I would recommend using metric when making starters since imperial is stupid. Cups, half cups and quarts are not sensitive enough measurements when making this small of a batch, and a good digital scale used for measuring hops will work for DME too (you can also measure your water on a digital scale too since 1ml water = 1 gram). Although he recommends 75g/1000ml that would produce a wort of 1.027 (Beertools), while using 100g/1000ml should produce a 1.038 wort, closer to the starting gravity recommended by John Palmer.
Some people say you should make a starter that mimics the beer your yeast will eventually be fermenting (ie: a weak wort starter for a lighter beer, and a stronger starter with dark extract for a more complex beer [malty IIPA, Stout]), and I think the idea behind this reasoning is to expose the yeast to the same kinds of complex sugars and high osmotic pressure that they will be fermenting in. This should activate select enzymes within the yeast to make them more efficient. BUT, the whole idea of a starter is to INCREASE the number of available, viable yeast cells. If the yeast are healthy, and there are enough for a proper pitching rate they will activate whatever genes they need once in the wort. Therefor, it is my recommendation to make all you starters the same way (O.G. ~1.038) with light DME.
When it comes to pitching your starter there are two options:
1) Pitch at high krausen. Plan your brewday so that you are ready to pitch your full yeast starter into your fresh wort once the starter is at maximal activity. This may mean making your starter early in the morning or the night before (anywhere from 12-24 hours). Doing so will mean your yeast are vigorously growing and dividing and will quickly start fermentation of your beer. However, there are two drawbacks to this in my mind A) you will be adding 1-2 liters of your spent starter wort to your carefully crafted beer, it may not hurt any but I would rather not throw it all in. B) Pitching at maximal activity may mean healthy yeast, but there might not be enough of them for a proper pitching rate.
2)Cold crash and pitch. Let your starter completely ferment out until there is not more activity or bubbling (1-3 days with stir plate, 2-5 days without stirring). Stick it in your fridge for a minimum of 12 hours (longer if possible) to sediment the yeast. Decant the spent wort leaving just enough to rouse the yeast and dd it to your beer. I prefer this method for a number of reasons A) you ensure the maximum number of yeast are produced in your starter B) you do not add spent wort to your beer, which is good if you make big beers like me that require 2-3L of starter C) the cold crash causes the yeast to produce osmoprotectants such as trehalose and glycogen, which stabalize the yeast membrane against environmental stresses such as being dumped into a high gravity wort.
Anyhow, those are my thoughts, but everyone does things a little differently in homebrewing so you can take them or leave them. Sorry if this is just a lot of stupid confusing nonsense. If it helps I can do a starter demonstration at any meeting one is requested, or demonstrate general yeast handeling techniques. Next time I put on a starter I will take pictures of the whole process and start a thread on here outlining everything. I can also write up some wiki pages on starters and yeast if Richard can show me how.
