Can I teach an old starter new tricks?
I have a Sunset Magazine starter that I made from yogurt and white flour in 1972 and have been feeding on milk and flour ever since, though not very often lately, since I became vegan about 8 years ago. I do feed it every few months and use it for recipes where I can "veganize" the bulk ingredients and rationalize away the relatively tiny amount of dairy milk in the final slice, pancake or English muffin.
Early in my veganity I asked around about the possibility of converting or training this starter to a flour-and-water diet, how to do it and what to expect. I was told it really couldn't be done.
I've been using Nancy Silverton's La Brea Bread Book starter ever since (which is what led me to stumble onto your site today over a whole nother set of issues...) What THIS post is about is: has anyone on the Forum succeeded in training a milkfed starter to subsist on water (or nondairy milk, etc) and how they did it and how it worked out in use?
Any advice, experiences, caveats appreciated.
Thanks,
Sharron