I’m a noob with sourdough and I have been having a hard time getting information on how to maintain a consistent amount of starter. Is it generally appropriate to discard half and replace that half with fresh flour and water?
Related, is “discard” in any meaningful way different from the starter itself, or are the recipes for discard scones/crackers/whatever just labeled that because you aren’t using the starter for rise?
The best way to keep a starter that you’ll see recommended in books is to have a fairly large amount (enough to directly throw into a recipe) that you keep well fed. That makes the best, most consistent bread possible, which is why bakeries do it that way, but if you are just some home baker, you probably dont want to either bake everyday or throw out starter every day.
Personally, I like to keep a little jar in my fridge with 60 g of starter in it. When I want to make bread, I’ll pull 30 g out, and step that up to whatever amount I want to use. I also replenish the fridge jar, and let it sit at room temp until I see it start bubbling, and it goes back in the fridge (i like it to have a little headstart at room temperature so it doesn’t spend too long in a state hospitable to mold). I never throw any starter away. If the timing works out such that I can’t put dough together until after the starter has “peaked”, sometimes I’ll just pull some off to make a sourdough pancake or something, and I’ll feed the remainder back to the weight it needs to be.
I’ve seen some recipes that specifically mention using “unfed starter” or “discard”. It has lots of flavor, but it’s less good at providing leavening, since the yeast/bacteria activity has slowed down. Sometimes to use some up, I’ll just make bread with it, but add in some commercial yeast. You get the taste of sourdough, but predictable rise of commercial yeast.