and 3. If your starter has doubled in size, continue to train the starter. To train your starter Throw out half of the active starter and add 1 cup high gluten flour and 1 cup water. This will look like pancake batter and rise and fall as you feed this starter at the same time each day. The fragrance will change from ripe to sour to yogurt throughout the day. This regular feeding will build a sweet lactic acid character and the fermentation will become predictable after a few days. Start feeding your starter two times each day for two days to insure a very active starter. Now is time to either store your starter in the refrigerator to slow the fermentation process down or make a levain, which is a portion of the starter added to the final dough to rise your crust. You may scale up your levain to reach your ultimate need. For the Levain It is important to create a very active levain for a great rise in your final pizza. The percentage of starter in your levain build depends upon when you are going to bake with the levain next and the temperature the levain is kept at. A good rule of thumb is 20 percent starter in your levain for a 12-hour levain hold before final bake. You may need a smaller portion of flour and water for a 24-48 hour levain until you see the yeasts activities develop and the levain smelling sweet and looking bubbly. Test your Levain To test your levain, fill a cup of water and place a small amount of levain- it should float. Now you can add from six to 30 percent of your levain to your final batch depending upon the length of time you'll hold the dough. (So, if you are mixing a 25-pound bag of flour, you'll need at least 1.5 pounds of levain.) To save the levain, you can add flour to it to create a dry paste and refrigerate for later building. JOHN GUTEKANST owns Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio.http://www.smrset.com http://www.smrset.com