
Sourdough Discard Bagel Recipe
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An excellent idea for using the discard – saves waste.
How much sugar do you add to the water?
Hi Alice,
You need to add one tablespoon of sugar to the water.
Many thanks,
Cleo
how old can the discard be? It’s been refrigerated.
Hi Paul,
The discard if stored properly would be the same as unfed sourdough. I feed my sourdough once a week, soI would say that the discard should be used within 5-7days.
Hi Cleo,
if the discard is not strong, can we add some instant yeast?
Hi Jane,
If you add yeast, it would no longer be sourdough bread but rather than discarding your ingredients, you could try using some yeast and see what happens.
Many thanks,
Cleo
I’m not sure why, but my bagels didn’t rise at all .Is it because I used a 7 day old discard? They look more like bagel thins than real bagels. Help?
Hi Heather
For best results, use the discard on the same day that you fed your starter. The discard becomes weaker over time. You should keep the discard refrigerated until you are ready to use it.
Cleo
My bagels turned out. Little dense and hard, how can I make them softer, more hidratation maybe? In terms of weight, how much should be reasonable for a bagel?
Hi Paula,
I have never weighed a bagel but the fresher the discard, the better the results you will get. If you follow the recipe, there should be enough moisture and your bagels should all be the weight of “normal” bagels.
Cleo
I’ve been looking for another way to use my sourdough discard, so I was excited to find your recipe. I followed your recipe exactly, weights and measures, however, when I added the flour to the sourdough mixture there was WAY more flour than the amount of liquid would absorb. I mixed in all I could in the bowl, then turned it all out on my counter. I ended up adding about 1/4 cup warm water to the bowl, scraping it down and adding the dough ball back to the bowl and hand mixing as best I could to get most of the water into the dough. Turned back out onto the counter and kneaded until I finally had a very stiff ball of dough. It is rising now, and we shall see how it looks in 4 hours when I check it. My starter discard was very bubbly this morning when I fed my 2 starters. I use KA bread flour. Water was right at 90*, I used brown sugar instead of honey, and olive oil in place of melted butter. Praying for success!
Hi Rhonda,
This is the list of ingredients and you can see how much water it calls for:
Ingredients
600g strong white bread flour
1/2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp honey or brown sugar
280 ml water (warm)
1 tbsp oil or melted butter
150g sourdough discard
For boiling doughnuts:
1 tbsp sugar to boiling water
Here is another comment on the same recipe, which shows that it does work:
This recipe is amazing! Did half wholewheat half bread flour and they turned out great! Just baked them for 5+ minutes than the recipe said. Thanx xx
I hope you will try it again.
Cleo
This recipe is amazing! Did half wholewheat half bread flour and they turned out great! Just baked them for 5+ minutes than the recipe said. Thanx xx
Thank-you, enjoy!!