The Bread Has A Bad Taste So, if something tastes off, it's better just to throw the bread away. To summarize, if your sourdough bread has visible mold, has a bad smell, or has a bad taste, just go ahead and throw it out.
It's pretty easy to tell when sourdough bread has gone bad because it will be covered in visible signs of mold growth and will feel hard both inside and out. It may also smell bad too, but not always. Once it's past the fresh stage (first 24 hours) you will notice some deterioration in crust and crumb.
If left unfed it can start to grow mold and bacteria. At that point, a starter should be thrown out and started over. Any pink, orange, or grey color should be discarded and a brand new starter should be made. A sourdough starter does have a tangy smell to it but it should never have a foul smell.
This is especially true compared with pre-packaged, store-bought loaves. Sourdough's natural acidity discourages bacteria, which means you can keep it fresh for longer. You can generally expect sourdough to last for four to five days at room temperature.
Stored in the freezer, sourdough discard will theoretically keep indefinitely. I've left it in the freezer for as long as six months, untouched (i.e., I don't add or remove discard). Before using it, let it thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature, never in the microwave. The microwave will cook/kill it.
You must discard some of your sourdough starter each time you feed it. You'll discover that discarding is necessary to build a healthy and thriving sourdough starter - but it's not actually as wasteful as you might think.
If your recipe calls for more than 227g (about 1 cup) of starter, feed it without discarding until you've reached the amount you need (plus 113g to keep and feed again).
If your sourdough bread is dry or stale, you don't need to throw it away. It is still safe to eat. You can use old bread in recipes that traditionally call for stale bread, like bread pudding or croutons.
Sourdough bread should ideally not be refrigerated, as the bread will dry out and become stale faster than at room temperature.
Sourdough bread resists mold, unlike conventionally leavened bread. Now scientists show why. During sourdough production, bacteria convert the linoleic acid in bread flour to a compound that has powerful antifungal activity. Sourdough bread resists mold, unlike conventionally leavened bread.
The very short answer is, your sourdough starter generally will be at its peak anything between 4 and 12 hours after feeding. The optimum time to use it will be when there are lots of bubbles at its surface and it has has physically risen to its peak level, just before deflating back down again.
Sourdough bread won't go bad any faster than any other type of bread without preservatives. As we already talked about, sourdough bread can easily become dry and stale, but that's no reason to throw it out.
Basic Bread Storage Tips:
It is worth noting that one of the benefits of fresh sourdough bread (bread made with a sourdough culture) is that it has a longer shelf life than typical store-bought bread. It can typically last for about 4 to 5 days at room temperature. Whatever you do, please do not refrigerate your bread.
My Sourdough Starter Smells Like Alcohol/Beer/Vinegar/Nail Polish Remover. If your sourdough starter stinks like alcohol, vinegar, or nail polish remover, it means that it's really hungry and has produced lots of acetic acid. The good bacteria have eaten up all the nutrients in the flour and are desperate to be fed.
It is a pleasantly sweet smell, like yeasty bread, with a bit of a sour note. Your sourdough starter can go through many stages of smells. It can be yeasty, it can smell like alcohol, stinky feet, vomit(the worst), and aged cheese(parmesan to be exact).
After 3 days in the refrigerator, the flavor and texture of the loaf start to marginally deteriorate through days 4 and 5. Some bakers have kept their loaves in the refrigerator for longer than 5 days, but I do not recommend it.
Proofing sourdough in the fridge is effective because it allows the dough to rest in its shaping container while developing superior sourdough flavor. Unlike bulk fermentation (which must be done at room temperature), proofing can be done in cold fridge temperatures.
Splash some water over the top of your bread, just enough to become slightly damp. Place the loaf in a 250°F oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Watch it closely and remove it when warm.
Bread that has gone bad will often have a sour or unpleasant smell and taste. If you're not sure whether your bread is still edible, give it a sniff! If it doesn't smell fresh, it's probably time to toss it out.
You can use old sourdough discard if it's been stored in the fridge, however, you really want to use it up within a week - 2 weeks max. It's better to use "fresh" discard in a sweet sourdough discard recipe. Use older discards in more savory recipes.
One approach is to save up all this discard in one container in the fridge in what I like to call a sourdough starter cache. Then, use all this at once in a starter discard recipe or my sourdough waffles, pancakes, or banana bread at the end of the week.
You can use sourdough discard in your garden in the following ways: Use diluted sourdough discard as a liquid nutrient boost. Use dried sourdough starter as a soil conditioner. Add it to your backyard compost pile.
Yes, there are actually several health benefits to using sourdough discard in your cooking and baking. Sourdough discard is rich in probiotics, which can help promote a healthy gut microbiome and improve digestion.