Hi, Diane! So sorry this is getting to you a bit late; we had so many questions over the last few weeks it's been tough to keep up. There are two different kinds of sourdough recipes. Some call for sourdough "discards" or "unfed" starter. If your pancake recipe is one of these, you can use it whenever you like! This is because those recipes are using your starter just for flavor and not for leavening. The other type of sourdough recipe calls for "fed" or "ripe" starter. (Most sourdough bread recipes fall into this category.) For these, you'll want to use your starter right when it's reached its tallest point but before it falls again, which is generally around 6-8 hours after feeding. If you know that you'll want to mix up your dough at around 2 in the afternoon and you know your starter typically ripens after 6 hours, for example, you'll want to feed it at 8 in the morning. I hope this helps! And if you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to our Baker's Hotline to have a one on one conversation. You've got this! 

• Reply