You know that we are always looking for ways to use the leftovers of our sourdough starter as they are just too good to be simply thrown away.

So we are happy to present the next member of this small but growing family: Our sourdough bread from leftover sourdough starter. Welcome it and give it a try – you will like it!

You don’t have a sourdough starter yet? No worries, we’ve got you! Just check out our guide on how to create a sourdough starter.

Things to know before you start

Time Schedule

Steps Work time Waiting time
Levain ~5 minutes 12-14 hours
Mix ~20 minutes 10 minutes
Bulk Fermentation, Stretch & Fold ~20 minutes 3 hours
Shape ~10 minutes –
Proof – 2 hours
Score ~5 minutes –
Bake ~5 minutes 45 minutes
Cool – 2 hours

This sourdough bread from leftover sourdough starter will be ready to eat in under 21 to 23 hours.

Total ingredients

Weight Ingredient
50 g Sourdough starter – Preferably from whole wheat flour
50 g Sourdough starter – Preferably from rye flour
425 g All-purpose flour
55 g Rye flour
10 g Salt
3 g Yeast – Fresh
12 g Butter
10 g Honey
340 g Water

You will have a dough of about 955 g in total.

Difficulty

A relatively simple recipe. Just the shaping could be a bit more tricky because of the slightly higher hydration in this recipe. Consider having a look at our recipe sourdough bread for beginners which contains a lot of details for the different steps if you have never baked one before.

Baking tools

To get a nice oval shape for your loaf an oval banneton proofing basket is recommended. Besides that you should be good to go with some of our should have baking tools.

Steps

1. Levain

Weight Ingredient
50 g Sourdough starter – Preferably from whole wheat flour
50 g Sourdough starter – Preferably from rye flour
100 g All-purpose flour
100 g Water – Room temperature
  • Mix your sourdough starter with the ingredients above
  • Store sealed for 12 to 14 hours at 20-22°C (68-71,6°F)

2. Mix

Weight Ingredient
– Levain
325 g All-purpose flour
55 g Rye flour
10 g Salt
3 g Yeast – Fresh
12 g Butter
10 g Honey
240 g Water
  • Mix all of the mentioned ingredients except the butter together in a stand mixer for 6 minutes on speed level one and 8 minutes on speed level two
  • Add the butter after 9 minutes of mixing
  • The dough will still stick a bit to the bowl after mixing, but should be smooth

3. Bulk Fermentation, Stretch & Fold

  • Cover the dough and let it rest for a total of 3 hours at 20-22°C (68-71,6°F)
  • During that time stretch & fold the dough every 30 minutes (5 times in total) and after the 5th time let it ferment further for 30 minutes until 3 hours in total are reached
  • After each stretch and fold put it back to the bowl and cover it again so it doesn’t dry out

4. Shape

5. Proof

  • Dust your proofing basket with a bit of all-purpose flour
  • Put your previously shaped dough seam-side-up in the dusted proofing basket
  • Add a bit of flour on top and cover it with a towel
  • Let it proof for 30 minutes on the counter before you put it in the fridge at 5-8°C (41-46,4°F) for 90 more minutes

6. Score

  • Cover a pizza peel with parchment paper
  • Take your proofed dough out of the fridge
  • Gently take your dough out of the proofing basket by flipping it upside down on the pizza peel
  • With a bread lame make 6 quick cuts (about 2 cm deep) on top of the dough from top to bottom

7. Bake

  • Preheat oven to 250°C (482°F) for ~45 minutes with the upper and lower heat function
  • Put the loaf in the oven, create steam and bake for 45 minutes
  • After 10 minutes lower the temperature to 215°C (419°F), let the steam out by opening the oven door for ~45 seconds and close it again

8. Cool

  • After baking take out your sourdough bread immediately
  • Let your bread cool for about 2 hours on some kind of grid before you start cutting it

Conclusion

Crust

This sourdough bread has a soft crust but it’s firm and not rubbery.

Crumb

The crumb is soft too with mostly fine and even pores. There are only a few bigger pores closer to the crust.

Taste

The taste of this bread is mild and very balanced. It also has a slightly sour taste which is based on the sourdough used for baking it.

Goes good with

As the taste is mild and well balanced, this bread can also be combined with things that have a heavier taste such as a good hearty cheese or some ham. If you prefer the sweeter things then there is no need to panic: They go good with this bread too.

Gallery

Sourdough Bread From Leftover Sourdough Starter
Sourdough Bread From Leftover Sourdough Starter Top View
Sourdough Bread From Leftover Sourdough Starter Crust
Sourdough Bread From Leftover Sourdough Starter Close Up From Crust
Sourdough Bread From Leftover Sourdough Starter Crumb