my levain

[cornicione54]

starting tonight, it is feeding approx. 5 oz. of starter.  I didn't weigh it when I added it to a clean jar, but I have a jar that is basically the same (working in a lab, I know that jars/beakers don't weigh the same even if they look the same).

Ah I think you might like to change the ratios of starter to new flour and water. As I understand it you're doing a 5:1:1 feed (starter:flour:water)?
IMO that's too much starter to too little flour/water - especially at room temp.
I'd change it to a minimum of 1:2:2 with a view to even less starter in the future. If you're refrigerating that's a different story.

Depends on how active it is, but I suspect any issues you've been having recently may be due to using the starter past it's peak.

[kramer73]

alright, so if I'm understanding this correctly, my best bet at this point would be to start with an ounce of starter, and then feed it 2 oz. of flour and 2 oz. of water?

Like I said, I really don't like math, and I like ratios even less, lol.  I usually have someone help or explain them to me at work (luckily I don't have to use them that often!).

Thank you for your help!

The starter did double overnight with the 1:1 of flour/water that I gave it yesterday.

[cornicione54]

alright, so if I'm understanding this correctly, my best bet at this point would be to start with an ounce of starter, and then feed it 2 oz. of flour and 2 oz. of water?

Like I said, I really don't like math, and I like ratios even less, lol.  I usually have someone help or explain them to me at work (luckily I don't have to use them that often!).

Thank you for your help!

The starter did double overnight with the 1:1 of flour/water that I gave it yesterday.

yeah I know the number crunching can sound awful geeky sometimes but when you get used to it, it's not so hard.  The key thing is to refresh/use your starter  close to the point where it reaches it's maximum rise/expansion - if it's peaked and already started falling/collapsing then you're refreshing too late.  Most home bakers eventually turn to refrigerating the starter as soon as it's been fed, then taking it out once a week (or whenever) to refresh.