Da Brownman's instructions for building a starter contain this instruction:
The starter should double 4 hours after the 2nd feeding. If it doesn't then toss the 2nd feeding total amount by weight and redo it.
I don't understand what this accomplishes. If I have 70gm of starter at the second feeding but it doesn't double, what is the advantage of throwing out 35 gram and adding new flour and water?
I'm sure there is a reason, but my old brain can't quite grasp it. I'd welcome any clarification. Thanks,
Greg
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As I understand it the reason for the discard is that the ideal feeding ratio is about 1 part starter to 2 parts flour to 2 parts water. If you don’t discard, then you’d need to do a much larger feeding. So your 70 grams of starter would require 140 g each flour and water. You’d end up with a massively larger total amount, which kind of defeats the purpose of the NMNF Scheme. So by discarding the total amount of the second feeding, which would be 40 grams (20 each water and flour) you’re discarding only a small amount now instead of a much larger amount later. If you don’t discard and simply feed with the next scheduled amount the feeding ratio will be too small and the growth will be anemic.
This all assumes that you have a satisfactory starter to start with. It isn’t intended to be a way to start a starter, just to maintain it and use it. A couple of days ago I made up a batch of NMNF for a neighbor and got her started on sourdough, she had been unable to find any yeast to purchase. I told her that my starter had *never* failed to double after the second feeding in the 4+ years I’ve been following the NMNF scheme. My starter originally came from a local artisanal bakery where I had taken a workshop. It worked great but I hated the daily discard, too wasteful for a once a week baker although it’s fine for a bakery. So I converted it to NMNF. Because I was unsure at first, I kept the original going in parallel for a couple weeks as a backup but that proved unnecessary.
Hope this helps,
Tom
Lately I have thought a lot about the microbe population of starters. Here is some of that thought process.
Question - Thoughts
I’m not sure this is correct, but it is a question worth asking, IMO. Maybe dabrownman will chime in on this one.
Danny
Dabrownman said that he no longer sticks to that. He just goes ahead and feeds the next stage and ignores whether it doubles or not.
If thetheory above is correct, that makes total sense. This way the microbe populations are not unnecessarily diluted.