I want to get a handle on my new starter. This was begun on April 1 2010 (1 month ago). My current starter is ~2 cups or so and I'm realizing I am throwing out a LOT of flour. I've seen some videos where folks pull out what look like 1 quart jars of starter (that seems like a Huge amount!).
On the opposite side of the quantity scale, I just read one page where the author described a 1:5:5 (Starter:water:flour) method she uses. That sounded reasonable, so I decided to follow her advice. Reading further, she said she discards all but 10grams of starter, then adds 50g each of water and flour. Since I just got my scale, and have never used metric weights, this sounded fine till I weighed out 10 g of starter.
10 grams looks like a very sad little puddle to start with so I didn't discard anything yet.
My two questions to you good folks, are...
1) How much starter should I keep on hand? I'm single and -most likely- will only be baking a 1-2 loaf recipe once or twice a week, if that.
2) What ratio is "best" 1:1:1, the 1:5:5 mentioned above or.....?
I don't know what is "best", but my current way of making things is to keep 50 gr of starter. I usually need 200 gr or so, so I either feed it 1:2:2 to get 250 gr of fresh starter or, if it has been sleeping in the fridge for more than a few days, discard all but 17 gr, feed it 1:1:1 to get 50 gr, and then 1:2:2 to get 250 gr.
This works well for me.
10 grams is one heaping teaspoon of rye starter at 100% hydration. It is such a good starter. After being fed, this can be allowed to sit out and after about 3 to 4 hours, can be refrigerated for later (this will keep a week easy, most often two weeks.) Then when I need starter, I take out 10g for every 100g of starter that I need and add 50g of Flour and 50g water. This sits overnight or about 8 to 12 hours depending on the room temperature. If I need 200g, I start out with 20g and slowly use up the starter sitting in the fridge. When I want more stock, I use some of the most recently refreshed and ready starter and do a 1:5:5 again or add even more flour and make it a tad bit thicker. Let it stand out 4 hours and tuck it back into the refrigerator. I have very little discard.
Maybe you should tell me how you are keeping your starter now, then we can reduce the numbers to avoid waste.
Congratulations on the scales! A move in the right direction! Metrics is quite easy when you get to using it.
Mini
I really can't add more than what has already been said by others answering this post.
I start with 100g and it slowly dwindles over two weeks. That is not a lot. Less than 1/2 a cup. It is in a salsa jar with the lid on but loose. I also like a little piece of stretch wrap and a rubber band. No flies...
Mini
You didn't mention your feeding ratios now. If you have a very liquid starter, you will need to thicken it first for a few days, then into the fridge when it is stronger.
What I've read people do is to keep a small amount of "seed" starter. When you need to bake, you scoop out a small amount, re-feed the seed and stick it back in the fridge. From there, you feed what you've scooped out to get to the total amount of starter needed for the recipe. I have converted myself to that method and I love it. I have far less discard now and I am no longer wasting so much flour.
I keep three cultures going: two sourdoughs, and one rye sour ala Greenstein. One has been split and is fed with two different flours for a total of four. I feed each once every week to ten days. I keep fifty grams of culture (seed starter) and feed 1:1:1. I leave the fed culture at room temperature only long enough to see the yeast has become active, usually about an hour. Then I refrigerate it.
When I want to bake with one of them I remove a small amount--never more than 20g,which builds to 500g--and create a formula-ready levain using a three build protocol over a period of 24 hours. I know there are less fussy, and less time consuming ways to build a formula-ready levain, but this protocol has never failed me, and results in a vigorously active levain, starting with a comatose seed starter. Unless I purposely retard bulk fermentation or final proof, for any bread I've made bulk fermantation has never been more than 2-1/2 hours, and final proof averages 90 minutes.
The protocol: Each build I add enough flour and water to triple the beginning seed culture, or intermediate starter, weight, and adjust the added flour and water weights to reduce by 1/3rd the difference between the the culture's initial 100% hydration and the formula prescribed hydration.
An example: Formula prescribes 450g levain at 67% hydration.
I usually add some insurance to make up for loss from evaporation, fermentation, and especially the globs that stick to the walls and tools; say, in this case, 30g.
480g/(3x3x3) = 17.77 grams of seed starter needed. (Round up to 18g)
Build 1: 9g flour and 9g water from seed culture
19g flour and 16g water added
yields 54g intermediate starter at 89% hydration
Build 2: 28g flour and 25g water from Build 1
63g flour and 46g water added
yields 162g intermediate starter at 78% hydration
Build 3: 91g flour and 7g water from Build 2
200g flour and 124g water added
yields 486g formula ready-levain at 67% hydration
Note: the extra 6g comes from cumulative round off error.
Make next build as each earlier build peaks. For my starter that's approximately 8 hours, at room temperature (72°F to 76°F)
I told you it was fussy ;-). The first time I tried this I built a simple spread sheet to do all the math, since then, about a year ago, I just plug in the seed starter hydration, and the weight and hydration of the prescribed formula-ready levain. The spread sheet does all the calculations for me.
David G