I'm attempting my first sourdough starter and am unsure about the following instructions:

7. After 1 or 2 days the starter will have a new, fresh look. Remove any dried dough and mix with about 1 cup of flour.

Should any water be added at this stage?  I'm guessing not, but am not sure.  The starter I had after the second stage seemed just right, spongy, aromatic and risen.  But after this last step, my dough did not rise at all.  I added a little water to mix this last bit of flour with the starter because it seemed to me that although the instructions don't mention water, some was needed in order to mix the full cup of flour with the dough from the second step.  Should I have added less than a full cup of flour and skipped the water?

You've probably found by now you did the right thing, i remember looking at my starter every few hours to see if it had taken, but in fact took about two or so weeks to be perfect to use, after that its almost imposible to kill it.

So how did it go with the sour dough bread?  And how did replenishing the starter work out. 

I am actually at the same steps you were in Nov.  I'll be making the bread this weekend.  My expereince with the starter matched the instructions .. unusally very accurate, I was surprised

Bonjour Boudiniere,

here is a great reference for a starter sourdough: http://www.io.com/~sjohn/sour.htm

Now remember that not every region nor house has enough yeast available in the air to colonize flour. Also flour that is highly process has few live yeast in it.

My suggestion:
Use unbleached flour: 1cup flour+1 cup water (boiled and cooled in the case of highly chlorinated tap water)
keep you starter mixture in a warm place (above the fridge )
No lids just a cheese cloth or screen.
always replenish half the mixture every 24 hours as per the instructions. (take 1/2 out and replace with 1/2 cup water +1/2 cup unbleached flour)
If after 4 or 5 days, it does not appear very active (i.e. not bubbly or foamy) add 1 or 2 (well washed) crushed grapes or 1tsp of malt extract (i.e. regular Ovaltine).  yeast love the sugars found in these 2 products that will kick start the dormant bugs in the flour.  Continue to replenish 4 more days.
If no results appear after that treatment: start again but you will have to cheat a little by adding 1/4 TSP of commercial yeast to your initial mixture.

Good luck
Luc H

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I am considering starting a starter myself.  I did a bit of research on it and was amazed at a Wikipedia article that states that many bakeries have starters that have been going for years, giving each bakery a unique taste to their bread.  So fascinating!

The pictures are clear to show.
Thanks

They say the yeast is the reason some bakeries keep same starter dough for years. This flavors it or so they say so they keep a batch going with some of original in it at all times.