Hi Cee, reducing the size of your starter shouldn't result in less activity, but there are a few factors that may be contributing to the behavior you're seeing. First, a smaller starter is a little more temperature sensitive, in the sense that it has less bulk to it, so it will respond more quickly to environmental temperatures. This means if it's very warm in your house it will tend to ferment more quickly, and if it's cold it will slow down considerably. Try to keep your starter in a spot that is the 70-80°F range, and pay attention to it's rising behavior. Keep in mind that to keep yeast activity strong, it's important to feed your starter when its at its highest point of rising, or just beginning to fall. Allowing the starter to fall considerably between feedings tends to lead to sluggish yeast behavior.

If it's very warm where you live and your starter seems to be peaking after only a few hours, then it may be helpful for you adjust the ratio of ingredients (by weight) in your starter to help slow down fermentation. Offering your starter a relatively larger meal (less starter, as compared to water and flour fed) will serve to slow down fermentation. For example, you might want to try a 1:2:2 or even 1:3:3 (starter:water:flour, by weight). With a smaller starter that might look something like: 12g starter + 24g water + 24g flour (1:2:2), or 10g starter + 30g water + 30g flour (1:3:3). The goal is to find a twice a day feeding routine that allows you to replenish the starter when it's closer to that peak. 

On the other hand, if your house is always cooler than 70 degrees, it may be helpful to find a slightly warmer spot for your starter to dwell. 

Container size can also impact the type of rise you're seeing. When you convert to a smaller starter you need to be sure that your container is an appropriate size for the reduced amount. It's not healthy for the starter to be spread out too thinly in a large container, and it's also more difficult to see the starter doubling in size in this type of container. For our smaller starter recipe, an 8-ounce jelly canning jar works well. 

When it comes time to refrigerate your smaller starter be sure to give it at least 4 hours after feeding and before refrigeration, so that adequate fermentation can take place. The smaller starter will cool down more quickly in the refrigerator, so you don't want to shut it down before it's had a good chance to begin fermenting. 

I hope this helps! Let us know how it goes. 

Barb

Barb

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