Bread-Bakers v109.n012.2

Yes, it's not "necessary" to feed your starter regularly...but to 
create the very best results you should.

If one really wants to perfect a recipe and procedure for a 
particular bread, then you should measure and optimize every 
variable:  amount of each ingredient, temperature of dough, 
temperature of oven, mixing speeds and times, folds, fermentation 
time, proofing time, etc. The more you measure and control, the more 
consistent your results will be. (And, as you can imagine, 
consistency is vital in a professional bakery.

Following this same logic, if you're trying to optimize your 
sourdough bread then you want your starter to be in the same 
condition each time you use it. That means you'll refresh it with 
precise amounts of water and flour, control the temperature, and 
ferment it for precise amounts of time before use in the bread.

I'm not thrilled about "wasting" flour by throwing out the unneeded 
starter... But I bough some Gold Medal flour on special for $2/5 lbs. 
bag. I use 6 oz. of flour each time I refresh the starter. $2 *6 
oz/80 oz = $0.15 for each refreshment cycle. So it's not that 
extravagant a waste.

Allen
SHB
San Francisco