Sourdough bread from my "NEW" 1847 Oregon Trail Starter AND I Resume "The Slow Carb Diet"

Adaptation of The Doctor's Sourdough Bread.

It's Friday evening at 9:30 PM. and I took my jar of sourdough starter out of the refrigerator and set it out to come to room temperature at around 4 PM.  I had also saved the excess potato water from Brian's mashed potatoes Wednesday evening in a clean mason jar and set it out at the same time.  I just finished adding a cup of the potato water and a cup of bread flour and stirring it well, using a glass or plastic bowl, not metal.   Now it is sitting in my gas oven alone but for the pilot light covered with a clean damp tea towel.  For the record I am using water that has been through our reverse osmosis filtering system and King Arthur bread flour.  More in the morning!

Saturday morning and as I read on I need to add 2 C. warm potato water and 2 1/2 C. bread flour and just to give her a kick I also added 1 T. sugar and 1 T. apple cider vinegar and mixed well.  It says to leave again overnight  in a warm place covered with a damp cloth.  Until I get home from Church Sunday it can stew away.

I also took 2 cups of the starter after feeding and before adding the ingredients above put a cup in each of two mason jars and deposited them in the deep freeze for another day long term or to share.  There was one more cup of starter left and I returned it to the refrigerator for another day short term.

I have adapted the recipe somewhat but it did beautifully!  It yielded four one pound loaves.  I will give you the recipe the way I made it but the original directions as well as the starter can be found at the following link:    carlsfriends.net/source.html

Adaptation of The Doctor's Sourdough Bread:

1 C. Sourdough Starter
2 C. Warm Filtered Water (90-95 degrees)
2 C. Warm Milk (90-95 degrees)
1 T.  Butter, Melted and Cooled
1 Scant Tablespoon or 1 Pkg. Active (I used Instant ) Yeast*
NOTE:   I purchase yeast by the pound and not by the package so I always use a scant tablespoon when replacing a pkg. of yeast.
1/4 C. Honey
7-9+ C. Bread Flour
1/4 C. Oat Bran
2 T. Sugar
2 t. Salt
2 t. Baking Powder

3 Evenings before planned bread baking perform paragraph 1 above.  Next day perform paragraph 2 above.  The third day proceed as follows:

The following morning mix the butter with the warm milk and stir in the yeast whisking until it is dissolved.  Add the honey and continue whisking until it too is dissolved.  Add 2 C. of the flour and the oat bran stirring together well.  Sprinkle the sugar, salt, and baking soda over the mixture.  Gently press it lightly into the dough with the back of a wooden spoon.  Cover with a damp towel and allow to stand 30-50 minutes until it is bubbly.

At this point I emptied the mixture into a large (7 quart) stainless mixer bowl, although the recipe continues by hand.  Using the dough hook starting a low speed add the flour to the dough UNTIL THE DOUGH CLEANS THE SIDES OF THE BOWL AND FORMS UP THE HOOK.  Just increase the speed to medium and sprinkle the flour a bit at a time until the sides stay clean.

Either turn onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes or knead by machine for 3-5 minutes until it has a silken texture.  I machine kneaded 5 minutes.  Meanwhile generously butter 4 one pound bread pans, 9" x 3"and set aside.

Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and form into loaves.  Place each formed loaf into a prepared pan.  Cover and let rise in a warm place 2-3 hours until doubled in size.  

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and place a pan with 3 cups of water in the bottom of the oven as it heats.  Bake in a hot oven 400 degrees for 20 minutes then reduce the heat to 325 degrees and bake for 20 minutes more until thoroughly baked.  Remove from the pans and cool on racks.  Butter the tops of the loaves if you wish to prevent hard crustiness..or not!  Yield 4 one pound loaves.

When cool you may wish to double wrap and freeze as I have done for later use.   The rule of thumb as I have been taught is baked goods are good for up to 3 months in the freezer when wrapped well.
Too recap I have 1 C. fresh sourdough starter in the refrigerator that will need to be fed weekly, 2 mason jars each with 1 C. starter frozen for long term keeping, and 4 loaves of sourdough doubled wrapped for the freezer.

My Diet:

And by the way, I resumed my diet of a couple a years ago, THE SLOW CARB DIET, a week ago Monday.  I will have to have both knees replaced in the foreseeable future although not immediately and it will be in my best interest to "lighten my load" Ha Ha.  This is my thinking anyway!  On this diet you can have anything and I do mean anything you want one day a week .  Restrictions are the other days.  I will be enjoying this bread on Sunday next.  If you are interested in this diet  (IT WORKS FOR ME) here is the link    thehiddenpantry.blogspot.com/2011/09/slow-carb-diet-how-to-lose-20-pounds-in.html     It was originated by Tim Ferris who also sells his book and has lots of info and recipes and support on his own website. 

1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter from Carl Griffith

Clearly this sat awhile before I reconstituted the sourdough starter.

November 14, 2011 it came.  I had read about a sourdough starter and sent off for it.  It arrived and has sat in the envelope on my counter at the end against the tile until I resurrected it per Carl's directions 3 evenings ago.  He has a brochure available on line telling the historic nature of the starter and how to use it.  carlsfriends.net  is the link to the information as Carl passed away in late 2000 and a group of his loving friends continue his tradition of giving away at no charge with directions for reviving and using the starter at no charge.

Summary of the History:

It is given is that it started west in 1847 from Missouri.  Presumably with the family of Dr. John Savage's daughter, one of Carl's great grandmothers.  It came west and settled with them near Salem, Or.  Doc Savage's daughter met and married Carl's great grandfather on the trail and they had 10 children.  The tale and the starter have been passed parent to child since then.  Carl learned to use the starter in a basque sheep camp when he was 10 when they were setting up a homestead on the Steens Mountains in southeastern Oregon.  The bread was baked in dutch ovens on an open campfire.  People at that time had no commercial starter for their bread so it has been exposed to may wild yeasts for our enjoyment.

A more complete history can be found given at the link given above.

Through the years I have had several sourdough starters and enjoyed them very much.  All had been purchased commercially.  I am truly excited about this as when I reconstituted it as directed it has the most pleasing sour aroma of any I have ever used.  Perhaps because of all of the natural wild yeast?  At any rate it came together perfectly as directed.

The starter came dried and in a small zip lock bag.  To reactivate you dissolve the dried starter in 3/4 cup  warm water (90 degrees) and add 3/4 cup white bread flour and 1 teaspoon of sugar in a glass or plastic container, NOT METAL.  Also you want to be sure to use a filtered water of some sort without the chemicals of treated tap water.

Place the bowl, covered with a damp towel in a warm place (About 85 degrees F. like the oven with the light or pilot light on.) for up to 48 hours.  It will get bubbly from the fermentation because it has come to life!

Next mix 1 cup warm (95 degree F) water, add 1 cup of flour, and 1 tablespoon of dried potatoes or use potato water instead of the dry potato flakes. NOTE:  I made Brian mashed potatoes last night for supper so I poured the water off of the potatoes and into a glass measuring cup and left it to cool and used for this step.  Again cover and let sit in a warm place until bubbly again.  (I left covered sitting on the counter until this morning.)

Next I stirred well and stored in a one quart mason jar in the refrigerator until I am ready to use.  It Is natural to become somewhat lumpy and for a liquid to form on top.

I love the prospect of it's history, I love what I have read of Carl Griffith, and the starter has pleased me very much!  Stay tuned for sourdough bread and recipes!