beer. I've never thrown any of it away (with flour so scarce I just can't bear to) and it still seems to work well - I feed it once a day and after using some for a loaf.

Oh and @Myshitisreal my loaf today was just with plain flour (400g flour, just under 300ml water) as I've run out of anything else, but my starter is a mix of wholemeal and plain so far - I think just using plain should be fine though.

From what I've read the important thing to remember when using plain flour is to kneed for much longer, up to 20 minutes. I've used half and half with no problems.

If you're lucky enough to have 2 different plain flours (we do because we buy it whenever we see it) use the one with the highest protein content.

That looks fabulous! What's the texture like in the middle???? Do you have a link for specifics the recipe???? Thanks so much.

I"ve started two today as an experiment the BBC yogurt and skim milk one and a plain flour and water version. Will see which (if any!) works best.

I'm loosely copying instructions from here: m.youtube.com/watch?v=2FVfJTGpXnU - I initially started following a more complicated method with all the turns during the first prove, but I just don't have the time to dedicate to it with a newborn and 2 other kids too. So the advice in this video is much simpler and seems to work.

I'm so pleased to have found this thread. My starter is a couple of weeks old and the last two loaves have been utterly wonderful. Has anyone else noticed that at first the starter doesn't work all that well? either that or I was using it too soon, quite possible. I put a chunk of rather elderly pear in mine to help it get started.

I don't like chucking away the excess either, so I've been baking a LOT of bread. Thinking about pancakes tomorrow . . .

BTW if you don't want to knead, there's ano-knead recipe here www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-27/new-york-s-bread-master-teaches-you-how-to-make-easy-sourdough It works perfectly.

@orangina I had a similar problem a while back and after lots of research decided it might be too acidic. The solution was to ditch all of it apart from about 1 tbsp which was fed with 2 heaped tbsps of flour and a couple of tbsp of water (more or less to get the right consistency), then gradually following the discard half and feed method for a few days to build back up to a useable amount. Worked a treat for mine.

Hi @TrudiLavigne... you know, having thrown 2 very smelly starts away, I started a third, the same thing started to happen and I did exactly what you suggested... I took just a few spoonfuls of it, threw the rest away, and added more flour and water to the retained spoons (put into a clean new jar), and it has been coming along brilliantly. Smells yeasty, sweet and delicious, and I'm hoping I can bake with it in a day or two. Many thanks for the feedback, good to know that a smelly starter can be rescued!

@orangina - That's awesome! Hope you can start baking again soon

foodbodsourdough.com/recipe-index/
This is a great resource for sourdough baking. Highly recommend her method as the simplest and easiest to understand, no complicated jargon and minimal kneading. I've linked to her recipe section where there's some great recipes for discard - We love the buttermilk scones (works just as well with yogurt), breadsticks and focaccia recipes. She's also on IG where there's some really useful instructional videos if you're just starting out.

Thanks @TrudiLavigne.... and thank you for the link... I am loathe to chuck out all that discard (in fact I have just put a jar of it in the fridge, meaning to look up what I can bake with it...), so that really helpful. I'll report back on the success or otherwise of my FIRST SOURDOUGH LOAF (too exciting..... )

I made this today ...it really is the nicest texture cake I have made in ages, and I am a good baker!

Cinnamon crumble cake

I didn't have any potato flour though, and I did add a spoon of cinnamon to the cake batter...we all love cinnamon here

@Livingoffcoffee, you can mix the hooch back in; it's not bad for it. If you do pour it off remember to add the liquid back though.

Thanks @CaptainNelson (sorry for the late reply, I forgot to check back). Sorry if it’s an idiotic question, but is leaven the same thing as starter?

Also feeding it with rye or wholemeal will give it a boost as there's more of the natural yeast bacteria in there.

Love hearing everyone's sourdough progress.
One of my starters finally seemed to get going and I made my first loaf today. Made it all with wholemeal flour. Looked pretty good on the outside but don't think it rose enough during proving and was pretty dense inside. A work in progress!
Does anyone have a reliable sourdough pizza dough recipe?

@Livingoffcoffee, if you're getting the hooch regularly it's a sign that you need to feed it more often.

This is my starter, and the sandwich bread I make using it. I make several different styles of loaf as well as pancakes, scones, etc.

My starter is 7 years old

Your bread looks amazing @Knowhow

Depending on how you treat it, what recipe toy use and at what stage you use it, it really gives you a variety of textures in the resultant bread, from very open to more closed (like the sandwich bread above). It's so versatile.

I'm about to start......

Thanks @Knowhowufeel2
I moved it somewhere cooler and the hooch has stopped appearing, reckon it was too hot and going into overdrive.

I'm on day 10 of the stater now and think it's probably ready. It's bubbly after I feed it, but it doesn't seem to be getting bigger? maybe I just keep missing it?