February 28, 2011 - 5:39am
Relationshipe between developing starter and new feedings: Changing?
As I build a new starter, its volume increases each day. And I add the same amount each new day. So the volume increases but the proportion of new feed to developing starter changes. So, for example, if I have 200 gr. of starter in the bowl, and I add 100 gr. water & 100 gr. flour, I now have 400 gr. of developing starter. Next day, add another 100 gr & 100 gr; now I have 600 gr. developing starter but the % of new feed to developing starter is not the same. And on it goes. So, my question is, isn't the later feeding just feeding a browing child less and less as it needs more and more volume just to keep the same proportiate feed? So should I increase the weight of fresh feed or throw out a portion of the developing starter?
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Now go back and check the directions. At about the third day or so, most of the growing starter will be discarded and then thinned and fed. :)
Not the directions I have. These directions only call for repeat feedings each day. No mention of discarding until later, when you need to refresh each week or before a bake. Not in the building of the first levain. I just figured out, after three or four failures at making a 1:1 levain, that I must have been starving the poor baby. It was trying to be a teenager and I was feeding it like an infant not ready for solids. So today I tossed half the glop out and fed it like I had a few days ago and already it looks happier. It's like a levain Lazarus.