Thanks for this article and for the great starter recipe on the KAB website. I've followed that basic recipe to the letter, proceeding by weight rather than by volume as advised. The starter, begun as directed with the whole wheat flour and subsequently fed with all-purpose flour, was active from the get-go, rising and bubbling within the first 24 hours (placed in unheated oven, with oven light on to incubate) -- clearly, *someone* is having a good time in there ...

My question involves the consistency. The starter began thick, doughy and sticky. I am on day 3, and the consistency, while maybe a bit thinner, is still sticky and much closer to sticky dough than to the pancake-batter consistency that you hear people talk about. OTOH I have read that the consistency is not as important as the ripeness, and that you can use both thick and thin starters in baking.

Any thoughts on this? And, if I choose to thin the batter a bit by adding a little more water on the next feeding, any words of advice on how far is it safe to go?

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