A number of years ago a friend shared some sourdough starter with me with instructions that worked well - and there was never any starter thrown out. The refrigerated starter (1 cup of starter) was put into a stainless, plastic or glass bowl. One cup of flour (or more if you prefer) is added to starter in bowl. Measure 1 cop of water into "starter storage jar" and stir well to dissolve all remaining starter in the water. Add to the starter in your bowl. Beat well, cover with a clean towel, lid or plastic wrap and put where the temperature will be about 75-85 degrees and let rise until it "falls back down on itself" (about 8 or so hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is and how strong your starter is). Stir and beat well, take one cup starter out and put it into your cleaned 'starter jar'. Loosen lid just enough to let out any air pressure if the starter rises in the frig., and save the starter in your frig. for the next time. The rest of the fed starter is ready for you to use for bread, pancakes, etc. (My friend always fed her starter 1/2 cup of sugar with the 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of water. Many directions I've seen tell you not to feed the starter with anything but flour and water, but I've never found one that said why. It would probably be good to check that out before trying it, or experimenting with an extra starter. It did work for both of us, and I never used any commercial yeast with my "starter breads." - Maybe somebody will have an answer to post. Her directions also were to let the starter "rest" a day before renewing it again, but if you want more starter you can, of course, either feed it more at once or more often. Hope this helps. Jeri Sounds good, Jeri. I'm sure it works just fine. As for the 1/2 cup sugar, to me that sounds like it's turning it into a "friendship starter," used mainly for cake/muffins. I think I'll keep mine unsweetened. And yes, starter is generally strong enough to use without added yeast - given your willingness to let the dough rise till it's ready. You sound like a very accomplished sourdough baker - it's fun, isn't it? Cheers - PJH

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