Saved by the Fridge? After several weeks of dutifully feeding twice a day, my starter still seemed sluggish – just barely doubling in 12 hours, and no sign of froth. Nonetheless, I have baked successfully with it and the results were, at most, only slightly less well-risen than I might have expected, and the bread was delicious. (Your "Extra-Tangy Sourdough Bread" was picture perfect and tasted of San Francisco without and sour salts.) At first I put the sluggishness down to the cold temperature at home – it has been a struggle to keep the starter warm enough – but I’m puzzled by some surprising incidents with the fridge. In an effort to keep the starter cozy, I have been keeping it in the oven, but twice (!) my wife forgot to look before turning it on. Each time, I was lucky to have the discard from the previous feeding in the fridge, waiting to be used for pancakes. I tossed the toasted starter and resumed feeding the discard successfully. Then, last week, I went to get some discard to make pancakes and found a lovely froth on a container of old discard. Without thinking, I used the most recent layer on top for my pancakes (which were the best ever), but then I realized I should have saved it for starter. Curious to see what would happen, I took half a cup from what was left at the bottom (probably a week old, unfed) and started feeding “Starter B” and soon put “Starter A” in the fridge after I tired of feeding both. Starter B wasn’t well covered for the first two feeds and a dry crust formed, and it smelled awful – not unlike dirty socks. I almost chucked it and reverted to Starter A, but I kept feeding Starter B a couple more days. It now smells lovely and is definitely more active than Starter A ever was. I haven’t seen the same froth again, but it easily doubles in a few hours. I have no idea why a week in the fridge without feeding would perk up a sluggish starter, but that’s what seems to have happened. Any theories? Meanwhile, I’m baking my first test loaf with Starter B to compare the results. If it is as good as or better than my previous efforts, should I just chuck Starter A?

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