Other than keeping your starter from taking over your fridge or kitchen counter or wherever you store it, why discard some of it before feeding it? Is it a matter of balance between the amount of starter and the amount of "food" it gets? Can a person take the starter they have been storing (I keep mine in the fridge), feed it and let it stand overnight, and then use most of the resulting sponge in a recipe as "fed" starter, then feed the remainder and put it back in the fridge after it stands for a few hours? It's a little backwards from what you recommend, but it seems as if it would reduce the amount of starter that's "wasted" by discarding it. I admit to trying it this way, after doing it the way you describe, and thought my results were still about the same either way. Also, can starter be frozen if a person anticipates not being able to use it for an extended period of time? I had some homemade starter many years ago, but got too busy with kids and ended up discarding it. I bought some of your starter a couple of months ago, and have been trying to use it at least once/week. I love the flavor (it's better than my former starter) and have been enjoying trying your (and other) recipes. Love your site, your catalog and your blogs. Thanks for all you do for all of us home bakers. Yes, you discard some of the starter to maintain the pH balance of the whole; and to give the remaining yeast more of a chance at the food and water you've just added. And, as you say, there's no need to discard the starter, if you can find something else to do with it: give to a friend or substitute it for flour/water in another recipe. Also, yes, you can do just as you recommend: feed, use most of it, feed the rest and refrigerate. In fact, that's how I usually do it myself; the method in this post is simply another technique. All good. Freeze? Sure. Works well, so long as your freezer doesn't drop below 0°F, which is yeast's dying point. Best not to keep it frozen too long, though; the longer it's frozen, the less vigorous it'll be when it wakes up. Probably best not to freeze longer than a month. Thanks for connecting here - always a pleasure, "talking" to our fellow bakers. PJH

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