Beginner questions on how to maintain and use starter
I got it my rye starter going (fed 1x/day using rye flour and pineapple juice until doubled in size between feedings, very bubbly, and floated in warm water), but now I'm not sure what to do. I put it in the fridge and plan to feed 2x/week with water:flour 1:1 (I will be baking on weekends only). Is that right? When I feed it, do I have to let it sit at room temp for a while or just put straight back into fridge? Or is it better to keep starters out of the fridge completely?I also switched from rye flour to whole wheat when feeding my starter. Is that a good idea? Or should I stick with rye?
When I am ready to use it, what then? Do I let is sit at room temp for some period of time before use or just scoop out cold and use? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Take it out of the fridge and carry on your feedings with water this time. The pineapple juice is just to nudge it in the right direction. You want some water feedings now. Once you have converted your starter to flour and water, it's strong enough to double within a few hours and float in water then it'll be ready for the first bake. Should all go well then it's time to refrigerate. There are many ways to maintain and feed a starter. I keep a little in the fridge and take some off to build pre-ferments with each time. When my starter runs low i'll take it out and top it up.
to maintain a starter because people bake differently, with different life schedules, priorities, preferences, etc. So the goal should be to find a method that fits not just with how often you plan to bake but also how. And there can be trade-offs for you to assess subjectively. For instance, you can choose to maintain a small amount of starter with fairly infrequent feedings but this can mean you need to build a levain in advance of each bake.
Here's what I do, and I'll try answer your specific questions.
When I take it out to feed (1:1 water: flour, with flour a 50/50 mix of AP and whole wheat) I stir to reincorporate any hooch and get everything well-combined. I pour off a lot of what's in there, leaving no more than an inch at the bottom of my container. Then I do my feed and it usually take 8-12 hours at room temp (and my kitchen is cold most of the year, no more than 68F... go Canada!), at which time it is bubbly/frothy and passes the float test. I then use what I need for baking, return to the fridge, and repeat within no more than 10 days. This has kept my starter healthy for years.
I can't answer your question about keeping it rye, but I think a wheat-based starter is far more utilitarian. I also have read and think that unless baking daily, use the fridge in between feeds. It's just too much work for home bakers to leave their starter out at all times.
To answer your last question, I've also let it sit out a bit at room temp before using. That seems to shave a few hours off the ready time, but otherwise makes no difference. You can also vary your water temp to control these processes, same as you can your mixed dough. As Robertson says in Tartine, it's all about controlling fermentation. So long as you don't kill your starter, there's a lot of room to experiment, and it's easy to get back to baseline. The sheer number of variables does make it hard to test in a truly scientific way though short of baking insane amounts of bread.
Another quick idea - keep a 'bread journal' where you can record notes. What works? What doesn't? Alter various variables, etc.