I came across this post while searching the internet for reasons why my starter might be too active and ways to fix it. To give an example, the other day I made a recipe that was 400 g of flour @ 72% hydration, 2% salt, and only 2% starter (8 grams of 100% hydration active starter). Total bulk ferment time was 6 hours, including 3 sets of stretch and folds 1 hour apart. Dough was 72°F and ambient temp was 71°. I got a nice loaf for a change. Before this, I’ve been dealing with dough that overproofed super fast and I kept missing peak times to shape. First I cut starter amount to 10 percent, then 5 percent, but still over fermented in a short time. 2% seems to be okay for now, hopefully. I’ve started calling it my mutant starter because it just seems crazy and I know this is not normal! I haven’t used regular yeast in many years, so I don’t think there’s been a contamination there. I made this starter in 1998 or 99, dehydrated in 2010, then rehydrated this past December, 2023. I keep in the fridge and feed weekly at a 1:1:1 ratio, every few weeks I do 1:5:5.
Anyway, I’m just wondering if you have any other suggestions or recommendations for me. I will try the above advice, because it’s the only advice I’ve found in my searches. Thank you.

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