So I have one quick question. I'm about half way through day 3 and my starter is already growing unbelievably. And I'm worried about its size. Here's my question: On day 1, I put in 1 cup whole wheat flour and 0.5 cups water. Great. On day 2, I tossed half of it. This means that the remaining half consists of about 0.5 cup flour and 0.25 cups water (before adding to it). Then, per the directions, I add 1 cup flour and 0.5 cups water. So this new mix contains ~ 1.5 cups flour and 0.75 cups water. So, even if you ignore growth, the size of the starter is getting bigger. Is this correct? Or are we aiming to keep the size of the starter the same? In other words, do we add just enough flour to the starter, such that the sum is one cup? This isn't entirely clear to me. Your help will be much appreciated.
The key with sourdough is to keep the ratio the same with every feeding: 1:1:1 by weight of starter, flour, and water. I highly recommend measuring by weight if you have a scale (Also, baking by weight can be much more precise than by volume). So, for your starter, if you want to keep 12 oz on hand (8 oz to use in a recipe and 4 oz to feed without making extra), measure out 4 oz of starter ( a heaping half cup) then add 4 oz water (a half cup) and 4 oz of flour (a scant 1 cup). If you can figure out how much you'll be baking with consistently (many of our recipes call for 8 oz of starter, so we ensure that there is 12oz of fed starter once it gets going, then keep 4 oz to feed after taking out the 8 oz to bake with), then you can re-calculate how much starter you'll need once you feed it a few times if you keep the starter in the fridge (and feed it once a week!), being sure to follow the 1:1:1 ratio. For further help, I recommend calling our Baker's Hotline: (802) 649-3717 Best, Kim@KAF
January 7, 2013 at 9:34am