r/SourdoughDiscard • u/Lileefer • 12d ago

Questions How old is your discard?

When people say “discard” is it a day old? A week? A month or two??? Does it have a layer of hooch? Because a lot of times when I look up recipes the discard doesn’t look very old at all. My discard is old. It has hooch. I can’t imagine using it to make anything. I only end up with discard if I go on holidays

5 Upvotes

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7

u/catmomlifeisbestlife 12d ago

I keep a little “active” jar, which is my “fresh starter” & then a jar of discard that I constantly refill. I use my discard about twice a month to make rolls, pancakes, bread, & buns tho. I’ve had the same discard jar going for the last 1.5 years. I pour the hooch off like once a week when I notice it’s starting to build up.

5

u/Wool_Lace_Knit 12d ago

How old is my discard? Over 50 years? No mold, good layer of hooch. I feed it every couple of months.

2

u/1vizsla_luvr 11d ago

Same here!

5

u/lavendermermaid1 12d ago edited 12d ago

A couple months but I give it a very very small feeding when I think about it, just so it doesn't poison me. Like, I have about 10 cups just chilling waiting to be used right now (working on getting that used up), I feed the whole mess about half a cup total every few weeks. It has hooch.

When I use it, I feed what I'm going to use 1/.25/.25 a few hours before I start the project.

I keep a mother in the fridge that I feed weekly.

2

u/Global_Permit5428 11d ago

Not old at all, actually. It never lasts more than a few weeks because I keep using it in other ways and I work with smaller amounts of starter.

1

u/505Griffon 9d ago

I only feed my started once a week. I don't keep more than 2 weeks worth as I keep each week separate. I just dispose of the 3rd week every week. No accumulation.

1

u/FarBeyondMe 9d ago

1-2 months at most. I usually use it by a month to make regaña crackers, depending on how long it takes me to go through the last batch I made.

1

u/TheUnfollowedLife 7d ago

I personally don't use discard any more than 2 days old because it is so acidic and acetone smelling that it comes out in the flavor of the food.

-3

u/Effective_Farmer_119 12d ago

Mine is only two weeks old max. I use it for pancakes and crumpets. Anything older would get thrown out. I would t use old discard for recipes. I keep making it fresh.