I said 3-4 times per WEEK. It might still be worthwhile to maintain a starter if you were baking once or twice per week. You can make pancakes, waffles, crackers, flatbreads, pizza, etc. - you don’t just have to crank out loaves. But like you said, the feedings aren’t free. I keep a very small amount of starter (like 100 grams) to keep the feedings small.

Sometimes I take the “discard” starter, mix in enough flour to make a dough, and throw it in the oven for a quick snack after it rises - it makes one roll. This only makes sense if I am already baking/roasting something else later that day.

Recently though on Chocolate & Zucchini I saw the ingenious idea of using excess starter to make sourdough crumpets. They look awesome. I haven’t tried it yet as my starter is napping in the fridge right now.

Hi LG, there is no need to “capture” yeast - there is wild yeast (and symbiotic bacteria) in the flour, as I wrote about here. It used to be the only leavening technology - today it’s known as sourdough (or levain in French bakeries). Modern store-bought yeast is a crossover from the beer brewing industry, and it’s much faster and more active than the wild sourdough yeasts, so it quickly takes over when added to a dough.

Anon, I don’t think Sullivan claims to have invented the “no-knead” method. However I haven’t seen a previous reference to cooking a wet dough in a covered pot. Cool idea, whoever came up with it.

Anon, Lahey is clearly mentioned and linked in the column. Thanks for reading (sorta) though!

Miso is the shizznit! Thanks for reminding me of the various containers of it in my fridge. I’m going to make my own one of these days. Maybe.

99 nights out of 100 we use stemless glasses at home. Just so much easier to deal with. I don’t spend more than a cumulative minute or two actually holding a glass during dinner (that’s what the table/coasters are for), so I don’t notice a temperature issue.