feeding starter, bulk/personal, how often?
my starter was passed down to me by my aunt, and i am unsure of a couple of things. she mentioned the following almost a year ago:
if its to be kept in the fridge, feed it once a day for a few weeks until it bubbles. the feeding was 9 oz starter/8.25 oz flour/12 oz water, leave it out for an hour after feeding.
she mentioned feeding it three times a day when she was using it, but never mentioned how much it was fed or how much was kept so ive been using it as i go and repeating the same numbers.
lately i have made it into a stiffer starter by feeding it three times a day (using the excess in recipes) using 9 oz starter/8.25 oz flour/8 oz water. it doubles in size just fine which is part of what had me worried for a while, but im pretty sure a liquid starter doesnt grow as much.
ive been doing some reading and searching and my question is this: can i feed it once a day if its left out at room temp, because frankly, as much as i love bread, this baking every 8 hours or tossing perfectly good starter is driving me batty. i love it and love using it but one can only take pancakes or buscuits for breakfast for so long. i am starting to miss my cherrios, dangit!
i dont think im supposed to change the flour content which is what worries me most. i know the yeast eats it and i dont want to starve it so i am unsure. i know to adjust the water content in accorance with my starter type needs though. thought id ask people who know more.
if you change the starter content. Reduce the starter to one oz and then feed it. Feed it one oz flour and one oz water. It is always good to feed flour weight the same as the starter weight. More flour can also be added but less may starve the starter.
Feeding every 8 hours on the counter would be the same proportions. The heat of the room speeds up the fermentation so it has to be fed more often. You could also increase the flour and water then feed only twice a day for a while then reverting every now and again to the 8 hour schedule to maintain that particular group of yeasts.
When your starter is ready to use into a recipe, take the time to dry some of it for back-up. Remove a few tablespoons and spread thinly on plastic wrap or parchment and let it air dry to crispy flakes, store in a small jar in a dark cool place.
Mini
thanks so much. i plan on using a bunch of it soon so im going to try bulking it up a little. the single oz starter amount should help drastically when im done with everything. ooooh i can sleep in on weekends again! yay.