Do Starters Go Dormant or Hybernate Briefly?

I've noticed something strange that I have no answer for. Every now and then, our sourdough starter seems to go dormant. We feed once a day at a 1/1/1 ratio and keep the culture at room temperature. Most times the starter is very robust and we use it every week to make bread. The starter has been active for several years. For some inexplicable reason -- and with no change in process -- the starter goes to sleep for several days. There are no off-odors or strange appearances in the dough. This happens every few months and usually lasts for about 2-3 days. We revert to a twice-a-day feeding for two days and the starter comes back to life and works just fine.

Any theories on why this happens and whether or not this is a normal function of yeast?

I guess, I'd mention the usual, predictable things:

colder at night and you didn't realise? The water is colder because of outdoor pipes being colder? Flour is colder?
different flour batch?
change in humidity?
Maybe a build up of acid in the mix? Need to do a larger discard than usual?

You probably thought of these. I'm interested to hear what others have to say.

Fiona

I used to have this happen as well when I was feeding my starter 100% whole red fife. Now that I have switched to 100% whole rye it never happens. I feed my starter once per week usually 1:2:2 or 1:3:3 or higher depending on how much starter I require to build levains for the following week. After the starter peaks fully, I refrigerate it and remove what I need each time to make levains.

I never did figure out why this used to happen but I'm happy that it never happens anymore since switching to whole rye more than a year ago.

Benny

Welcome back to TFL!

I am not as much a "starter whisperer" as others, but I'll chime in anyway.

A 1:1:1 feed is more amenable to feeding twice a day, every 12 hours. Before the end of 24 hours, you pretty much exhausted the food provided by a 1:1:1 feed.

I think you're very slowly starving/killing off your yeast and LAB, and after a "few months", the die-off becomes noticeable. But it only takes 2 days at 2/day feedings to build up their concentration again.. so that indicates your particular combination of yeast/lab and flour "prefers" a 12 hour cycle when fed 1:1:1.

So... that hints that you need to change your cycle, or your feed ratio.

I'm sure there are more possibilities for "fixes", but I think any one, or a combination of these might help.

Feed at a ratio somewhere from 1:1.5:1.5 to 1:2:2 instead of 1:1:1, so that there will be more food to last the 24 hours.
Keep the 1:1:1, but _just stir_ vigorously at about the 10 to 12 hour mark to bring more food within grazing range of the beasties. It is said that they don't go looking for it, but need food to come to them. --- In other words, there might still be food left over, but it's "out of reach" of the various microbes.
Use a lower hydration, maybe 80 to 85% to slow down the critters. That would be a 1:.8:1 feed. (Starter : water : flour )
Use the fridge. But then you'll still need to figure out a new stir or feed schedule. Try: Feed 1:1:1, let sit out at RT 4 to 12 hours, stir it if it sat for 12 hr, then put in fridge, then stir (at least) every 2 days, and feed (at least) every 4 to 6 days. When maintenance-feeding cold starter, let it sit out at room temp for 3 to 4 hours (maybe up to 12, if that works) before putting back into fridge.

My starters (plural) live in the fridge, are stirred every 2 days, and fed every 6 days. They sit at room temp for 2 to 3 hours after feeding before being put back in fridge, so that they can multiply and build up their concentration again.

Also, if you are feeding them white flour... I find that my critters prefer malted white flour over un-malted white flour.

I once tried an organic All Purpose flour (just because it was on sale cheaper than regular flour) which did not have any "malted barley flour" or "amylase" listed in the ingredients. My starters did not bubble and rise as well with it.

HTH.

Dave is 100% spot on. 1:1:1 is not enough food for a counter-kept starter on a 24-hour feed cycle. That will be true in pretty much any weather and no matter what flour you're using. The only thing I might add to the excellent advice he gave you is that if you plan to continue keeping your starter on the counter with a 24-hour feed schedule, you might find that you need to increase those feed ratios even more than suggested – especially during warmer weather or if you are feeding whole grains. If you find the starter has collapsed by the time you get to it, that's a good sign you need to give it more food or feed it more often. Good luck!

Thanks everyone. Had to drop off the grid for a while after my question due to a backcountry trip, but just saw everyone's response today. I'll try changing up the ratio and go with that for a while.