Sourdough Discard Bread

Kyrie | Healthfully Rooted Home

The easiest and most delicious sourdough discard bread recipe you'll find. This rustic loaf is made using sourdough discard but the flavor of the sourdough still shines.

4.84 from 6 votes

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 30

Proofing/preheating/cooling time 4

Total Time 4 45

Course Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 1 loaf

Calories 130 kcal

Ingredients

400 grams all purpose flour about 2 1/4 cups
150 grams bread flour about 3/4 cup - you can omit this and make up the difference with more APF.
325 grams warm water about 1 1/4 cups - not too hot
100 grams sourdough starter discard about 2/3 cups - unfed and inactive
12 grams sea salt about 1 tbs
8 grams instant yeast about 2 tsp

Instructions

In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, mix the warm water and yeast together.
Then, add all the other ingredients and knead until combined and the dough is smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes).
Let the dough sit at room temperature for about 1-2 hours until doubled in size.
Preheat a dutch oven in a 500F oven for about 30 minutes.
Dust the countertop with flour and shape your dough by bringing all the sides of the dough into the center. Flip over and move the dough ball in circles and then up and down against the countertop to create surface tension.
Transfer your dough to a piece of parchment paper.
Score the dough then place it in the preheated dutch oven with the lid on.
Bake for 15 minutes at 500F with the lid on. Then drop the temp to 475F and bake for 15 minutes with the lid off.
Let cool for 1 full hour before cutting (more if possible).

Video

Notes

How to Store Sourdough Discard Bread

All homemade bread is best when served freshly baked and the day-of, however, this loaf stores incredibly well for several days.

Room temperature

Store your sourdough discard bread in a breathable bag (such as paper or linen) for up to 3 days.

Freezer

To freeze your sourdough discard bread, let it cool completely and store the entire loaf in a plastic bag for up to 3 months. You can also slice the bread and freeze the slices in plastic bags.

Sourdough Discard Bread Tips

Grams vs. Cups – it’s best to weigh the ingredients for bread recipes.
Let your baked bread rest – you really do need to let your bread rest for an hour after taking it out of the oven. It continues cooking below that delicious-looking crust.
Scoring – scoring directs the flow of what’s called “rapid expansion” and without scoring, your bread could rapidly expand in areas where you don’t want it to. Basically scoring is a control mechanism for where the bread will expand.
Dutch oven - To get that artisan-style bread with that amazing crust, you will need to bake it in a hot dutch oven.
Adjust your flour content as needed – see the tutorial below for getting the right flour content for your dough.

How Much Flour to Use for Sourdough Discard Bread?

Unfortunately, there is no way to have a fail-proof bread recipe that you can follow 100% to the T every single time. You have to adjust the amount of flour you use from time to time depending on various factors. See below how to read your dough.

How much flour to use for making bread

You should always read the dough rather than a recipe in order to get your best loaf of bread. Always start with about 1/4 of the amount of flour the recipe calls for.

Once you start mixing the flour you’ll need to start “reading the dough” to see how much more flour to add. Add about 1/4 cup of flour at a time after that until your dough is ready.

How to read the dough

You are looking for your dough to start coming together into a smooth ball and for the sides of the bowl to become clean. The dough will start to pull from the sides of the bowl and incorporate into a ball.

The dough should not be sticky when you’re done mixing your flour in, it should always be soft and your bowl should be clean.

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