success in sourdough

I’ve finally leveled up my Sourdough skill. No, I haven’t made a proper bread with it yet but I’ve kept my new jar friend alive for almost a month and attempted some ‘starter discard’ recipes. 

I used Zero Waste Chef’s method and it’s been nothing but discarding ~80% and adding flour and dough everyday. I was more strict when I started out in case my lack of consistency was what was killing it but now I feed it every other day and it’s been thriving. I haven’t made any bread with it at the moment, as ZWC’s directions include making a leaven and then finally making bread ~3 days later and I just haven’t been motivated to do it. 

I have made a few things with the discarded starter that have turned out pretty tasty!

Attempt 1: crackers

• Easy process, not unfamiliar to someone who’s made bread at home before. 
• My variation on her cracker recipe was dried rosemary and garlic powder and it would be easy to add any seasonings, savory or sweet. The spices didn’t quite stick to the crackers after baking and moving to a dish but what did stick was v good. 
• The crackers tasted cheesy despite no added nooch or other vegan cheese-like spices. The texture was pretty good although I think I under cooked them so they have the potential to be better. 
• They’re certainly no wheat thins but a great way to use up a fast accumulating amount of sort-of sourdough.

Attempt 2: chocolate cake

• Smelled so good, not sour or fruity like sourdough can be. A little dry and the brown sugar didn’t get mixed in evenly but overall not bad for not having baked a cake in like 10 years??

Attempt 3: sourdough discard bread

• Gross name but a good bread overall! Her recipe did call for baker’s yeast along side so the dough would rise but it turned out like my other breads in terms of flavor and how well it cut. 
• Over baking did cause the top of both breads to burn quite a bit and did ruin the smell and flavor for me but that’s an easy fix for the next batch.

I really recommend Zero Waste Chef’s way to start sourdough and her directions are really straight forward and don’t require specialized tools besides a kitchen scale and measure spoons. Overall, I’m pretty happy with how these attempts and the starter itself has turned out. When we’re close to being out of bread again, I’ll finally tackle the almighty Sourdough~