Maintaining starter: do quantities/feeding regime really matter?
Dear all,
I am new to baking sourdough bread and would love some advice from you.
My question: does it really matter how you feed or maintain your starter? Will I run into problems if I do it all freehand and by not following a strict regime?
The reason why I ask is that I don't want the whole baking experience to become an exact science, I want it to be a relaxing -and rewarding- thing.
Thank you for your advice,
The Whole Grain
PS:
My approx 100 gram mother starter is about 4 weeks old, I keep it in the fridge and feed it whole wheat flour approx once every 2 days but more often and bigger feeds if I plan to bake within the next 2 days. It is alive, bubbling and doubling in size after a feed. I like to keep the consistency like creamy peanutbutter so I can mix it using a fork. It smells sour, sometimes of alcohol which I assume is because it has been starving. I like to keep it small and have little waste, especially because I won't be baking bread that often (one person household and trying to keep carb intake low-ish).