Ah, gotcha. That was why I went the way I did- backslopping and refreshing every 3/4 days. Secondary ferment after refreshing is going to be good overnight if the initial ferment is solid, but I felt like they would get the most bang for the method-buck by not refreshing every single time I fed.
I got to the point where I didn't feel like I was mixing as well as what I wanted. Really, I thought a short canoe paddle would be about right.... ,) My local feed store stocks some commercial cookware. They had a long handled paddle. I made the offhand comment that the paddle was pefect, but the handle was too long. Lo and behold, a few weeks later, I saw a shorter handle paddle (really, they are soup/liquid mixers for the huge, commercial cooking pots that a person could drown in) and snapped it up. It wasn't cheap- around $20; solid stainless and *heavy,* but exactly the right tool.
And really-3-4 days is about what I can handle with the smell.
I don't think ours smells much ... we had someone here the other day who is very particular about smells, she was standing right by my FF station in the kitchen and she said it didn't smell at all ... I have some alfalfa in it, so that might help.
I do smell it when I'm stirring it. I describe the smell as "spicy pickles."
