Thank you for your help and advice last month. I now have a strong, consistent stiff starter that lives in the fridge. One thing I've noticed is that the refrigerated starter is much more gooey and sticky than when kept a room temperature. (In fact, the consistency is not a million miles off my liquid starter, which I keep pretty thick.) I assume that is from more acid being produced in the cold environment. This is not a problem, as the taste I'm after is quite tangy -- it's just a bit challenging to tear into small chunks when mixing. Now that I'm used to it, I think I prefer working with the stiff (even if gooey) to the liquid, and it's certainly less trouble to maintain. The resulting bread is good in any event. There are still variations in taste and consistency each time, but this is no different from my experiences with the liquid starter and are more likely down to fluctuations in temperature and handling. As your article is about starter, though, I won't say more about my baking experiences, except to say I've had very good results with a new (and discard-free) recipe I devised. Essentially, I just feed my starter enough to make up 24oz to use as my preferment. I then reserve 6oz and bake with the other 18oz. This is the only time I feed my starter, and it does just fine. I haven't tested the limits of its shelf life, as I have to keep baking every 2 or 3 days to keep up with my family's demand. (My original plan was for only twice a week.) Anyway, thanks again for your advice. Have a great weekend.

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