Forkish Levain maintenance
Hello everyone! This is my first post here.
I've been lurking in the sidelines for a little while and really enjoying the info and dynamics of the Fresk Loaf forum, and now it's time to get a little involved and ask some questions.
I'm a fairly new baker. I've been using Ken Forkish's book for about a month so far, and the results have absolutely amazed me (and my wife and kids are loving me more than ever!)
So for the first couple of weeks, while feeding my levain, I was throwing away a ridiculous amount of product (as the book's instructions suggest), and then I decided to cut the quantities in half while leaving the ratios the same: 50g Levain, 50g whole, 200g white, 200g h2o. (1:5:4?) That worked great, but now I've decided to waste even less and to try and keep the starter in the fridge since I only want to bake about twice a week. His method of storing is very different than the different ways I've seen suggested here, and since his ratios also greatly differ from any I've read about in this forum, I'm a little confused as to how, and when to do this.
So I have various questions:
-Should I store the levain soon after I've fed it, of do it after I've taken the amount needed for a recipe?
-If it hasn't been stored for more than a couple of days, can I use it straight from the fridge, or do I need to get it out, feed it and wait? If so, when do I get it out? I usually feed it around 9a.m. daily...
-My levain is fed in the morning. It reaches maximum expansion at about 6pm, and in the morning when I'm ready to feed again, it has collapsed a little... is this proper chain of events?
I hope I'm not overwhelming this thread with this many questions for a first time contributor, but thanks in advance.
Happy to be here! Smells good!
Bryan