I have a small amount of unbaked bread dough from last week. How do I use it for a starter or big??

Sometimes I just add the old dough to my next batch of bread for some depth and character. I don't really alter the ingredients as long as I'm using the same recipe. I do that with my croissant trimmings. I just add the old dough to the next batch straight.

If it's unbaked bread dough, then it is already salted, correct? That means it should be treated as a pate fermentee rather than a starter or biga that wouldn't normally contain salt. But a golf ball is a relatively small size--and is probably under 100g. Since it's a small amount, you should elaborate it into a larger preferment before making a dough with it. There are countless directions you can take it. Or just make another batch of your previous dough and add your leftover piece to the bowl.

You can try this as a basic lean French-style bread dough: First, elaborate your pate fermentee. Add your leftover dough to 300g of flour, 200g of water, 6g of salt and a pinch of dry yeast. Stir together until just uniform, cover, and let it sit at room temperature 16-18 hours. Then mix together all of your pate fermentee that you made along with 890g flour, 610g of warm water, 23 g salt, and 1 1/2tsp instant dry yeast. Mix or knead until uniform, cover and let rest for 2 hours, degassing and folding the dough at the 1 hour mark. After the 2 hour bulk fermentation, divide into two large loaves or 3 medium loaves, shape as desired (round boules are the easiest), cover with a towel and let rise for final fermentation 1 1/2 hours. Slash the tops with a knife and bake as desired in a 470°F oven (preferably peeled directly onto baking stones and with an initial steam burst) for about 40 minutes. Good luck and happy baking!

Make seasoned bread sticks....either sweet (cinnamon, sugar) or savory Italian herbs or cheesy. BB🎄