Preferred (stiff) Starter Hydration
I understand that a stiffer starter can produce a more sour loaf of sourdough, which is what I'm currently after.
With that said, I'm looking to develop and keep a stiff starter to achieve a good sour loaf. The bread recipe I intend on using is the KA Extra-Tangy Sourdough found here, https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/extra-tangy-sourdough-bread-recipe [1]
My first question is, when you go about to develop a stiff starter, what hydration percentage do you feed your starter to which results in the most optimum stiff starter? I know a 100% maintained hydration starter is pretty common and easy for figuring the amounts of flour and water (equal parts by weight), I find that at this percentage it matures more quickly than I'd sometimes like and doesn't seem to have the degree of sour I'm looking for in the final result.
My second question has to do with the recipe itself. This recipe calls for 1 cup (227g) ripe (fed) starter. Am I to assume that this is 227g of ones fed stiff starter at whatever hydration percentage it was kept at? Or do I assume that one has to bring the stiff starter up to a 100% hydration first before using?
I've often wondered in the case of where a recipe doesn't call for a specific hydration starter, like this recipe, is it meant to be understood that all ingredient starters are to be 100% hydration? I know many of you folks keep differing hydration percentage starters, and I don't recall seeing this question answered.
I haven't overlooked the fact that this recipe calls for an overnight ferment in the fridge which will play on the sourness, but for now i'm just addressing the stiff starter hydration question. Many thanks for the starter clarification.