As you probably know by now, your sourdough starter is ALIVE - it's an active culture of wild yeast and bacteria. And guess what? Just like you and I, your sourdough starter needs food.
A sourdough starter needs a regular "feeding" of fresh flour and water in order for the wild yeast and bacteria to continue to function.
But, how much food should you feed your sourdough starter?
MINIMUM FEEDING:
1:1:1 ratio. Which means however much starter you keep by weight, you will want to feed it equal amounts of flour and water by weight. Example: if you have 25 grams of starter, you'll feed it 25 grams of water and 25 grams of flour. This fresh flour and water is not only food for the starter that you already had, but it is also now a part of that culture you've just created. For this example, you'll have about 75 grams of starter.
OTHER FEEDING RATIOS:
Aside from the "normal" 1:1:1 feeding ratio, there are many other ratios that are commonly used. You might see some bakers using a 1:2:2 or a 1:3:3 or even a 1:4:4 or 1:5:5. Again, all this means is the amount of food you are feeding in comparison to your sourdough starter.
I typically use a 1:2:2 ratio meaning that however much starter I have, I feed it 2xs the amount of flour and water. So let’s use our example again of keeping 25 grams of starter. For the 1:2:2 feeding, you would give your starter 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water resulting in about 125 grams of total starter.
For a 1:3:3 ratio, you would feed your 25 grams of starter, 75 grams of flour, and 75 grams of water.
So why would you need or want to adjust your starter ratio? Simple, to manipulate how long it will take to rise and fall.
My favorite way to think about it is to imagine my sourdough starter as little tiny people who are very hungry (or HANGRY), if you feed them less food then they will eat through it faster, resulting in a quicker rise. If you feed them more food, it will take them longer to eat it all. So if you're ever in a situation where you need your starter to rise faster, feed it less (a 1:1:1 ratio), if you need it to ferment slower, feed it more (a 1:3:3 or even 1:4:4 ratio).
Make sense?
You can also use the ratio to your advantage through the seasons. Remember, during warm (or hot) months, your sourdough starter will rise faster, so you can decrease the amount of ripe starter added to the jar - more ripe starter equals faster ripening time. (To put it simply, just feed it more!).
HAPPY FRIDAY friends.
NEWS AND UPCOMING "STUFF"
You can find me this Saturday, March 16th 4-8pm at Stormhouse Brewing for their monthly market.
The bakery will be CLOSED until March 27th - I will be out of town with my daughter for Spring Break.
In Person Sourdough Classes
Saturday, March 30th 2-3:30pm
Sunday, April 14th 2-3:30pm
Friday, April 19th 1-2:30pm REGISTER - HERE
Online Sourdough Classes
Thursday, March 28th 2-3:30pm (EST)
REGISTER - HERE
(this will be my last online class for awhile, I am working on an online course I'm hoping to have completed soon! STAY TUNED)
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