Ken, welcome to the wonderful world of sourdough! It'll be a journey - and you'll take lots of side paths, but I guarantee they'll all be interesting. after all, it's as much journey as destination, right? I've found a good place for a bit of extra warmth is the oven; even without any heat, it seems to stay a touch warmer than other parts of the house. And if you have a light in the oven, turning it on for a couple of hours, then off helps, too. Baker's math: apply it to the dough for your final loaf. Think of your starter as 100% hydration, as you say; it's even a bit more than that, due to the alcohol produced in the process, but start with 100%. So if you use 8 ounces starter (4 ounces water + 4 ounces flour); 12 ounces flour; and 8 ounces water, the hydration of your dough will be 12 ounces water divided by 16 ounces flour: 75%. Always divide any other weight into the flour weight, which is always pegged at 100%. As for the bannetons - a 9" is good for a recipe using 3 to 5 cups of flour (the variation is due to whether or not you're using a high percentage of whole grains), so it appears to me a 5-cup-flour plus starter would work fine in two 8" bannetons. If not - hey, just another side path and another learning experience, right? Let us know how it all comes out - good luck! PJH

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