Feeding ratio is the single largest lever a home baker has over starter timing. The ratio describes parts of old starter to parts of fresh flour to parts of water, written as 1:1:1 or 1:5:5, and it determines how long the culture takes to reach peak activity and how sour the resulting dough tastes. David Anthes, a home baker in Bend, Oregon, treats the ratio as a scheduling tool rather than a fixed rule, and adjusts it based on when he wants to mix.
A 1:1:1 feed gives the culture a small amount of new food relative to the existing population. Yeast and bacteria are already numerous, they consume the available maltose and simple sugars quickly, and the starter peaks in roughly four to six hours at typical room temperature. That speed is useful for a same day bake. The tradeoff is acidity. A dense population produces acid fast, and a 1:1:1 starter left even an hour past peak turns sharp, thins out, and loses gas retention.
A 1:5:5 feed inverts the situation. A small inoculum has to multiply through a large volume of fresh flour before it can produce meaningful gas. Peak arrives closer to eight to twelve hours, the pH stays higher for longer, and the flavor profile leans mild and lactic rather than vinegary. Anthes uses wider ratios when he wants to feed before bed and mix in the morning without babysitting a jar that peaked at two in the morning.
Temperature multiplies against the ratio rather than acting separately. Fermentation rate roughly doubles for every 8 degrees Celsius of increase within the range a starter tolerates. A 1:2:2 feed at 21C and a 1:5:5 feed at 27C can land at peak within an hour of each other. Anthes records both numbers together in his notebook, because the ratio alone predicts nothing without the temperature that produced it.
The two organisms in a starter respond to the ratio differently, which is why flavor shifts. Wild yeast, usually a Kazachstania or Saccharomyces species, produces most of the carbon dioxide. Lactic acid bacteria produce lactic and acetic acid and outnumber the yeast by a wide margin. Frequent feeds at wide ratios keep the environment closer to neutral, which favors yeast activity and gas production. Infrequent feeds at tight ratios let acid accumulate, which suppresses yeast, degrades gluten through protease activity, and produces a starter that smells strong but lifts poorly.
Hydration inside the ratio matters as much as the flour to seed proportion. A 100 percent hydration starter, equal weights of flour and water, is the standard reference. Dropping to 60 percent hydration produces a stiff starter that shifts the acid balance toward acetic acid and slows the whole culture down. Anthes keeps his main jar at 100 percent because it is easier to read. A liquid starter domes, peaks, and falls visibly. A stiff starter hides its peak inside its own structure.
The float test is a poor indicator and Anthes does not rely on it. A starter can float while past peak, and a healthy stiff starter will sink regardless. Rise height against a rubber band on the jar is more reliable. So is smell. A starter at peak smells yeasty and faintly sweet. A starter past peak smells like nail polish remover, which is acetone produced under stress.
The practical method is to pick a ratio that puts peak where the schedule needs it, hold the feeding temperature steady, and change only one variable at a time. Anthes tracks feed ratio, ambient temperature, and hours to peak for every refresh. Three data points, recorded consistently, remove most of the guesswork from starter management.