I was thinking more is better as in bread or beer making.
To be fair, this is also not exactly true. When making bread, you adjust initial amount of dry yeast or starter based on the hydration, protein content, and rise/proof/bake schedule. When making beer, you need to pitch a quantity of yeast cells per the guidance per liter of wort, given a specific wort gravity. Meaning, more yeast for thicker wort, unless using a known osmophilic strain. The reason it practically doesn't make a difference is that bread and beer are very forgiving, and the results tend to be really similar to the palate.
With all due respect to Peter Dixon, who wrote that chapter in Paul's book, the information is inexact. I'm sure he knows this stuff, but the way that section written, it is confusing. For example a danisco unit (DCU) or a Hansen unit (U), does not denote the relative strength of a starter, or the amount it takes to reach a certain terminal pH in a certain number of hours. All it denotes is the number of cells. That's it. I've posted before what those cell numbers are for DCUs. That's why you see different inoculation rates for different starters. Meaning, some starters are more active, and you can get away with a 1% inoculation, whereas with another starter, it may take 1.5%. In the end, there is not much practical difference, but if you want an exact answer, there it is.
In general, page 205 is decent. Glad you found an answer
. If you have any more questions, just let us know
