"Kenneth" > wrote:
> My understanding (and my experience) is that, indeed, in the
> refrigerator, the growth slows, but not to a standstill.
>
> The available food is slowly depleted at those temperatures,
> and that is why it makes sense to store starters before they
> are depleted, that is, with a supply of fresh food (flour)
> rather than after they have "eaten" it.

I agree they don't stop, but between the cold and the lack of food, the
critters seem to go dormant. For me at least there doesn't seem to be any
deleterious effect of storing them without a fresh batch of food. What I
wonder about your method is are you suggesting just adding more food
(flour), or redividing it again (refreshing) just before putting it in the
refrigerator? One of my goals is to use everything I can from the process...
the discarded starter from refreshing always goes into something if I can
help it.

The longer I've stored the starter, the slower the action once I bring it
back out. That suggests that some percentage is dying off during storage.
But it does not seem to affect the final result (making the next batch of
dough), only the time it takes.

The biggest factor for me in terms of resulting sourness is time and
temperature. Temperature is a hard thing to control through the year. In
summer, "room temperature" might get up to 80 degrees even with the A/C on.
In winter, during the night with the thermostat set back, room temperature
might drop to 60 degrees. I can place my fermenting containers in various
places. My stove is one of those old 1970s vintage gas double (upper and
lower) oven models with pilots for everything. The upper oven is really just
a bit too warm for fermenting. The lower oven is in the upper 70s degree
range. With the light on, it is more like the upper 80s. On top of the stove
toward the back is around 72 degrees.

I don't get overly concerned about reproducing the same results over and
over. I'll take what I get and enjoy it. It's always better than just a
simple mix flour, yeast and water, rise twice, then bake model. I seem to
get my best results by letting the starter go no longer than a week, and
fermenting a poolish overnight on the back of the stove. But I'm not going
to let the process take over my life.

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