Your starter doesn't have to be fed weekly or even bi-weekly, as long as you keep it in the fridge, it can actually go 6-8 weeks without being fed for the most sour flavor desired. You will still get a great and very strong sour flavor from a starter that was just fed but it will be much stronger if its not.
Just note that a starter that hasn't been fed in awhile is going to be slightly less active when you go to make your bread than a starter than has just been fed but they will make equally great bread that will rise wonderfully in the oven. I tend to split my starter stash up into a few different mason jars so I can let some age more than others. Also a lot of the starter discard recipes I have for you guys call for un-fed starter, so it helps to have multiple batches going.
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FOR MY VISUAL LEARNERS HERE IS A FAQ + HOW TO FEED/CARE YOUR STARTER IN-DEPTH VIDEO!
This is the HOOCH, it will be a array of different colors. Grey, black, brown or tanish.
As I mentioned above, our starter only needs to be fed every so often. The more often you feed, the more mild the sourdough flavor will be. If you let it age 6-8 weeks in the fridge before making bread, it will give more of a rustic sourdough flavor, one that taste unlike any sourdough you've ever had.
Generally I'll feed my starter every 3-6 weeks or until there's a decent amount of hooch on top of the starter. Hooch is the dark liquid that forms on-top of the starter as the starter feeds on the flour and water and ferments. Its normal and just means its time to be fed!
Mix it all back into your starter before feeding. The HOOCH will be an array of different colors usually grey, black, brown or tanish which are normal colors. Red, pink or orange SMEARS on top of the starter indicate bacteria and mean it should be thrown out completely and you should start over if you don't have other batches that are not affected.
How much to feed depends on how big your stash is, a smaller stash needs 1/2 cup- 1/2 cup ratio where as a larger stash will need 2:2 -4:4 cup ratio.
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Sourdough DISCARD Concept:
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Discard is literally just starter you want to discard out of your stash before you feed so that you don't eventually end up with a refrigerator full of starter. Some people literally throw it away but I think its sinful to waste it and literally with the hundreds of sourdough discard recipes out there, there's not a single reason to throw it away. When I'm ready to feed my starter, I will take however much starter I need to discard out of my stash, then I'll make something with it with one or two of my discard recipes and then I feed the rest of my starter and stick it back in the frig.
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Note that you don't HAVE to discard any of your starter at all. You can continue to feed it and let your stash grow infinitely, but I mean, who has the fridge space for that? Grow your stash to as big as you want and then start discarding starter with my great discard recipes!
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Lastly, have fun with all of this you guys! I will do my best to make all my recipes and instructions as care free as the baker that I am. And if I, the most care-free baker you'd ever meet can be successful with sourdough, SO CAN YOU! Also, just remember I'm your free sourdough resource so please message me on social media or email me and I'd love to help out! Best of luck and thank you again for your support of our small business and blog!
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Below I'll make sure to post all my sourdough recipes as I get them posted to my new platform.
