A couple of things that I have found through deliberate experimentation: 1) Starter can go 3 mos or so without feeding. I just stir in the liquid to keep the 50-50 (by weight) flour - water ratio and refresh. If it has been a long time since using it, it may take an extra refresh cycle to "wake it up" - or you just accept a longer raising time. 2) A wetter dough seems to add more tang. 3) A long cool rise time adds more tang and much more flavor - but I tend to do it after mixing and kneading the dough. In the winter I will cover it and let it rise on my cool back stairs. Hmmmmmm! 4) As a starter and as a finished dough, it is very forgiving. 5) The basic sourdough recipe that I got when I took a class at KAF (very worthwhile, I may add) makes a wonderful pizza / calzone dough - I just will knead in some olive oil at the end after the gluten is formed. Boun appetito Thank you for this concise listing of your tried and true sourdough tips. They will be helpful to many of our customer/bakers! Irene at KAF

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