Now that your starter is active and fully established (consistently doubling in size 4-6 hrs after a feed and is nice bubbly) you need to maintain it to keep it healthy and ready to use for when you want to bake bread!*
Remember this as a principal:
Feeding your starter equal or more to it’s own weight of flour and water is key to keeping it strong and healthy.
Your starter needs to be maintained and fed every day to stay healthy and active. However, I recommend keeping it in the fridge between bakes. This means you only need to bring it out to feed when you want to use it - so easy!
If you do, though, choose to keep it out of the fridge, then it is very important to feed it daily.
Feeding for use:
On the day you want to bake, weigh the jar and minus the jar weight so you can roughly tell what’s in there. There is no need to wait for it to come to room temperature if it's been in the fridge, whatever you have in there you can feed equal weights of water and flour (ratio 1:1:1).
For example, if you have 50g in the jar just feed it 50g flour and 50g water, mix, put a marker on the outside of the jar (like tape or a rubber band) and let it ferment and rise over 5-6 hrs before you use. This amount should give you enough for one loaf (about 150g or so) and enough left over to build on next time.
Let say you have a lot of starter in your jar and you only need a little for your recipe. This is when discarding is important, as you don’t want it to overflow or end up with so much than you know what to do with.
On the day you want to bake, weigh the jar and minus the jar weight so you can roughly tell what’s in there. There is no need to wait for it to come to room temperature if it's been in the fridge, whatever you have in there you can feed equal weights of water and flour (ratio 1:1:1).
For example, if you have 50g in the jar just feed it 50g flour and 50g water, mix, put a marker on the outside of the jar (like tape or a rubber band) and let it ferment and rise over 5-6 hrs before you use. This amount should give you enough for one loaf (about 150g or so) and enough left over to build on next time.
Let say you have a lot of starter in your jar and you only need a little for your recipe. This is when discarding is important, as you don’t want it to overflow or end up with so much than you know what to do with.
Now, if you only have a small amount in your jar and you need more, then just double the feed. Eg. 50g starter/100g flour /100g water (ratio 1:2:2). This will take a little longer to reach peak ( 6-8hrs).
A double, triple or more, ratio feed can work to your advantage if you work during the day or you want your starter to be ready to use first thing in the morning. The more in ratio you feed it the longer it takes to reach its peak. So a 1:3:3 or a 1:4:4 or even 1:5:5 (starter:flour:water) is great for when you need it to slow down like overnight so you don’t miss it’s optimal using time.
~ Tip: A good way to see if it's ready is to do a float test. Get a glass of water and take a tablespoon of your starter (being careful not to mix it too much), and drop the starter into the water. If it floats, it's definitely ready! If it sinks then it may not be ready. Albeit, this tester is not always accurate, as it could still be ready to use even if it doesn't float, but can be a nice confirmation if it does. ~
The time it reaches its peak also depends on the type of flour and the temperature as well, if it’s cold then it will be slower and if it’s warm then it’ll be quicker. If you use rye or wholemeal it will ferment quicker and other flours will work slower.
When you've taken out what you need for your recipe, always make sure you leave a little bit of starter left in the jar for you to build on for next time (so don’t use it all up!). Just pop the jar of what’s left back into the fridge again with the lid on tight, no feeding necessary (unless you really want to feed it after).
You can, however, build on as little as 1g of starter (even just the scrapings around the jar). It’s very powerful stuff! It’ll just take a little extra time (about a day) to bounce back up again.
When not using:
If you are not planning on using your starter anytime soon, put it in your fridge and bring it out once a week to feed.
Your starter actually goes into a dormant state in cold conditions and can be made active again by just feeding and leaving it at room temperature.
To feed on a weekly basis you will need to discard some (if you have too much) and then feed it the same equal weights of water and flour (ratio of 1:1:1) then leave out at room temperature (lid on loose) until it's doubled then put back in the fridge (lid on tight) to go back to sleep again.
__
This is the best way that I can explain how to maintain a healthy starter. In time, you will get to know how your starter works and what it needs, even coming up with your own method!
Thank you for taking the time to read.
A double, triple or more, ratio feed can work to your advantage if you work during the day or you want your starter to be ready to use first thing in the morning. The more in ratio you feed it the longer it takes to reach its peak. So a 1:3:3 or a 1:4:4 or even 1:5:5 (starter:flour:water) is great for when you need it to slow down like overnight so you don’t miss it’s optimal using time.
~ Tip: Giving your starter a couple of really good double or triple feeds every once in a while is a good way to build its strength if you notice that it has become a little sluggish ~
Another way to manage your starter is to maintain a base starter (mother starter) and take out a portion of what you need and build a ‘levain' (French for leaven) for your recipe, which is an off-shoot of your starter. All in all, they’re all the same thing just with fancy names.
It's best if you use your starter at its peak and optimal using time, which is when it has (a) At least doubled in size after a feed and (b) Nice and bubbly on top.
Another way to manage your starter is to maintain a base starter (mother starter) and take out a portion of what you need and build a ‘levain' (French for leaven) for your recipe, which is an off-shoot of your starter. All in all, they’re all the same thing just with fancy names.
It's best if you use your starter at its peak and optimal using time, which is when it has (a) At least doubled in size after a feed and (b) Nice and bubbly on top.
(The timing of this depends on the ratio you fed it)
When you see these signs, it is an ideal time to use as this is when it's most active. You will also see that a little after its peak it will start to decrease. The peak usually lasts a couple of hours, if it's still bubbly on top and hasn't sunken too much then it is still good to use. Once it's decrease quite a lot (more than a couple of centimetres) and has become runny this means it has passed its 'use by' time and should be fed again before you use it.
~ Tip: A good way to see if it's ready is to do a float test. Get a glass of water and take a tablespoon of your starter (being careful not to mix it too much), and drop the starter into the water. If it floats, it's definitely ready! If it sinks then it may not be ready. Albeit, this tester is not always accurate, as it could still be ready to use even if it doesn't float, but can be a nice confirmation if it does. ~
The time it reaches its peak also depends on the type of flour and the temperature as well, if it’s cold then it will be slower and if it’s warm then it’ll be quicker. If you use rye or wholemeal it will ferment quicker and other flours will work slower.
When you've taken out what you need for your recipe, always make sure you leave a little bit of starter left in the jar for you to build on for next time (so don’t use it all up!). Just pop the jar of what’s left back into the fridge again with the lid on tight, no feeding necessary (unless you really want to feed it after).
You can, however, build on as little as 1g of starter (even just the scrapings around the jar). It’s very powerful stuff! It’ll just take a little extra time (about a day) to bounce back up again.
When not using:
If you are not planning on using your starter anytime soon, put it in your fridge and bring it out once a week to feed.
Your starter actually goes into a dormant state in cold conditions and can be made active again by just feeding and leaving it at room temperature.
To feed on a weekly basis you will need to discard some (if you have too much) and then feed it the same equal weights of water and flour (ratio of 1:1:1) then leave out at room temperature (lid on loose) until it's doubled then put back in the fridge (lid on tight) to go back to sleep again.
__
This is the best way that I can explain how to maintain a healthy starter. In time, you will get to know how your starter works and what it needs, even coming up with your own method!
Thank you for taking the time to read.
*Please see my method here on how to create your own starter from scratch.
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