Porous silica particles formed by a method comprising the steps of: forming precipitated silica particles within a reaction mixture while mixing under high shear conditions; separating the precipitated silica particles from liquid within the reaction mixture; washing the precipitated silica particles to produce washed precipitated silica particles; and rapid drying the washed precipitated silica particles to form dried porous silica particles, wherein said forming step comprises: introducing silica particle-forming reagents into a reaction vessel, while mixing under high shear conditions, for a first length of time so as to result in a first reaction mixture; following the first length of time, halting introduction of silica particle-forming reagents into the reaction vessel while continuing said mixing under high shear dispersion force for a second length of time; following the second length of time, introducing the silica particle-forming reagents into the reaction vessel, while mixing under high shear, for a third length of time so as to result in a second reaction mixture; and following the third length of time, acidifying the second reaction mixture under high shear dispersion force so as to reduce a pH of the second reaction mixture to about 4.0 resulting in a third reaction mixture, wherein the first length of time is less than 15 minutes, the second length of time is less than 120 minutes, and the third length of time is less than 45 minutes, and wherein said dried porous silica particles, which are not further processed following formation, have (a) a median particle size of more than 1.0 microns; and (b) a particle stability of at least 55% as measured via the Particle Stability Test Method, the particle stability index being the quotient of the median particle size from 2 particle size measurements on the same sample according to ISO/FSD 13320-1, and the sample preparation is conducted with two different intensities of ultrasonic pretreatment, wherein 1 g of silica is put into a 150 ml beaker, 100 to 120 ml of deionized water is added thereto, the tip of the ultrasonic resonator is immersed 2 cm into the fluid and in the center of the beaker, the sonification is conducted with a power setting of 55% for 10 s for measurement 1 and 60 s for measurement 2, and the particle stability index is calculated as follows: Stability Index % = d 0.5 60 ⁢ s) / d 0.5 10 ⁢ s * 100. forming precipitated silica particles within a reaction mixture while mixing under high shear conditions; separating the precipitated silica particles from liquid within the reaction mixture; washing the precipitated silica particles to produce washed precipitated silica particles; and rapid drying the washed precipitated silica particles to form dried porous silica particles, introducing silica particle-forming reagents into a reaction vessel, while mixing under high shear conditions, for a first length of time so as to result in a first reaction mixture; following the first length of time, halting introduction of silica particle-forming reagents into the reaction vessel while continuing said mixing under high shear dispersion force for a second length of time; following the second length of time, introducing the silica particle-forming reagents into the reaction vessel, while mixing under high shear, for a third length of time so as to result in a second reaction mixture; and following the third length of time, acidifying the second reaction mixture under high shear dispersion force so as to reduce a pH of the second reaction mixture to about 4.0 resulting in a third reaction mixture, wherein the first length of time is less than 15 minutes, the second length of time is less than 120 minutes, and the third length of time is less than 45 minutes, and wherein said dried porous silica particles, which are not further processed following formation, have (a) a median particle size of more than 1.0 microns; and (b) a particle stability of at least 55% as measured via the Particle Stability Test Method, the particle stability index being the quotient of the median particle size from 2 particle size measurements on the same sample according to ISO/FSD 13320-1, and the sample preparation is conducted with two different intensities of ultrasonic pretreatment, wherein 1 g of silica is put into a 150 ml beaker, 100 to 120 ml of deionized water is added thereto, the tip of the ultrasonic resonator is immersed 2 cm into the fluid and in the center of the beaker, the sonification is conducted with a power setting of 55% for 10 s for measurement 1 and 60 s for measurement 2, and the particle stability index is calculated as follows: Stability Index % = d 0.5 60 ⁢ s) / d 0.5 10 ⁢ s * 100. (a) a median particle size of more than 1.0 microns; and (b) a particle stability of at least 55% as measured via the Particle Stability Test Method, the particle stability index being the quotient of the median particle size from 2 particle size measurements on the same sample according to ISO/FSD 13320-1, and the sample preparation is conducted with two different intensities of ultrasonic pretreatment, wherein 1 g of silica is put into a 150 ml beaker, 100 to 120 ml of deionized water is added thereto, the tip of the ultrasonic resonator is immersed 2 cm into the fluid and in the center of the beaker, the sonification is conducted with a power setting of 55% for 10 s for measurement 1 and 60 s for measurement 2, and the particle stability index is calculated as follows: Stability Index % = d 0.5 60 ⁢ s) / d 0.5 10 ⁢ s * 100.