Starter Feeding Ratio
I refresh my starter by feeding 1:2:2 for 5 hrs at 25C, by which time it is doubled. I then feed 1:1:1 and leave it on the counter for an hour before putting it in the fridge for storage (5 days at 9C).
(I am talking here about running starter refreshes as a separate process to levain builds - I know some people combine, which I don't do.)
This has always seemed a reasonable regime, but I chanced upon a recent comment by Doc Dough [1] which has got me thinking:
If your post-refresh pH is too low, the pH of the resulting levain quickly gets down to 3.8 and the LAB stop replicating while the yeast continues to grow exponentially until the glucose is consumed or you use the levain and feed it some new starch. When feeding a starter I like to be up around 3:13:16 if the weather is warm, with a little more seed when it is cooler but always at least 1:3:3 (for white flour).
So maybe I should be feeding 1:3 or 1:4? Thinking about it, I guess most non-refrigerated starters must be fed at high ratios, otherwise you'd be feeding them four times a day.
What do you reckon?
Lance