Making a Sourdough Starter For the First Time? Here's a Daily Guide

• On day 9, I stirred the starter, discarded half (around 4 ounces), and fed it 1/2 cup white-wheat flour and 1/4 cup filtered water, mixing it up so there was no dry flour left.

Let's talk about sourdough starter discard: around the time the sourdough starter began smelling like something edible, I decided to start saving the discard in a sealed container I kept in the fridge. I've since been on a roll using this discard in a number of recipes, including pancakes, flatbread, and even chocolate chip cookies.