starter using stir plate

I have made starters in the past using my stir plate and light dme many times and had good results.My question is would it be possible to use cane sugar instead of dme and if so would the process be the same?

 

Using cane sugar is not a good idea, cane sugar is a simple sugar where DME is a bit more complex and if you use simple sugar the yeast will have a hard time transitioning to your wort. I think there is a more technical explanation but this is the simple one.

 

You don't want to use sugar for a yeast starter. The DME provides the yeast with necessary nutrients from the barley that the sugar does not have. A starter with cane sugar would do more harm than good for your yeasties.

 

Would it still be a problem if i used some type of yeast nutrient?

 

I really don't know, do you NEED to make one and don't have any DME? What is your goal?

 

If you're going to go to the trouble and expense of adding a yeast nutrient, why not just use DME to begin with?