The jar
Sourdough, kept simply.
A starter is a small daily obedience: flour, water, and time. This section is the jar, the feedings, and the bakes that come from them, including the discard you should not feel guilty about.
How to feed the jar
01
Begin
Day one is only flour and water, equal weights, in a clean jar. For the next week, keep a small amount and feed it the same weights of flour and water each day. You are not behind if nothing exciting happens before day four.
02
Know it is ready
Bake with it when a feeding reliably doubles the jar in 4 to 8 hours, the surface is domed and bubbly, and the smell is clean and tangy. A fallen starter can still flavor pancakes. It will not lift a country loaf.
03
Keep it
In the refrigerator, a weekly feeding is enough. The day before bread, feed it and leave it out until it peaks. Use what the recipe asks, feed the jar again, and put it back once it is lively.
04
Use the extra
The portion you do not put back in the jar is discard. Once it smells pleasant, it becomes pancakes and crackers. The first murky days of a brand-new starter belong in the compost, not in breakfast.
“See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient with it.”
From the jar
Every recipe uses a scale. Cups will fight you here.
Sourdough
Feeding a Sourdough Starter
How to begin a jar, how to know it is ready, and how to keep it alive between baking days.
5 minutes a feeding
Sourdough
A Simple Sourdough Country Loaf
Flour, water, salt, and a living starter. The schedule is long. The hands-on time is short.
About 24 hours, mostly waiting
Sourdough
Soft Sourdough Sandwich Loaf
A pan loaf with a tender crumb, for toast and lunches, risen on a starter instead of a packet of yeast.
About 12 hours
Sourdough
Olive Oil Sourdough Focaccia
A wet dough, a deep dimple, and enough oil that the crumb stays tender the day it is baked.
About 18 hours, mostly waiting
Sourdough
Sourdough Pizza Dough
Two or three pies from one bowl, fermented slowly, baked as hot as your oven will go.
About 24 hours
Sourdough
Sourdough English Muffins
Griddled, not baked, and split with a fork so the butter has somewhere to go.
About 10 hours
Sourdough
Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
An enriched dough that waits most of the day, then fills the house in the last half hour.
About 12 hours
Sourdough
Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
Discard in a butter cookie. Chill the dough or it spreads into a puddle. Sugar is in this one, because a cookie is a cookie.
40 minutes, plus chilling
Sourdough
Sourdough Discard Pancakes
The jar’s extra, turned into breakfast. Unfed starter is welcome here.
25 minutes
Sourdough
Rosemary Discard Crackers
A thin, salty bake for the jar you would otherwise hesitate over. They keep in a tin.
40 minutes
Sourdough
Sourdough Bagels
A stiff dough, a short boil, and a hot oven. The chew comes from the boil, not from extra flour.
About 12 hours
Sourdough
Sourdough Dinner Rolls
An enriched dough that rises while the rest of supper is underway, then bakes in one pan.
About 10 hours
Sourdough
Sourdough Discard Biscuits
Cold butter, unfed starter, and a hot oven. The discard stands in for part of the liquid.
40 minutes
Sourdough
Sourdough Discard Waffles
A thin batter from the extra starter. Cook them until the steam slows, or the center stays doughy.
30 minutes
Sourdough
Sourdough Banana Bread
Very ripe bananas, a scoop of discard, and butter. Honey browns fast, so tent the loaf if the top gets dark.
1 hour 20 minutes
Sourdough
Sourdough Pie Crust
Cold butter and cold discard, rested before it is rolled. Enough for a double crust.
20 minutes, plus 1 hour of chilling
Sourdough
Sourdough Tortillas
Soft flour tortillas from discard, olive oil, and a dry skillet. They should bend, not crack.
45 minutes
Sourdough
Sourdough Soft Pretzels
A short bath in baking-soda water, then a hot oven. This is not a lye bath, and it is not for drinking.
About 8 hours
Sourdough
Sourdough Coffee Cake
Discard, sour cream, and a butter streusel. The crumb on top is brown sugar, because honey will not make a crumb.
1 hour
Sourdough
Sourdough Blueberry Muffins
Discard in the batter, berries tossed in a little flour so they do not all sink.
40 minutes
Sourdough
Sourdough Discard Brownies
A fudgy pan, with a little discard for tang. Pull them while a crumb still clings to the tester.
45 minutes
Sourdough
Sourdough Naan
A soft dough cooked in a hot cast-iron skillet and finished with butter. The bubbles are the sign it was hot enough.
About 6 hours
Sourdough
Sourdough Hamburger Buns
Soft enriched buns for the sloppy joes. Bake them through. A pretty top can hide a doughy middle.
About 10 hours
Sourdough
Sourdough Cinnamon Swirl Bread
A pan loaf with a honey-cinnamon ribbon. Pinch the ends so the filling stays inside.
About 12 hours
Sourdough
Sourdough Pita
A hot oven and a soft dough. If they do not puff, the oven was not hot enough, or the rounds were too thick.
About 8 hours
Sourdough
Sourdough Donuts
An enriched dough, fried in tallow, tossed in cinnamon sugar. Stay with the pot.
About 10 hours
Sourdough
Sourdough Breadsticks
A soft dough, baked on olive oil, finished with butter and salt.
About 8 hours
Sourdough
Sourdough Discard Scones
Cold butter, a little discard, and a light hand. Overworking makes a biscuit that wishes it were a scone, and fails at both.
40 minutes
Sourdough
Sourdough Garlic Knots
A soft dough tied into knots, then brushed with butter and garlic after the oven. Olive oil is in the dough. The butter stays for the finish.
About 10 hours
Sourdough
Sourdough Challah
An egg dough, braided in three strands. No seeds on top. An egg wash is what makes the crust shine.
About 12 hours
Sourdough
Sourdough Baguettes
A lean dough, shaped long, baked hot. The crackle is steam and a sharp score, not oil.
About 14 hours
Sourdough
Sourdough Ciabatta
A wet dough. You do not knead it into a ball. You fold it, then cut floury rectangles.
About 14 hours
Sourdough
Sourdough Monkey Bread
Small pieces of enriched dough, tumbled in butter, honey, and cinnamon, baked in a bundt so they pull apart.
About 12 hours
Sourdough
Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Loaf
Raisins and cinnamon mixed through the dough, not rolled into a ribbon. A different loaf from the swirl bread.
About 12 hours
Sourdough
Sourdough Discard Pasta
Flour, eggs, and unfed starter, rolled thin and cut into ribbons. It cooks in a few minutes.
1 hour 30 minutes
Sourdough
Sourdough Hot Cross Buns
A spiced dough with raisins, baked in a cluster. The cross is flour and water, piped on before the oven, not icing.
About 12 hours
Sourdough
Sourdough Apple Fritters
A thick discard dough with chunks of apple, fried in a shallow skillet of beef tallow. Not a deep vat of oil.
45 minutes
Sourdough
Sourdough Drop Dumplings
A soft biscuit dough, spooned onto simmering chicken broth. The discard is the liquid. The baking powder is what lifts them.
40 minutes
Sourdough
Sourdough Discard Cornbread
A skillet bread for soup night. The discard is the tang. The butter in the pan is what browns the edge.
40 minutes
Sourdough
Sourdough Discard Crepes
A thin batter, rested, cooked in butter. The first one is the cook’s. It tells you if the pan is hot enough.
40 minutes
Sourdough
Sourdough Discard Dutch Baby
Eggs, a little discard, and a hot buttered skillet. It puffs in the oven and sinks when you cut it. That is what it is supposed to do.
35 minutes
Sourdough
Sourdough Discard Snickerdoodles
A butter cookie rolled in cinnamon sugar. The sugar is what makes the cracked top. Chill the dough or it spreads.
50 minutes, plus chilling
Sourdough
Sourdough Discard Gingerbread
A dark square cake, molasses and butter, with discard stirred in. It should be damp in the middle, not wet.
50 minutes
Sourdough
Sourdough Discard Cheddar Crackers
Sharp cheese, cold butter, and discard, rolled thin. These are not the plain rosemary crackers. The cheese is in the dough.
45 minutes
Sourdough
Sourdough Discard Apple Cake
Chopped apple folded into a butter batter. The fruit should show on the cut face, not hide under a smooth crust.
1 hour
Sourdough
Sourdough Discard Chocolate Cake
One cocoa layer, butter and honey, no frosting. A snack cake. The discard keeps it tender.
50 minutes
Sourdough
Sourdough Discard Granola
Oats stirred with discard, honey, and butter, baked until dry. Pecans, not a seed oil.
50 minutes
Sourdough
Sourdough Discard Popovers
A thin batter in a hot buttered cup. They should be tall and hollow. Open the oven too soon and they collapse.
45 minutes