Instructions: Heavy griddle or large frying pan, or non-stick electric skillet

muffin or crumpet rings or cat-food or tunafish cans about 3 inches in diameter with tops and bottoms removed

4 to 5 T ladle or long handled cup

The Dough
While yeast is dissolving, assemble the other ingredients. Then into the instant potatoes beat the cold milk, and stir it along with the water and dissolved yeast into the flour. (Or if using raw potato, stir the cold milk into the potato pan, then stir both in to the flour, adding dissolved yeast only after mixture has cooled to tepid.) Beat vigorously for a minute or so with a wooden spoon to make a smooth loose thick batter, heavier than the usual pancake batter but not at all like the conventional dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise, preferably at around 80F until batter has risen and large bubbles have appeared in the surface (usually about 1 1/2 hours - it must be bubbly, however long it takes).

Stir the batter down, then beat in the salt and water, beating vigorously for a minute. Cover and let rise until bubbles again appear in the surface, about an hour at 80F. The batter is now ready to become English Muffins. (Batter may sit for an hour or more after its second rise, or you may use one of the delaying tactics suggested at the end of recipe).

Preliminaries
When you are ready to cook the muffins, brush insides of rings fairly generously with butter; butter surface of griddle and set over moderate heat . When just hot enough, so that drops of water begin to dance on it, the heat is about right. Scoop your ladle into the batter and dislodge the batter into a ring with rubber spatula; batter should be about 3/8" thick to make a raised muffin twice that. Batter should be heavy, sticky, sluggish, but not runny having just enough looseness to be spread out into the ring. If you think it is too thick, beat in tepid water by driblets.

Cooking the muffins
The muffins are to cook slowly on one side until bubbles, which form near the bottom of the muffin, pierce through the top surface, and until almost the entire top changes from a wet ivory to a dryish gray colour; this will take 6 to 8 minutes or more, depending on the heat. Regulate heat so that bottoms of muffins do not colour more than a medium or pale brown. Now the muffins are to be turned over for a brief cooking on the other side. Less than a minute is usually enough for cooking the second side. Cool muffins on rack.

Delaying tactics
Not much can happen to ruin this dough, as long as you have achieved the necessary bubbles. You may let it wait at room temp for an hour or more before baking; or you may even refrigerate it over night. If it seems to have lost its bubble, you can bring it back to life by beating in another cup of flour blended with enough tepid water to make a batter; this will give the yeast something more to feed on and in an hour or so it will rise and bubble again as it gobbles its new food. You can even turn this batter into a sourdough.

Simply let it sit at room temp for a day or two until it has soured, then bottle and refrigerate it. You can now use it in any sourdough recipe, or you can make sourdough English muffins; blend 1/2 cup of it with 1 cup flour and enough water to make a batter, add 1 T dissolved yeast, and let it rise; then beat in more flour and water, or milk, and add salt; let it rise and bubble again; and cook your muffins. Replenish the sourdough starter by mixing it with more flour and water or milk blended into a batter, and let sit at room temp until it has bubbled up and subsided; refrigerate as before.

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