Starter Slump

Toast

My starters were going strong in my warm cabinet until the weather cooled. I ran out of my malted bread flour/yecora rojo I used to feed and used AP/yecora for a week to no avail. I bought a big proofer and put everyone in there at 78F and then they were rising and falling too fast. Now I have my regular feeding flours and after reading up on this a bit I think I need to use a 1:1:1 feeding to restore my babies. Am I on the right track?

 

If you find that you starter(s) are peaking too quickly consider doing a higher ratio feeding to extend the time that it takes to reach peak before you either refrigerate the starter or feed it again.  Doing a higher ratio starter also has the benefit of reducing the acidity of the starter a bit more than a smaller ratio feed.  I know that my starter is quite healthy and active enough to bake with when a 1:2:2 feed of bread flour in 82°F proofer allows the starter to triple in six hours.

Benny