Love my crock, my starter and my first sourdough loaves were not bad either. Some questions? 1. Can I add some of the starter I culled out back to make the sourdough starter, sour-er? 2. If not, what about adding something during the feeding? Rice bran syrup? Evap cane sugar? Buttermilk? 3. My loaves were a little dense. Not as large air holes. Knead more? 4. Can I add wheat berries, flax seed or other flours to a batch? Mix in some wheat flour? 5. No water spritzer. Placed cookie sheet in the bottom of oven with water. Placed sheet with loaves on pizza stone. Thanks so much for any advice. I'll post photos and experience soon on my blog with a link here. Cheers, Jacqueline Church The Leather District Gourmet Hello Jacqueline - It is great you are having fun with sourdough. Now, you'd like to experiment! 1. You don't want to add it back since this portion has been exhausted - time will increase the sourness 2. You can add just a small amount of these sweeteners when starting your starter. Introducing milk products will increase the chance of the starter spoiling. 3. You may be adding too much flour in the kneading process. It should be a wet, slack dough. You may also do a slow rise in your ref 4. Wheat berries and flax seed should be added in the recipe rather than the starter - they will become rancid in the starter. Yes, you may add whole wheat flour. 5. Be sure your pan (a cast iron skillet would be better), preheats in the oven. Boil water. Slide bread in oven and pour about 1/2 c. of water into your pan. Remove pan after about 20 min. of baking to avoid a very tough crust from forming. Good luck! Elisabeth @ The Baker's Hotline

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