When feeding/refreshing a starter, you often see ratios written like this: 1:2:2, 4:2:1...n:n:n.
Is there a standard or convention for how these ratios are written?
?
I have looked at a number of previous questions about this an am still confused. I just made Peter Reinhart's barm (it's bubbly but hasn't puffed up the plastic yet). Once I use it, how do I refresh it? He says to double it, but how do I calculate that? Do I discard some? At one point he says to add a cup of flour and "some water." How much water? Help!
(The following started as a blog, but I've had enough questions and comments about it that I thought I'd repost it as a forum entry so it would be easier to find. Of course, if Floyd wants to add it to Lessons, that would be OK, too.)
Like many people, I found TFL in my quest to learn how to make sourdough. I had a starter going and was sure I had killed it. The advice I found here gave me the knowledge and confidence to make a starter that I've been using for months now, with ever-better results.
