Lager Yeast starter?

Just wondering if I should ferment out my starter at my Lager temp? I have my lagerator at 53 deg. I was planning on brewing tomorrow, and letting the wort cool down to 53 till Sunday and pitching then. This would give my yeast time to grow and also get to temp. Is this the right idea or am I off track?

Everything Ive read is pitch then cool.

I did my lager starter at the same temp. as my ale starter; about 68-70F. Cooled the wort to about 68F, pitched, then placed into a 55F environment for primary (yeast was Chris White's San Fransisco Lager). Had roaring fermentation within 8-10 hours.

I ferment my lager starters at room temp. After all, you're not making lager, you're growing yeast. Then, I chill and decant all of the spent wort. Then, when I brew, I get my wort to 52 degrees, and my yeast from the fridge at 50 degrees or so. Pitching that yeast into slightly warmer wort (just slightly, as to not shock them) seems to really wake them up.

Some of the others are talking about pitching the yeast into warmer wort, and then bringing down the temp after fermentation starts. I've never done that, but I know some do. I have very good results with pitching cold. I also pitch all my ales at fermentation temps. So, I pitch my lagers at around 52 degrees, and my ales around 65 degrees all the time.

I follow Yoopers protocol as well. Grow yeast warm, crash chill it, decant and equilibrate to fermentation temperature ~48 then pitch. If you do it this way you won't need a diacetyl rest later on.

GT

I generally ferment my lager yeast starters at lager fermentation temps. If, for anything, in lagers I usually pitch the whole starter (no decanting). If I fermented the starter at room-type temps, the yeast would produce those fruity esters not associated with a lager and that may be noticable in my final product. For the same reason, when I bottle prime with spiese/gyle, I carbonate at yeast lager temps as well. As a general rule, I think it's best to keep lager yeast at, or close to, their intended temperature range when fermenting. The exception being when bottle priming with dextrose. That can be done at room temp.