An Expert's Opinion On Lager Yeast Starter Temps

One of the thing that I enjoy about the hobby of brewing is that the experts and celebrities of the hobby are so accessible and down to Earth. One such homebrewing figure is Jamil Zainasheff. I have written him before asking questions and he has always answered me. Recently, I sent him and another email asking lager starter questions. That email reads as follows:

I'm trying to get into lagers, and I have a question about yeast starter pitching temperature. I remember hearing in the Jamil Show archives that a lager yeast starter can be made at ale temps as long as you only pitch the slurry and not the liquid. One thing that I'm confused about, though, is pitching. Do you pitch the warmer starter into the lager temperature wort or do you drop the starter temp to lager temps before you pitch? If you do pitch warm yeast into the cooled wort, how do you keep it from going into shock? If you do cool the starter first, how quickly (or slowly) do you cool it to prevent the yeast from going into shock?

This was Jamil's response:

Good questions. I prefer to let the warm lager starter ferment out, then put it in the fridge for a couple days to make sure all the yeast has settled out. Then I pitch just the yeast at fridge temp (<40F) into my lager wort (~44F). Then I let the beer temp slowly rise to ~50F for the rest of fermentation.

If I read this right, cold crashing the yeast starter slightly below pitching temperature, pitching, and then letting it warm up slightly after pitching will go a long way preventing the temperature shock that puts yeast to sleep. That is good to know.