An open crumb of the bread results mainly from a strong healthy sourdough starterπͺ. For being strong, bubbly and airy a 100% hydration wheat starter should:
β
double in size within 3-4 hours at temperature not lower than 26°C (78°F)
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you should love the smell of your starter (creamy, milky, with the hints of sourness)
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the starter should taste nice ( more or less sour, creamy, βοΈwithout any bitterness or other unpleasant hints)
As I live in Texas and it's still summer hereπ the temperature at my home is not lower than 24°C ( 75°F) so I feed the starter twice a day with the ratio 1:5:5 (7g starter: 35 g water: 35g flour). I use the blend of 97% bread flour & 3% rye flour. This schedule and ratio works perfect for my sourdough starter. Before each feeding it still stays on its peak, smells nice, tastes sour (but without extra acidity) and triples in size.
I've also tried lower ratios 1:2:2, 1:3:3, but all the time I was upset with the smell of my starterπ
The only thing I understood after long months of trying, studying lots of sources, is that there is no certain recommendation for starter feedings, all of schedules and ratios work great, you can experiment with you starter but always remember about three points β
I've mentioned higher: π‘growth ( time frame and temperature) π‘smell π‘taste.
You can try my ratio feeding and schedule if you have the same temperature at home and use the same flour blend, or make the ratio lower 1:3:3 or 1:4:4 if it's colder in your house or if you use only all-purpose flour. Or the ratio can be 1:10:10 or even higher if you want to feed it once a day at a room temperature.
Play with your starter to make it happy with the feedings and it will give in return a beautiful breadππ»πΎ