The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Sourdough Feed Schedule 1 or 2x/day?

samin1987's picture
samin1987

Sourdough Feed Schedule 1 or 2x/day?

My starter is a week old, I want to leave it on the counter for the next month to mature it, at which point I plan to feed once a week via refrigerator.

 

For now.......Should I feed it once or twice a day.  Ive been reading a lot about this and its a pretty split topic?  One site says it will lose vitality if fed twice a day, another said that yeast wont have time to eat/grow and will dilute....but another sit states it needs twice a day feedings to mature and for vitality etc.  What should I do...feed once or twice a day?..AND when will it be mature enough to levain bread?...I a wondering if that is PART of my baking failure last night...OR can it levain within a week?...

 

I realize that once mature, weather may factor in-i.e. if its really hot, feed twice a day, if its cold feed every other day...but I dont plan on continuing to leave it on the counter so Im not worried about this yet....

Along with that, can someone point me to some discard recipes?  Im making english muffins now...

Edo Bread's picture
Edo Bread

Feed it when it is hungry. Depending on temperature and other conditions it is all variable. 

Maverick's picture
Maverick

What does it do if you leave it for 12 hours? Does it rise and start to fall? Does it rise and fall leaving a "high water mark"? Or is it still rising? Since your starter is young it really depends on how active it is. But really you don't want to wait for it to fall completely. Some of this will depend on how much you are feeding as well. Personally I would feed enough that it peaks in 12 hours and feed twice a day. It peaks when it barely starts to fall. So if it is falling early then feed more next time. If it is taking too long then feed less.

BTW, if it peaks early and you don't have time to feed it then give it a stir as this will allow it to go for longer without being fed.

For discard you can look for unfed sourdough recipes. The King Arthur site can give you some ideas and then you can search for other variations or use theirs. Here are a couple links:

http://search.kingarthurflour.com/baking/Unfed-Sourdough-Starter-Recipes

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sourdough-crackers-recipe (or look on this site for other versions)

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/classic-sourdough-waffles-or-pancakes-recipe

Really, anything that uses flour and liquid can have the flavor enhanced with some "discard".

Tommy gram's picture
Tommy gram

The word yeast means foam. When the starter is foaming-depending on the temperature, it is about to run out of fuel, meaning flour. Add to the starter to keep the foam going. How much you feed it depends on how much bread you will bake and When you want to bake it.

"Room temperature" when the ac is running is not the same as room temperature when its 85 outside and the screen door is slamming. Big diff.

My starter going on 6 years old and lemme tell ya I can play a Beethoven symphony on it if needed. 

jcope's picture
jcope

I feed twice a day.  By the time I feed in the morning or evening, the starter has peaked and collapsed.  I interpret that to mean the organisms have gotten all they can out of the last feeding, are no longer metabolising so much, and aren't producing much gas anymore.  So they are just waiting.  Either they begin dying off or they begin going dormant, both of which I would equate to a "loss of vitality".

Temperature is the key factor in timing, and can be used to predict feed times if other things don't also change.  Based on how my starter behaves and also on published activity rates per temperature for the organisms, I would expect to feed on this schedule:

  • Once per 5 days at 39F
  • Once per day at 57F
  • Twice per day at 65F
  • Three times per day at 70F
  • Four times per day at 77F

Theoretically, anyway.  But these formulas have been working well for predicting fermentation times.