Carl's 1847 Oregon Trail sourdough bread

This bread was not properly kneaded because here's the thing; long fermentation period is itself a form of kneading. Besides, the dough is sadistically, albeit kindly but insistently stretched in four directions which redistributes the yeast providing each little cellular yeastie with a new dancing partner, and by dancing partner I mean sexual procreation partner, which is only one of the two ways yeast has to procreate which is one of the reasons why they're such marvelous little survivors. I contrived a lovely animation that demonstrates these two methods yeast use to procreate, sexually and asexually. Quite nice it is, complete with music. The animation is on another blog here. The text I used was in Spanish which I liked so I left it that way, more interesting than English. It's actually nine little animations all shoved together and timed so one picks up where another leaves off while all the rest wait. It goes round and round and you can lose yourself in it.

Not shown:

* the revivification of the yeast culture from deep slumber -- two days.
* the mixing and building up of the dough by doubling each feeding of flour and water in twelve hour increments. -- two days.
* cool fermentation period covered in the refrigerator where the yeast activity arrests but the bacteria portion of the culture continues apace imparting its own special magic upon the dough -- three days.
* the transfer to covered Magnalite pots preheated to the vulcanized torridity of the surface of a red giant star of the first magnitude, say the one in the arm of Orion, Betelgeuse -- OK, fine! -- 500°F, and baking covered then uncovered -- forty-five minutes.

This produced two loaves. I wrapped and gave one to my neighbors who said, "Awesome!"