How strong a starter can be?
Greetings
I wonder how strong a starter can be.
What is the average time a sourdough starter takes until the dough is doubled in size?
When we first make a new starter, can we keep the feeding process of discarding half and replacing it with equal amount of flour and water for more days, or weeks, until the starter can doubles its height in, say 2 hours period?
.. is that at all possible? .. did anyone try it?
I'm trying to make a low hydration starter (60%), using 35g AP flour + 15g wheat branĀ + 30g water + 3 crushed cloves of garlic. Garlic does a great job in protecting the starter from mold and bad bacteria. It doubled its size in 2 days, and now I keep disacrding and adding half each time it doubles. I'm still at day 4, and I wonder how more days should I keep feeding it. I prefer harder starters, as they need less feeding cycles, and also because I intend to use it for an old dough (pate fermentee) method. I hope to be able to make it reproduceĀ more and more yeast cells until it can double itself in as short time as can be.
And regarding the feeding times, do you feed your starter when it reaches twice its height, or wait more when it goes down or even collapses before feeding it?