"joe" > wrote in message ...

> [ ... ]

> Welcome to the thread... it almost faded into non-activity but a few ppl
> picked up the ball and it's still rolling.

Mired down in guk, I'd say.

Passion to muck starter surpasses all bounds.

You could get some Carl's and follow the instructions at the web
site. But that is hard to find, and takes some work (prepare and
send a SASE) and time (wait weeks). Here is a fast way, and
pretty cheap: http://tinyurl.com/6vm9g

Well, I guess if nobody strangled in their starter, there'd not be
need for constant commiseration, and the r.f.s. traffic would vanish
entirely.

--
Dicky

P.S. White flour, particularly bleached-, is essentially devoid of
organisms which might start a sourdough culture, and so is the
atmosphere most places. God only knows what is in whole-grain
flours, particularly "organic", particularly rye.