October 8, 2012 - 2:16pm
Feeding Schedule for Starter?
I've not been keeping a regular feeding schedule. Every few days when I remember I throw an even amount of 50/50 (whole wheat/unbleached bread) flour and water into the starter. When the jar starts to get full I discard half. I use a tablespoon mixed with 200 grams water and 200 grams 50/50 flour the night before as the leaven.
Since it's refrigerated, do I need to be feeding it more than once a week? Is the amount I feed it important as long as it's less than half the starter?
The bread has all turned out roughly the same...in fact the other day I forgot to make enough leaven and I just added some straight starter and it worked out fine.
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Clearly you have a pattern to starter feeding. The standard rule for feeding standing out starters is generally to feed more than the amount of starter but your starter is sitting all the time in the refrigerator. Correct?
So by underfeeding the starter and leaving it constantly refrigerated, there is slow growth and plenty of food. Tricky situation. Two clear ways to go with this kind of feeding to avoid the yeast numbers dropping off too fast:
1) If you insist on throwing scraps to the lions... Most starters fed this way are kept thin (liquid starter) to help the yeast ferment faster. Starters over 150 or close to 200% hydration. Or equal volume of flour and water (not weights.) It will not rise much (better for your refrigerator) and as long as it stays perking away in there, it should work out. Should you notice rising performance slowing down, remove the starter from the fridge and give it some counter time or warm up time to perk up before discarding half and feeding. Go for room temp feeds to boost yeast numbers then go back to refrigeration. Note: will need a larger jar to keep a larger amount of starter. Recipes for liquid starters ask for one or two cups of starter and use less added liguids.
2) Stop throwing scraps to the lions... If your firmer refrigerated starter is replaced every two weeks, with a starter that was encouraged at warmer temps, it can stay the same thickness. No need to feed it while it is refrigerated. Just slowly use it up. Plan to replace it with a starter that was fed like your build for leaven. I tend to use a tablespoon from the last build (because it's gone thru a feeding cycle) brancing off to start a new refrigerator starter. Give it 1/3 rise before chilling for another two weeks storage. Wait about three days before using. After 3 days, discard the older mother starter. Clean the old jar and set aside for the next starter two weeks into the future.