Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter

Instructions for simple Sourdough Pan Bread using
Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter
and a Kitchen Aid K-45 mixer (revised May 2003)

Put into the mixing bowl:
1 cup fully active culture
2 cups water
3 cups bread flour
Mix manually
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Let sit covered until volume doubles.
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Manually mix in:
2 tsp. salt & 2 more cups flour.
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Machine knead ~10 min. at low
speed while adjusting consistency
by adding 1 cup more or less of
additional flour, until the dough
no longer sticks to bowl or fingers.
-----------------
Remove from mixer, hand knead
briefly, and split dough.
Work in more flour while hand
kneading each piece. (Total cups
flour=6, more or less.)
Bat each piece around in the bowl
with the dough hook, at medium speed.
(Bat one while kneading the
other, repeat twice.)
-----------------
Form and reform each piece several
times during 20 or 30 minutes,
otherwise keeping covered.
The dough should be soft enough to
easily reseal a seam, but should not
stick to hands.
Finally form to oblong and cut tops with
razor blade, 10 or 12 diagonal cuts.
Dough as finally formed should be
silky smooth.
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Place in pans*, allow to rise 4 to
8 hrs., enclosed to retain moisture,
until top is an inch or two higher
than the top of the pan. (3 in. is possible!)
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Bake 40 min. at ~375°F. Cold start OK.
(Expect little "oven push", or none.)
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*usual Teflon-coated steel pans, capacity
~64 fl. oz. (~8 cups) to brim;
Times are approximate, for ~70°F --
Shorten for summertime.
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Cans as measures:
A 24 ounce can is good for fetching the
flour. Keep can with flour. A 16 oz. can
is good for measuring the water.
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-CarlsFriends, Rev. May. 2003

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