I made sourdough bread in Spain for three years when I lived there in the early nineties, using a starter created from Carol Field's excellent book "The Italian Baker," I was limited with the flour I could get, but my results were spectacular, once I learned about my starter. Since then, um, I've been too busy. Now, I'm back! The embarrassment of riches available via mail-order here in the USA makes me curious but almost like a kid in a candy store - unable to decide. I mistakenly ordered a large quantity of active dry yeast (from KAF), for those times when I wasn't confident enough in the naked starter. But, I don't want to have to proof it in warm water. I see that most recipes call for instant/quick-rise, if yeast is needed. With the long ferment time, will active dry yeast eventually become, um, active? Even if it's mixed in with the room-temp starter and flour? Or, should my water addition be quite hot? Definitely avoid hot water, as you don't want to kill off the yeast. The active dry will definitely take longer to get up and running, and it can throw off your proofing times. I'd really say stick with the proofing step if you can. As little as 10 minutes of pre-planning can keep your recipe on track, rather than having to play catch-up while you wait for your yeast. ~ MaryJane

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