Follow up;
I made the yeast starter with 1 lb of pale LME. Let it ferment out, crashed and decanted on brew day. I ended up boiling the wort (see original post) because the 1lb package I purchased looked as if it was repackaged from a larger amount due to the clear tape around the lid and the generic label.
Anywhoo, I guess the only advantage was that there really was no mess to clean other than equipment. WTBS, I will use LME for all starters going forward.