How do you know the ph levels in your starter? Is it about smell, taste, or growth rate, or what? Also, I have a thing against all-purpose flour. I grind my own wheat and usually have 3-5 types of berries on hand. What are your thoughts on using freshly ground white-wheat or hard red winter wheat or even soft red spring wheat instead of AP white? I know rye behaves differently, so right now I am building a rye starter using only whole rye flour, but I wonder about adding some rye to my basic starter. Your instructions for the starter for sale on your website says to add twice as much flour as water each time you feed it. Why is the ratio different than this "create-your-own" version? And finally, no matter how I cover my starters, my regular one (bought on your website) always develops a "crust" on top. My rye one never does. I usually just stir this back in when I am feeding it and it dissolves just fine. Is the crust thing normal? Thanks! I don't test the pH levels in my starter (though it IS possible to get test strips from scientific supply companies)... Let me answer your questions in order here- 1) Making starter from freshly ground wheat. You can do this, but run a fairly significant risk of it eventually going bad. Jeff Hamelman, one of our SD gurus, says he'll use some whole grain to start a starter, but then switches over to feeding it with AP. If you do want to feed it with whole grains, it's fine - but don't leave it out on the counter, it'll have to live, long-term, in the fridge. 2) The instructions for adding twice as much flour as water refer to volume - you feed with 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup water. By weight, they're the same - about 4 ounces. 3) Not sure about the crust - mine never develops a crust, but instead ends up with liquid on top. Are you keeping it at room temperature, or in the fridge? Maybe it's not covered well enough? Maybe you live in a particularly dry climate? But whatever, just stirring it back in, as you do, is fine. Good luck- PJH

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