Starter for dry yeast?

Do any of you make a starter for your dry yeast? I do for my liquid, but never have with dry.

Well, I sort of do. I "proof" it as suggested in John Palmer's book. I rehydrate it. Then dump in some water with some table sugar mixed in. Let it sit till it starts foaming and then pitch it.

I just proof it. I've had much better success with dry yeasts. There's 10-50 times as many viable yeast in a dry packet as a liquid. Just not as many choices.

I make the same starter with liquid or dry. It really cuts down on lag time.

Wild

It only takes about an hour or so to start showing activity, right?

Yes, when using an active starter, lag time can change from hours to minutes.

Wild

When i use dry yeast I add the packet to a cup of water for 15 minutes. You see the yeast swell up with water and it starts much faster. I create a real starter with liquid yeast(dme, water, airlock etc). Having said that, using no starter with dry still starts faster than using a starter with liquid. They say that liquid creates a better beer so ive been trying to use that more, but im still too unexperienced to taste a diffrence.