Fantastic information, all of it! "The fed-starter crust will be slightly lighter-textured." That's the kind of info that helps me decide what to make with what I have. "...replacing 1/2 cup of the buttermilk and 1 cup of flour with 1 cup unfed sourdough starter." Thanks for that tip, too! I bought your starter and crock last year and it's been a great addition to my baking. I work full time so it’s not unusual for me to have a time crunch in relationship to the starter feedings and my baking schedule. Have you any experience with an "Amish Friendship Starter," the one that is fed flour, sugar, and milk? Sometimes it's called "Herman." I’ve used it in quick bread, muffins, pancakes, coffee cake, cornbread, waffles, and even aebleskivers. I bake for a diabetic person and wish to keep the sugar to a minimum. For that reason, I only feed the starter KAF whole wheat flour, whole milk, and only half the sugar the traditional recipe calls for. Sometimes the sugar I choose is raw sugar, but it thins the dough out quite a bit and I can more reliably add the starter to my recipes when it's thicker. The starter itself is fed sugar while I substitute some or all of the sugar in all recipes with Stevia (used to use Splenda but more and more medical concerns arose in the press). My intention is to lower the glycemic index without losing the best properties of the starter (moist, tender crumb, complex flavors, etc). Can you help me find the optimum interval after feeding the starter where I can expect the sugar content to be the lowest? Conventional wisdom holds that the before-feeding starter is lower in sugar, but I know I have to feed the thing for it to survive. Does the sugar content ever drop enough to become a non-issue for a diabetic? Are there any better ingredients to feed Herman? I truly enjoy the results this starter gives my quick breads and such, and I think the whole wheat flour has helped me provide a more healthful baked good. The substitution of the sugar with Truvia / Stevia (in the recipe, not the starter) has also proved healthful, but I am anxious to find the starter's optimum yeast growth coupled with the lowest sugar levels to make my recipes even more healthy for a diabetic without losing the wonderful flavors and texture we've enjoyed. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you so much. Gosh, I'm sorry, Patti - we make it a practice to never advise on condition-specific health matters (e.g., diabetes). We're just not qualified to do so. Beyond that - you're much more experienced than I in feeding Herman. I had Herman once, but it was probably 18 years ago, and I remember very little about the experience. I wonder if you might just use a regular starter fed with milk, but not sugar? Or fed the normal way, with water? I've used regular starter to make cake with great success - so perhaps Herman can become just "Regular Joe" starter and still be used in your sweet recipes? PJH

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