For myself, I have found that my starter makes its very best bread when it is fed twice a day and not refrigerated (although I do refrigerate it if I won’t be using it for a long period of time). Discarding (and by discarding I mean feeding the compost pile or throwing it into something else I’m baking) 50 grams of starter per feeding — which amounts to 50 grams each of flour and water per day — is not something I lose sleep over.

A starter that makes great bread straight out of the fridge or under a feeding schedule that does not require any discarding — that doesn’t describe mine, but what a blessing! Use it and love it.

I keep about 50 gm of 100% hydration starter in the ‘frig and bake with it about once a week. Depending on recipe, for two loaves, I feed my starter just enough flour and water to end up with the amount I need for baking + 50 grams + maybe 10 grams extra. This usually means refreshing my 50 grams at a 1:1.5:1.5 ratio or sometimes at 1:2:2 but certainly not the 1:3:3 feeding ratio you recommend.

With this feeding schedule and feeding ratio, my starter doubles reliably in about 8-10 hrs. I usually remove 50 grams of starter about half-way through the rising period (before all the food has been exhausted?). Perhaps this helps keep my starter vigorous despite my more lackadaisical and parsimonious approach.

I seldom need to discard excess starter (ok, maybe sometimes a tablespoon or so if I’ve miscalculated) and my bread rises reliably.

I don’t particularly like “sour” dough bread. Is there a way to use a starter that isn’t sour? Or is sourdough starter different?

Thanks for the post. Love your blog!