This invention describes the equipment and a method to recover starch from a dilute starch stream produced by manufacturing facilities which process the starch-containing materials, such as potato and corn. The process comprises feeding a dilute aqueous slurry of less than about 5% by weight starch to a classifier to concentrate the slurry by a factor of at least 5 and produce a concentrated slurry, wherein the classifier has at least one overflow exit and at least one underflow exit; drawing off the overflow and underflow from the classifier; feeding the concentrated slurry from the underflow exit of the classifier into a settling tank having at least one underflow exit and at least one overflow exit to produce an underflow layer of starch with a concentration of at least 40% starch proximate to the underflow exit and an aqueous overflow with a concentration of less than about 5% by weight starch proximate to the overflow exit; drawing off the overflow from the tank; and opening a orifice at the underflow ex
