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Never thought I'd say this about starter discard | Fermentation Station - Thought Shares

Never thought I'd say this about starter discard

I always tossed my sourdough discard because I figured it was just waste. Then I overheard a guy at the farmers market say his discard pancakes were better than regular ones, and I tried it with some blueberries last Sunday. Now I'm saving every bit of it for pancakes and crackers, anyone else find a use they swore they'd never try?

4 comments

4 Comments

the_claire5mo ago

@spencer782 has a point about people acting like they discovered fire with discard, but I think they're missing the bigger pattern here. We've all got that one thing we ignored for years until someone casually mentioned it in a way that clicked. For me it was keeping my vegetable scraps in the freezer for broth. I always figured it was some complicated homesteader thing, then my neighbor said she just tosses onion ends and carrot peels in a bag and boils them later. Simple as that. Now I've got a freezer bag full of scraps and I feel like I'm getting away with something every time I use it.

avery2195mo ago

The freezer scrap thing hits different because it's not about saving money, it's about feeling like you hacked the system. Everyone wants that one little trick that makes them feel smarter than they were yesterday, and discard gives people the same dopamine hit. Once you notice the pattern you see it everywhere, people gatekeeping simple stuff until someone casually shows them it's not that deep.

paige3313mo ago

You said the discard pancakes were "just fine" and that people act like they "discovered fire" with this stuff. But isn't that kind of the point though? Like with the freezer scrap thing someone else mentioned, half the fun is realizing something simple you overlooked for years actually works pretty well. I'm curious though, did you try them with blueberries or anything added or just plain? Because I feel like the add ins make a huge difference, my first batch was just plain and I was like "yeah okay whatever" but then I threw some cinnamon and chocolate chips in and they actually came out really good. What exactly made them "fine" to you, the texture or the taste?

spencer7825mo ago

Better than regular ones" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. I tried the discard pancakes once and honestly they were just fine. A little tangy, a little dense, not some life changing breakfast upgrade. People act like they discovered fire when they figure out you can put leftover starter goo in a pan. It's fermented flour and water, not a magic ingredient. I'll stick with my box mix and not pretend I'm saving the planet by not throwing away 50 cents worth of flour sludge.