The 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Chronicles

Let's get it started here! If you send a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) to:

Carl Griffith's
1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough
PO Box 321
Jefferson MD 21755 USA

(and enclose a buck or two to help the cause), the good folks at the 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Preservation Society will send you a portion of dried sourdough starter. Directions on how to grow the starter are on the website, click the link above for more information. http://home.att.net/~carlsfriends/

The site includes the history of the 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough, directions to reactivate the dried start, recipes for breads plus pancakes and more. Over the next few days we will watch how this new start grows and post recipes from Carl's original brochure.

In a small clean container, mix in one tablespoon of lukewarm water, bottled water is best to use if you have hard water. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of Carl's dried start and let stand for a few minutes to soften. Mix in one tablespoon of AP flour, adding a drop or two of water to make the consistency of thin pancake batter. Let sit until the mixture gets bubbly. Then add 1/4 cup water, stir then pour into a larger clean container and then add 1/4 cup flour. When it gets bubbly, add 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup flour. When this gets bubbly you should have about a cup of active start.

Now we are ready to get baking!