Hi! I'm curious... The sourdough recipe I use begins with a "levain" - a small amount of starter fed with a higher ratio of flour and water than for a normal feeding of the starter itself. I get fantastic texture but not much rise. I am wondering if the levain should be made with ripe, active starter? The process I follow is that I take it from the fridge and feed it, and use some of the discard to make the levain. Should I feed, wait for it to fully activate, then extract some of the ripe starter and feed it again for the levain?

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