Discard Pancakes and Crackers
Okay. Let's talk about the stuff you scoop out and throw away, because I think that's mildly offensive and I want you to stop doing it.
If you've been keeping a starter going on the counter or in the fridge, you already know the drill. Every time you feed it, you either throw out some starter first or you end up with a jar the size of a five gallon bucket. That thrown-out portion is called discard. It's not dead. It's not poison. It's just starter that hasn't been fed recently enough to be at full rising power. It'll still make things taste good. It just won't make bread climb.
I keep every bit of mine. I've got a container in the fridge labeled DISCARD in Sharpie, and I dump into it every feeding until it's full, then I make something. Pancakes, crackers, whatever's fast. That's just how I do it. You don't have to be that regimented, but I'd rather you use it than pour it down the drain and feel weird about it, because I did that for about a month when I started and it bugged me every time.
Discard pancakes
This is the easy one and it's a good Saturday morning project.
What you need: - 1 cup (about 227g) unfed starter discard - 1 egg - 2 tablespoons melted butter or oil - 1 tablespoon sugar - 1/2 teaspoon salt - 1/2 teaspoon baking soda - A splash of milk if the batter's too thick
Steps:
- Whisk the discard, egg, butter, sugar, and salt together in a bowl. It'll look loose, almost like a thin waffle batter. That's fine.
- Right before you cook, sprinkle the baking soda over the top and stir it in. Don't do this early. The soda reacts with the acid in the starter and starts foaming right away, and if it sits too long that lift fizzles out before it ever hits the griddle.
- Heat a griddle or skillet to medium, about 350 degrees if yours has a dial. Butter it lightly.
- Pour batter in scant quarter-cup rounds. Flip when you see bubbles forming across the whole surface and the edges look set, not wet.
- Cook another minute or two on the second side. Done.
These come out a little tangier than regular pancakes and a little more tender, almost lacy at the edges. Richard likes them better than my regular pancakes and he won't admit it.
Discard crackers
This one takes more patience, which you know by now isn't my strong suit, but it's mostly hands-off time, not hands-on.
What you need: - 1 cup (227g) unfed starter discard - 4 tablespoons melted butter - 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus flaky salt for the top - Optional: a teaspoon of rosemary or garlic powder if you want them fancier
Steps:
- Stir the discard, melted butter, and salt together until smooth.
- Spread the mixture thin on parchment paper, or roll it between two sheets of parchment with a rolling pin. Thin as you can get it without tearing through, maybe 1/8 inch. Thin is the whole game here. Thick spots stay chewy instead of crisp.
- Score it into cracker-sized squares with a pizza cutter or knife before baking. Doesn't have to be perfect.
- Sprinkle flaky salt on top, press it in lightly.
- Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges are golden and the middle's dried out too, not just brown at the border. Our dry air actually helps you here, they crisp up nicely. Let them cool completely on the pan before you break them apart, they firm up more as they cool.
Watch them the last five minutes. Thin edges burn fast and once they start going dark it happens quick. Pull them a shade lighter than you think you want, they keep baking a little from residual heat.
Why bother
Here's my actual opinion on this, plainly stated: throwing away starter discard is wasteful, and it bugs me every time I see a recipe tell people to just toss it. You've fed that jar, you've watched it, some of you have named it. Using the extra is like sweeping up sawdust and using it for something instead of bagging it for the dump. It's a byproduct, not garbage.
And it's a good way to get a feel for what your starter actually is at different points. I remember the first time mine doubled in four hours flat, I took a picture of the jar with a rubber band marking the starting line, same as I'd photograph a finished frame to prove the work held. That picture's still on my phone. But even on the days it wasn't doing anything dramatic, wasn't ready to leaven a loaf, the discard was still good for something. That's the part people miss. Not every batch of starter has to be at its peak to be useful. Some of it's just breakfast.
One real caution: if your discard has been sitting in the fridge a long while and smells sharply of nail polish remover or has any pink, orange, or fuzzy spots, don't cook with it. That's past discard, that's spoiled, and it goes in the actual trash. Regular sour, tangy, beer-like smell is normal and fine. Anything past that, toss it and start your discard container fresh.
Before next time: save up a full cup of discard this week instead of dumping it, and try one of these. I want to hear which one Richard-in-your-house liked better.