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so what is your schedule then? It sounds like:
Day 1 Morning: remove starter from fridge and refresh, leaving out at room temperature (taking half out for pancakes)
Day 1 Evening: take half(?) of refreshed starter and mix into dough. Refresh starter and return to fridge, leave mixed dough (in fridge or room temperature?) for first proof overnight.
Day 2 Morning: knead dough and shape, put aside to rest (in loaf tin or banneton presumably?) for second proof.
Day 2 (afternoon/evening?): slash and bake (in dutch oven?)I am currently struggling to find a good rhythm, and I get an OK loaf, but would like something with a much more open crumb. Here is this weekend's effort, which was 1/3 rye (starter "discard" having been in fridge for a week, plus refreshed starter added 4 hours later, plus some rye flour), 1/3 strong white wheat (including white starter), 1/3 strong wholewheat.
I usually only have time to bake on the weekend, so I tend to take my starter out of the fridge to refresh on a thursday at 6pm (putting the "discard" into dough 1), then at 11pm (again putting "discard" into dough 1). I leave dough 1 to proof overnight in the fridge, then Friday morning I will start to mix a couple new loaves with the refreshed starters, so I will add rye starter to wholemeal and wheat white flour usually with seeds or something (dough 2) and then a strong white dough that is for pizza dough/ciabatta/focaccia (dough 3). Dough 2 will usually proof until Friday night and then be shaped and go into the banneton to bake Saturday morning. Dough 3 depends what I do with it, but I usually just leave it in the fridge as a high-hydration blob until a few hours before the promise of pizza comes up. By then it doesn't really have time to take shape as I would like, but I can usually get it thin enough that it provides an adequate vehicle for cheesy goodness.
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jdmitch
@Thrustvector
I must be lucky; I'm very happy with the loaves I get from my starter, which spends most of its time in the fridge and gets refreshed in the morning ready to go into the overnight sponge that evening. I'm sure it would be a bit more active if I refreshed it for a couple of days before using, but with the long slow ferments I favour it doesn't make that much difference, and it means I can fit sourdough into my schedule.
As for leftover starter, I make sourdough pancakes, which are amazingly good:
1/2 cup unrefreshed starter, hooch poured off.
1 cup plain flour
1 pot buttermilk (~300ml, or use milk and a squeeze of lemon)
1 lge egg
Glug of veg oil (I use sunflower)
1/2 tsp bicarb
Mix to thickish batter, and drop heaped tablespoonsful into greased pan over medium heat. Flip when upper surface is full of bubbles.
This makes amazingly tender pancakes with a wonderful crisp crust; you can also add stuff to the batter like dried fruit, grated apple, etc.