Hi Kelly, the amount of remaining starter does matter in the sense that if you have a huge vat of starter and discard half, you'll still end up feeding a relatively large portion of starter a smaller feeding, which is likely to cause fermentation to happen more rapidly. Our regular maintenance routine calls for equal parts by weight of starter:water:flour (1:1:1), which if you're feedng by cups ends up being: 1/2 cup (113g) starter + 1/2 cup (113g) water + 1 scant cup (113g) flour.

While feeding a large amount of starter a small meal isn't generally helpful, it can sometimes make sense to reduce the amount of starter relative to the water/flour amount you're feeding. In warmer months, or if you live in a warm climate, you may notice that your starter ripens very rapidly, which sounds like a good thing, but can lead to depressed rising over time. This is because when your starter is stored at room temperature ideally you want to replenish (feed) it when it's at its peak of rising or just starting to fall in order to keep yeast activity vigorous. Allowing the starter to fall significantly between feedings can lead to sluggish yeast activity. If your starter is peaking after only a few hours this could mean feeding several times a day, which gets a little crazy. In order to slow down the ripening process and keep to just 2 feedings a day, you might want to try something more like 1:3:3 or 1:4:4 (starter:water:flour, by weight). And remember, you're reducing the starter portion here, so adopting this type of routine doesn't require using up more flour! For example, a 1:4:4 feeding with our starter maintenance program would look like: 1/8 cup (28g) starter + 1//2 cup (113g) water + 1 scant cup (113g) flour. 

When you return your starter to the refrigerator we recommend giving it one more feeding and then letting it sit out for a few hours, or until it starts bubbling, before placing it back in the fridge. 

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