I'm a Hoarding Cheater

Throwing things out is tough for me.  I blame this on my hoarding genes.  Even when something isn't really good for its intended purpose anymore, I still dislike discarding it.  It must still be good for something, no?

Caring for my sourdough starter makes me face my dislike of throwing things away every single day.  Every time I feed the starter, I first need to discard 3/4 of it.  This is bad enough, but some days I get distracted and forget to feed the starter at all for a day or two.  This type of neglect does not make my starter happy.  It loses all its bubbles, gets really thin, and starts to form a layer of hooch on the top.  In this unfed state it is supposed to be completely useless for baking bread.  If you fail as a sourdough starter mama and let your starter get to this decrepit state, you are supposed to discard the majority of it, feed, and wait for it to rebound.  In the meantime, no bread gets made and a bunch of starter goes into the compost bin.  Ugh.  That is the stuff of a hoarder's nightmares.

I faced this situation last night: a large amount of unfed starter, no bread for tomorrow, and a very strong disinclination to be up all night baking bread (which I would have had to do if I was going to feed my starter and then wait for fermentation to get going again before baking).

So I cheated.  Yup.  I admit it.  I took the path of least resistance.  I added dried yeast to my sourdough bread recipe.  Sacrilege.

500g flour
180 g unfed starter
1 1/4 cup water
2 1/4 tsp baker's yeast
2 tsp salt

Using the dough hook of my Kitchenaid mixer (I was too lazy to hand knead) I kneaded the dough on speed 4 for 10 minutes.  First rise for 2 hours at 110F in the dehydrator (while Ian and I watched Game of Thrones).  Second rise for 1 hour at 110F in the dehydrator (more Game of Thrones).  Starting in a cold oven, I baked it at 450F for 30 mins in a cast iron pot with the lid on and another 25 min with the lid off (even more Game of Thrones).

It was the best bread I have ever made.  Bar none.  And I was in bed by 11pm!  Who says cheaters never win?

After solving my bread problem and feeding my starter, I still had just over a cup of unfed starter left.  Instead of tossing this away, I decided that breakfast today was going to be sourdough waffles.  Following this King Arthur Flour recipe, my family's consensus was that these were the best waffles we had ever tasted.  Even better than Grandpa Al's - which is certainly an accomplishment.

My sourdough sponge.  This sat out on the counter overnight.

My sourdough batter made with fresh duck eggs in the waffle maker.

Whoa, right?

Does life get better than a crispy, golden sourdough waffle with homemade maple syrup and cinnamon coffee?  Who wants a breakfast invitation?  Full disclosure - you will be eating with a family who condones both hoarding and cheating - when it comes to sourdough.