Feeding sourdough starter

[blue room]

I have a jar of starter I've had for years made from regular all purpose (wheat) flour. I replenish it with wheat flour when I need to. But would it be okay to use rice or tapioca flour for this?

[blue room]

I emailed King Arthur Flour ( they're great about answering baking questions) and got this reply:

"Thank you for your email. I do not recommend this. This would dramatically alter the composition, flavor,and performance of the starter."
Curious anyway, I'm gonna check this out for myself, with a measure of my existing starter and some tapioca flour, just to see what happens in 2-3 days.

[todao]

I've heard about using rice flour for sourdough starter but have never tried it.
Here's a couple of articles that might interest you:
http://live2cook.wordpress.com/2007/08/26/rice-flour-starter/
http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/sourdough-starter-day-3
http://foodloversfoodscoop.blogspot.c...