I started my sourdough journey about a month ago. My loaves are turning out well and I am super encouraged by the results. The first few weeks I was washing my starter jar and any other used dishes like normal including throwing them in the dishwasher. I recently saw several posts about how doing this can ruin your pipes. Well, now I am on the other extreme and don’t know what to do with all my dried and caked on dishes. So… HELP! The sourdough dishes are overtaking my counter and I am literal scared to wash them in the sink. Also, the dried bits are so hard. They do not just flake off like people make it seem.
by RuinGuilty8617
37 Comments
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I prefer to never let it dry. But since you already have, you’ll want to scrape as much of that dry stuff off into your garbage (or compost!) as possible. It’s going to be physical labor, but it’s important to do.
When I’m working with dough, I have a tall bowl that I fill with warm water (not hot!) for dipping my hands. Every tool that I use goes into this bowl. When I’m done, I use my hands to rub the dough off my tools in this bowl, then I use the rubber/silicone spatula to gently stir all the sediment from the bottom of the bowl into the water. Pour off a little, add more water, keep diluting it down. As long as you dilute it with enough water, it goes down the drain with no problems. You just want no chunks, and you want to dilute it as much as you can. Use cold or warm water; hot water can cook the dough and solidify it.
It’s good to have a mesh strainer in your sink just in case to catch any chunks. If you let too much get into the sink, cleaning out your P trap becomes a huge pain.
EDIT: I’ve also heard that a little bit of vinegar down the drain after you’re done can help prevent buildup. Also I think everyone should clean out their P trap monthly anyway, but I’m a nut like that.
Be careful. I have literally cut myself on dried starter.
This is the worst part of sourdough baking. I spend more time cleaning and scrubbing starter off all the tools than actually making the bread!
Sourdough is just flour and water. It isn’t going to do anything to your pipes as long as you don’t pour it down the drain neat.
Leave them soaking to loosen up dried stuff then wash as normal, hand or machine. I’ve never had any issues and been making sourdough years in multiple different apartments and houses.
You also don’t need to be washing your starter jar regularly. Or generating multiple bowls to wash.
How many bakes is this?
I wipe everything down immediately with a moist paper towel until free of dough. Then wash normally.
I’m in an old house and don’t want to risk anything going down the drain.
Honestly, I just immediately soak my tools and bowls and swish it around reaaaal good until the flour/dough is as dissolved into the water as possible. Then I open the drain and let it go like anything else. Been doing it for several years without issue. Just don’t dump dough/starter down your drain straight and you’ll be fine.
This title had me confused which subreddit I was in
Wipe off with a moist towel or paper towel as you go and clean normally. This has been my go to for years, no issues
I pour discard into an old ziplock (I rewash bags) kept in the fridge so when I’m done baking, I toss the whole thing in the rubbish.
The actually bowls and whatnot get a good hot soak as soon as I’m done using them and then it gets tossed, almost clean, into the dishwasher.
Soak, scrape down, and slowly pour off the water. Most likely f the sediment willl be separated on the bottom of container and you can discard.
I soak and dilute everything b before pouring it out and have the little net bags over the drain. Haven’t had any problems.
The rule here is the same rule as when you use a garbage disposal, run the water while running the disposal / pouring out discard, and then keep running the water for about 30 seconds afterward. The biggest reason you see problems in your pipes are due to not running some rinse water afterward.
The advice is simple:
1. Clean them when the dough is still wet. It takes about 3 minutes to clean a bowl that has wet dough in it, but upwards of 10 if it has dried. And it takes more elbow grease.
2. If you clean it when the dough is still wet, it will dilute into water more easily. Pouring slightly flour-y water down your sink isn’t going to cause any problems. What you don’t want to be doing is to be pouring lots of dough down your sink where it could stick to the pipes and dry out.
Some good drain cleaner and running hot water down it for 10 minutes doesn’t work for maintenance
What I find works for really gunked up bowls is fill with soap and water, break all the gunk off sides, let it sit for ~ 10 min, pour off top 95% of water and then just toss that last little bit that has all the sediment into the trash.
For less soiled I’ll wipe out as much as I can first then clean.
Don’t stress, just avoid rinsing big clumps down the drain and you’re fine.
I bought one of those small collapsible “sinks” that has a removable drain, and when I’m making my sourdough, I fill it with water and let my sourdough dishes soak in it. I can get all the starter off with paper towels, then I throw the towels away and dump the dirty water outside (I read somewhere it’s great for plants, as long as you don’t add any soap to the water!).
I use these drain strainer when I’m rinsing sourdough. I keep the water cold so it stays together in chunks and catches in the strainer and then I just clean it out
https://a.co/d/hzmbDVI
When the edge of my jar gets caked in dried starter I soak it upside down in a shallow bowl of vinegar and then wipe it clean.
Wipe down first with a paper towel, rinse the rest REALLY GOOD with cold water.
I just wipe everything with a damp paper towel to get of excess gunk before I wash in the sink. If for some reason I’m getting rid of excess discard, I try to find something to pour it into before setting in the garbage – I’ve even used mailing envelopes from Amazon packages.
As a plumber, I just scoop the bigger parts into the garbage and wash as normal.
What do you think would happen to your dough if you started mixing it with dishwasher soap and extremely hot water?
Maybe it’s just my house, but it never screwed up my septic pumps at my old house either.
The way I make bread I pretty much never have any utensils or bowls that get gummy like this. When I’m done mixing I let the bowl dry and feed the crusties to my starter. I use a flimsy plastic bowl and the crusties just peel right off 😂
I wipe things like spoons and spatulas off with a paper towel immediately after using them to feed my starter. Bowls I soak until they get sludgey at the bottom, dump the soaking water into the yard and use a paper towel to wipe out any sludge, then wash like normal. My whisk is a pain, I usually soak that in a bowl (that I dump in the yard) and then run it through the dishwasher. Starter jars are also a pain but I don’t swap it out a lot. Again, soaking in a bowl, usually twice, and then running it through the dishwasher when it is over 98% clean.
There are some great tips in here. I wanted to add that I also use these mesh sink nets to get whatever was missed or couldn’t be wiped off cleanly.
https://preview.redd.it/3rhydb7x18dg1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e1e671fb5425889538a60d1d67fb1ffb9a1dcb04
Vinegar and cold water! If you put some vinegar into the bottom of your jars and bowls, then fill with cold water, the vinegar will break down the dough and basically liquify it. It makes it way easier to clean and won’t clog your pipes
Edit: spelling
I let anything sit with water and then swish it around and tip it out on the grass then wash as normal in the dishwasher
They have mesh covers that go over your sink stoppers to help catch the dough and other food items
Why not scrape everything really well with a bowl scraper? I have a couple hard silicone bowl scrapers that I use in my KitchenAid bowls to scrape the sides down while mixing anything. When I’m done, I’ll use it to scrape whatever was left behind into the trash can, so I’m minimizing what goes into the sink.
I use disposable hair prep hair nets over a strainer to strain the bits and toss them .
https://a.co/d/f1La6Aa
I use paper towels to wipe off utensils, bowls, and my hands first. Is it ecologically sound? No. But it is peace of mind.
Do folks with garbage disposals still worry about this? I shove egg shells, tree branches and my murder victims down there with no problem.
Well, egg shells and bread dough, anyway.
Soak any dried on dishes. Wash others with plenty of water to dilute. It’ll be fine.
Scrape them onto a sheet of parchment, let it finish drying in a sunny window or dehydrator. Stash the dried starter for if you ever get contamination or if you want to share.
Add dry flour to the liquid or paste in the jars and scrub out over the trash can. Then wash.