DISCARDING
"Discarding" in sourdough starter refers to the process of removing a portion of your sourdough starter before feeding it with fresh flour and water, essentially taking out excess starter to manage its size and acidity level, which is usually thrown away or used in other recipes like pancakes or crackers; this discarded portion is called "sourdough discard.".
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When feeding your starter, remove a portion before adding fresh flour and water.
You can simply throw it away, but many bakers use sourdough discard in various recipes like pancakes, cookies, or even to start a new sourdough starter.
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If you plan to use your discard later, store it in the refrigerator where it will remain viable for a period of time.
Once you are worried about getting too much starter then you can start to discard before feeding.
As far as discarding... You can start to discard some starter, before feeding, after 3 feedings or once it has woken up, whichever is first....
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If you discard before then, you most likely will not harm it, it just might take longer to wake up... but if you're seeing bubbling then you're safe to discard whenever now. ... it would be a choice though and not necessary... and wont hurt or help as long as you're feeding correct amounts.
You can discard all way down to 1/4 cup so you dont have so much to feed and its more manageable. You would discard before feeding.. For feeding, you do not necessarily replace the amount you discard.. the amount that you discard does not matter.. it only matters what you have left after you discard.. so you would match the amount you have left after discarding with the same amount of flour and same amount of water. Discarding is simply to make your feedings more manageable and not necessary if you want a large amount of starter or you're consistently baking... so its up to you.... its not absolutely necessary and many different ways to go about it. You can discard any amount you'd like or you're comfortable doing. It can be half or half a cup or 90% of it .. it won't matter as long as you feed what is left 1:1:1 still.. and do not put the discard back in. It is common to discard half before each feeding.
So discarding is not a necessity or rule or will limit or lead to success... as long as you feed the amount of starter each day correctly that you are keeping it doesn’t matter what you do with the rest... you can bake with any amount, discard it, give it away, throw it away... discarding is just a fancy name and adds some confusion sometimes. So you can give away discard to become a new starter, split some up and experiment with different flours, make discard recipes, throw it away. Whatever you'd like. Try recipes such as waffles, pancakes, pizza dough, crackers etc.. these can be done at any point and the starter does not have to be fed to use..
Once you have discarding and feeding techniques down, the easiest way to it is the next feeding is discard everything except 4 oz of the starter.. then mix in to that 4 oz of starter 1/2 cup (4 oz ) water and 1 cup flour (4 oz).
Do this every day.