Hi Barb, I'm just starting on my sourdough journey and have a liquid starter that I've been using for about a month now. I keep it in the fridge and I bake about once a week at present and feed it once a week. I found the KAF site and your blog only a couple of weeks ago, and it's been fantastic! Some housekeeping questions:
Does the container the starter is kept in and its cloth cover need to be changed/cleaned and at what frequency, or can you keep it in the same container indefinitely?
Once it's an established culture, should it have a closed lid in the fridge or can you keep it with a cloth cover all the time?
When I started I was following another website that said feed with 1 cup water and 1 cup flour. This is more watery than your starter feed ratio of 1/2 cup water and 1 cup flour. I changed to using your ratio and the culture has thickened a bit. Since I now have an unknown level of hydration in the starter, can I aim for a particular consistency to try get back to what it should be for a wet starter?
And finally, when I slash the loaves just before baking, I can't seem to cut deep enough without flattening the dough too much or the knife grabbing and pulling the dough. Is that because they're over inflated? The end result is ok though - has a nice crumb and crust, just the loaves are a bit flatter than I'd like.

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