Hi Maria, the starter we send out is a fully mature starter that typically only needs a few feedings at room temperature to revive it from its travels before it's ready to add to your sourdough bread recipes. However, a starter that is created from scratch can often take up to two weeks to fully mature and be ready for baking bread. A starter that is ready for action should double in volume within about 6-8 hours after being fed, and have a pleasant aroma. 

"Ripe" starter means starter that has been fed at room temperature and allowed to rise to its highest point. It's considered ripe when it's at that high point, or just starting to fall. Often sourdough bread recipes will call for "ripe" starter, so you'll want to time your addition of the starter accordingly. If you're measuring by weight there's no need to stir down the ripe starter before adding it to your recipe, but if you're measuring by cups then you'll want to stir it down before measuring. 

It sounds like your starter is very active and healthy, so there's no need to keep feeding it twice a day at room temperature forever. If you'd like to refrigerate your starter, simply give it one more feeding, let it sit out for a few hours, and then store it in the refrigerator for up to a week. Your starter can actually survive in the refrigerator for much longer than that, but it won't be thriving in there. 

Often it can be helpful to give your starter a few feedings at room temperture after refrigeration to revive it from its stay in the refrigerator. Once it's doubling in size within 6-8 hours, and is smelling good, then you're ready to bake bread! Check out our Feeding and Maintaining your Sourdough Starter recipe for more helpful maintaining tips. 

And don't forget, we have lots of sourdough discard recipes, and those recipes can be baked when the starter is cold from the refrigerator. I generally keep a separate container marked "discard" and add to it over the course of 2-3 weeks. After that I usually dump it out and start fresh. It doesn't really go bad in the refrigerator, but it can get a bit funky flavored over time, and can also develop a dark liquid on top. 

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