This morning I started my office hours sourdough boule and, with the lack of caffeine and the playing with flour, forgot to feed the starters.
Now I'll spend all day thinking whether they'll have died by the time I'm back. :/
I feed every 12h at a 1:1:1 proportion. What chances do you think I have of reviving them this afternoon?
Your starter should be fine. Starters can go days without feeding. In the time you are are at work even if the starter is at room temperature there will not be enough activity to kill it off. Many bakers feed once in 24h for a daily schedule, you could easily do the same.
Will it also be ready to continue my boule recipe?
After the 12h fridge autolysis I should mix in some fed starter and give it a few hours before the 24h fermentation. I suppose I'll extend the autolysis a few hours while the starter feeds again.
I wonder what happens if I replace the recipe's [3h countertop + 24h fridge] fermentation with [8h countertop + 12h fridge].
I only fed it once every 24 hours. My starter was fine. In fact if it slowed down (like they tend to do in the beginning) I would skip a feed. If the yeasts aren't active then what are you feeding? So only really fed it when I saw activity. Now it lives in the fridge and gets fed when it runs low.
Autolysing just plain bread flour needs no longer then 30min. Longer for wholegrains. It is done without starter or salt.
What recipe are you following?
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/19830/36-hours-sourdough-baguette-everything-i-know-one-bread
Trying to find one that requires almost no morning time and can be mostly done during afternoons.
There are many people that autolyse for more than 30 minutes and many that use starter. If you can find a method that works for you, that is what counts. There are those that will cite an authority when they agree with them, and say the complete opposite of that authority when they don't. In other areas of the "interwebs" there are long discussions on getting much better bread after a 2 hour autolyse. Hopefully you can shuffle some things as needed to get the schedule that works for you.
Well, finally they didn't look dead. One of the starters (the one I was given) was very runny and this morning it only had tiny bubbles.
The other starter, the one I made myself, didn't seem to mind at all and was as thick and bubbly this morning as always.
I think I'm going to freeze the one I was given and keep working only with my own. Now that I'm sure it is good, there's no point in maintaining both fresh.