Feeding the [Sourdough] Beast

I have a whole recipe dedicated to starter feeding and maintenance written shortly after I started "The Net's 1,000,000th Baking Blog". I stand by it. It's not wrong.

But it also doesn't reflect my reality.

In the recipe, I talk about saving your feeder discard to create all sorts of things - most especially crackers. I love those crackers...they are one of the best things ever to come from a sourdough jar. But now when I make them, I have to intentionally create discard.

Why? Because even though I make bread every four or five days, my process involves zero wasted sourdough starter. That's right - No Discard.

I feed the starter from the fridge the night before I bake. In the morning it's ready. I use all but about a quarter cup, and stick that directly in the fridge without feeding it again.

It always works. No matter how long I go between baking, the bread still comes out beautifully with a single feeding. It might take longer if I've left it unused and untended for a month, but with a little patience the final product is as good as if you'd been caring for it like a newborn.