FrankenStarter Maintenance
When you have activated your FrankenStarter, you will need to maintain the starter to ensure its health and optimum performance for regular use. View our video on how to maintain your starter or view detailed written instructions below.
Feeding Your FrankenStarter
Approximately every 24 hours, your starter should be fed if left at room temperature. Using a digital scale, remove all but 50g of the starter. The mixture removed is called the discard. The discard can be used for recipes or washed down the sink drain.
Add 50g of lukewarm water to the remaining 50g of starter and mix with a fork. Add 50g of flour to the mix and stir thoroughly. Cover loosely with a plastic lid.
NOTESYou can use more or less starter/water/flour if you have a recipe that needs it. As long as you stick to a 1:1:1 ratio and you have a large enough jar, it will work. For example, you can discard all but 100g of starter and then feed with 100g water and 100g flour. 50/50/50 works well with most of the recipes we use and it doesn’t waste a lot of flour.
The starter can also be fed more than once per day. If you use the starter at the height of activity (~6 hours after feeding), you will need to refeed it. You can then wait another 6 hours for the starter to become active and use/feed again.
If I know I’m going to need a large amount of starter for a recipe, I put the discard into a new jar and feed it with equal amounts of water and flour. I can then use the entire jar for my recipe.
Print Maintenance InstructionsUsing Your FrankenStarter
If you are not going to use your starter very often, you can place it in the refrigerator to slow the growth process and reduce feedings. A starter left in the refrigerator should be fed at least once every 7 days. Let the starter warm to room temperature before discarding or feeding. After feeding, leave the starter at room temperature for a few hours before returning to the refrigerator.
WHEN TO USEYou can use the discard of your starter for your recipes with one exception: You cannot use a recently-fed starter that has not had time to begin consuming the flour/water mixture. Think of a recently-fed starter like someone who went crazy at the buffet. They are not very active and need time for digestion before doing any work.
The time since feeding your starter can determine the sourness. If you use the discard after 24 hours, it will be more sour than discard removed 8 hours after feeding. Experiment with it and see what you like best.
