I aquired my starter from one that my grandfather kept and used for close to 60 years. He typically would use it 1-2 times a month and kept it in the fridge when not in use. The weeks that he wasn't using it he would NOT feed it. Is there a benefit to feeding it each week?
Also, as my starter is stored in the fridge it will develop a layer of "hooch" on the top. Should this be drained off, or just simply stirred in before using he starter?
Thanks!
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I keep mine in the fridge and don't feed it while it's in there. I bake about once a week and I do give it a bit of a feed before I put it back in the fridge - and I don't have a big hooch problem. If I haven't baked that week, the starter doesn't get fed but it hasn't keeled over yet.
You can just stir the hooch back into the mix - it won't hurt your breadmaking at all.
I throw out the hooch. If you make your starter a little stiffer, it's less likely to develop that hooch layer.
So it's not really about making it stiffer, just feeding more often. Flour = food, water = accessibility of the food.