Hi Karla, ideally you'll want to keep your starter in the  68-80 degree range, but there are certainly some strategies you can adopt to cope with your warmer temperatures. During the creation process you'll probably want to minimize refrigeration, but once your starter is established you can definitely take advantage of the refrigerator when you're not planning to bake. 

First, I would recommend starting off your process with Debra Wink's Pineapple Juice Solution method. She is a microbiologist and sourdough baker who developed this starter creation process to discourage certain types of bacteria that tend to delay the wild yeast from joining the party. I like her method because it uses up very little flour in the early days when the starter isn't doing much, and it may even get you off to a quicker start. 

Given your environmental temperatures you might want to create a "cool box" to keep your starter in. It doesn't have to be as cool as a refrigerator, so think picnic cooler. Check the temperature periodically and try not to let it get much higher than 80 degrees, though your starter certainly won't die if it gets in the 90's. With warmer temperatures things are likely to happen faster, so it will be important to be attentive and not let your starter sit neglected for long periods. Even in the first few days when you're meant to feed only once every 24 hours, it may be helpful to give your starter a stir half way through, to discourage mold from developing. Using cool water or juice will also be helpful in keeping the temperature of the starter in a good range, and I wouldn't recommend keeping the starter in direct sunlight, which can intensify the heat in a glass jar. 

As soon as your starter begins to rise predictably (twice) with Wink's method then it's important to begin twice a day feedings and gradually (over the course of several feedings) transition to feeding with unbleached all-purpose flour. A white flour starter will be a bit easier to care for in warmer conditions, as whole grain flours tend to ferment more quickly. At this point you will also want to adjust the ratio of ingredients in your starter to accommodate your warmer conditions. 

Our regular sourdough starter recipe calls for equal parts by weight of starter, water and flour (1:1:1) and twice a day feedings when the starter is maintained at room temperature. However, I suspect this won't work well for you because the starter is likely to ripen too quickly. Ideally you want to replenish (feed) your starter when it's at its highest point of rising, or just beginning to fall, which keeps yeast activity vigorous. Allowing the starter to fall significantly between feedings is likely to lead to sluggish yeast behavior. Rather than adding several feedings to your day, it can be helpful to offer your starter a relatively larger meal, which it will take longer to consume and ferment. The goal here is to line up your twice a day feedings closer to that peak of rising. For example, you could try feeding with a 1:4:4, or even 1:6:6 ratio (starter:water:flour, by weight). If you went with the quantities in our starter recipe, a 1:4:4 feeding would look like: 28g starter + 113g water + 113g flour. 

Once your starter is rising (doubling) predictably with the twice a day feedings and the all-purpose flour then you can consider your starter mature and ready to bake bread. It usually takes at least 10 days for the starter to fully mature, and it may take a bit longer than that for the starter to become fully established and stable. This is the point when you can begin refrigerating your starter when you're not planning to bake with it. Just give it another feeding, let it sit out for an hour or two until it starts bubbling, and then refrigerate for about a week. We recommend feeding at least once a week, but an established starter can last much longer than that in the refrigerator. 

When you want to start baking again, it will be helpful to give your starter a day or two of twice a day feedings at room temperature (or in your cooler box) to restore it's normal activity level. Again, take care to replenish your starter when it's at the peak whenever possible. If you find you're not able to feed your starter when it peaks, you can resort to sticking it in the refrigerator until you're able to feed it, which will be preferable to leaving it neglected for an extended time at warm temperatures. 

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

Barb

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