The online calculator I use to calculate my yeast cell count has two different growth models, Braukaiser or white (stir plate). After using it a ton and playing around with the numbers I realize that in the higher gravities, these two growth model is become vastly different with white needing much larger starters.
I usually shoot for in between, but does anyone have an opinion on which is more accurate?
Read this and then use whatever you feel comfortable with. Estimating yeast growth | Braukaiser
As plotted in Kai’s post, the Jamil/White data makes no sense to me in that no matter how high the inoculation rate, there is always growth, whereas Kai’s data shows that at some point, you hit a wall where you will get no new growth in your starter.
That said, I don’t really use calculators so I can’t help you in a practical sense, just theoretical.