I love my starter, but I'm also one of those folks who just doesn't like to waste things when I don't have to. The solution I've settled on is to just keep a smaller volume of starter on hand. My ususal schedule is something like this: Friday afternoon or Saturday morning I'll pull the starter out of the fridge and dump all but a couple tablespoons then feed it with 100 grams each of flour and water. 8-12 hours later I'll feed it with another 100 grams each of flour and water. 8-12 hours after that It's usually good and ripe and ready to bake with. At that point I've got 400 grams of starter plus a little bit to keep it going. 400 grams of starter at 100% hydration is exactly what my pizza dough recipie calls for (most of the others I make call for something just shy of that) so if I don't feel like making anything more elaborate I'll knock out some pizza dough for to use another time. I should be left with just a couple tablespoons of starter. I'll Top it off with 100 grams each of flour and water and pop it in the fridge. I could probably get away with using half that, as long as I don't leave it unattended for too long. It takes a little bit of planning ahead, but for my weekend baking all I've had to throw out is 100 grams of flour (approximatly 3/4 cup). For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure starter is perfectly fine for your compost bin as well, if you've got one.

• Reply