Culture proof

[Martino1]

Quick question to the mmbers successfully achieving good leavening with Natural Starter (e.g. Ischia).

Do you actually perform a culture proof after fully activating the culture ? Ed Woods' description asks for it, however when reading through your processes it seems that most/all members skip the culture proof and take the starter amounts directly from the activated culture without an additional culture proof directly into the dough.

Thanks
Martin

P.s.

The second thing i wonder, is the huge difference in the starter amounts used, from 1-2% on flour weight (Craig) up to 30-40% (Ed Woods recipe). Think i will follow the suggestion to start with 5% and then try to optimize from there. For a long bulk ferment at 65F and also considering that my culture is active, but not yet so mature and stable i guess this is a good starting point. Lets try and see.

[barryvabeach]

Not sure about what other do, but I feed the starter, wait a few hours, and take out the amount I want to put into the dough and put it straight in.  As to percentages, I assume it varies by temp and time of fermentation.  Based on suggestions here, I have settled at around 2 % for an 18 hour room temp rise, where room temp is around 74.  Now that it is starting to get a little cooler in the house, I might increase a bit.  I tried refrigerated fermentation with my Ischia starter and got no movement after 24 hours and had to take it out to get any activity.  Some others have had some success with refrigerated fermentation, but don't know the temp of their fridges.