Hi Betsy, "ripe" starter means starter that you have recently fed at room temperature and allowed to rise to its highest point, or is just beginning to fall. This is not an exact moment in time, but usually a window of time of an hour or more while the starter peaks, hovers at the peak, and then slowly begins to fall.

Unfortunately, even if you stick your starter in the refrigerator when it's ripe, it won't stay that way and will likely have fallen significantly by the time you want to use it the next day. In addition, the cooler temperatures will have slowed down starter activity, so it won't perform as well straight out of the refrigertor. Since you can't really keep your starter ripe for an extended amount of time, your best bet would be to feed it again so that it will be ripe and ready when you need it tomorrow. Try not to think of the additional feedings as wasted, since your starter will likely perform more vigorously if it has a few feedings at room temperature under its belt prior to adding it to your bread recipe. The yeast, in particular, will be more active if you line up your additional feedings so they coincide with when the starter is ripe. Allowing the starter to fall significantly between feedings can lead to sluggish yeast behavior. 

Barb

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