Help with Starter
I have just started to try and make sourdough bread (YAY!!!) and i am trying to learn as much as i can about starters. I have a starter that i am currently maintaining but i am not sure when it is ready to start baking with. I am going to attach some photos and some details about the starter and if someone can help me figure out, maybe based on visual clues or volume cues how to know when its ready i would appreciate it.
Another thing i was hoping someone could help me with is feeding schedules and how to go from a starter to baked loaf. I have seen alot of stuff on the forum about feeding schedules but i dont have a good grasp on the topic. Why choose one schedule over the other? can i go straight from starter to baking with it, why do i find that people do 2 or 3 builds before they use the levain why not just use some starter feed it what it needs to get to how much you need and then use it?
SO MUCH TO LEARN!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
EDIT: Things i have to learn apparently include making sure to post the pictures and details i said i was going to. The starter was started with the pineapple juice method about 1.5 weeks ago and i have been feeding 100g of starter with 100g of water and 100g of flour every 12 hours or so. i have missed some feedings (still getting used to this). How am i supposed to know when it can be used for baking.The rubber band is where the starter was when i feed it last night at 12am and this picture was taken at 8am