Nice work Bob,
Speaking for myself.
The seasonal temp changes took a while for me to get dialed in to.
I like to feed the starter for bake normally right after I’m done with the dinner dishes.
I like to shoot for a 12-14 hour fermentation for an easy morning cook prep then bake the next day after a night of cold proofing in the fridge.
In the warm months I leave out the starter over night on the countertop with a 1-7-7 or a 1-8-8 feed ratio otherwise it peaks too early.
When the weather cools depending how cool it gets that night I either go 1-2-2 to 1/3/3 or use a proof box.
I think the higher the food ratio to starter the stronger the starter gets and overall easiness of it goes for me.
My normal routine is kind of odd, but it works well for me.
I store ~2 TBSP of my starter in a loosely covered12-ounce jar, in the fridge. It often sits, without feeding, for 4 to 6 weeks between uses. When ready to use, I sit it out on the counter in the morning, allow it to come to room temperature, stir in 1/4 cup AP flour and 2 TBSP filtered water, then let it work until the next morning. Next, it's mixed into 2 cups of AP flour and 1 cup filtered room temperature water and allowed to work until it's nearly doubled in size. I save and refrigerate ~ 2 TBSP and the remaining 2+ cups go into the dough. So, after the wake up call, the second feeding works out to about 1/5.5/5.5.
Initially, after feeding weekly for several months, my starter hadn't developed a noticeable sourdough tang. I decided to abuse it by not feeding or using it nearly as often and, over a few more months, it developed nicely. I also think decreasing the hydration helped.
Several weeks ago, I had built up the starter for a loaf. Life got in the way, so it went back into the fridge. A few days back, I split it and fed 1:1, and allowed to work overnight before using it in this loaf. Turned out sweet, even after cold fermenting for almost 2 days. Guess I'll pull a couple of TBSPs of the discard and go back to the normal routine.
Don't know why it works so well but suspect it may have something to do with the high desert climate and micro-organisms floating around
As long as it works, I'll stick to it.
