5th try; real good, but I cheated
After four previous efforts, I had excellent results on a test loaf this weekend, on the back deck. I had an extra pouch of dough ingredients from last weekend’s Assateague trip, and I didn’t think it would keep indefinately, so I went ahead and mixed it up.
The dough went into the small pot. The small pot went into the big pot, sitting on three, half-inch long sections of aluminum tube (laid on end). A cover goes on the big pot, but not the small pot, and the assembly goes on the Coleman Exponent cook stove.
Previous loafs were undercooked, or #1 was well cooked over too long a period, so the bottom crust was too tough and crunchy. All the loafs had tough bottom crusts. This time, I was resolved to use more heat. Then I decided to cheat. I unscrewed the pot lid’s handle and jury rigged a Martha Stewart digital thermometer to fit through the screw hole and read the temperature inside the pot. Cheating in this manner, I was able to keep the temperature in the pot between 350 and 380. I had an excellent loaf, golden browned, in 35 minutes.
I don’t plan on taking that thermometer with me when I go camping, so that was the cheating part. I hoped to learn to gauge the burn of the stove and then reproduce that burn in the field. I was able to see that I had, on past loafs, used way too low a flame. Trouble is, I learned that produdcing a static temperature in the pot is hard. It was either getting hotter or cooler at almost every setting. Still, I have a lot better idea what the flame should look like now. Beyond that, if Martha Stewart isn’t along with me, I’ll just have to keep an eye on the baked goods and fiddle with the fire.
Interesting, and I’m done experimenting.
Happy baking to you, and happy holidays, too.
~~Chip
Making Bread?
I thought making bread was illegal, but I guess you have to pay for all this paddling some how.
Rude
haha
great thread! just ordered an aluminum dutch oven, so I’ll have to try some of these recipes.
2 Bakers
I’ve tried two different baking methods that both work well:
http://www.backpackeroven.com/
This is a little oven that you set up over your flame or coals. It works really well but it does mean that you have to take an extra piece of equipment.
http://www.packitgourmet.com/Baking-Set-p203.html
This is a baking set made of silicone that you nest down inside your cookpot. The down side is that you don’t get a crust but you don’t need to pack in any special equipment and the silicone squishes down well.
THANKS
THANKS FOR ALL OF THESE TIPS
Bread in the Backcountry
Check out NOLS Cookery. Fresh baked bread, pizzas, cinnamon rolls, etc are staples on NOLS courses: http://www.nols.edu/store/product.php?productid=16302
Enjoy!
Bread
There is always tortillas.I use them all the time.
But mix some self rising flour with powdered milk and add water when you are ready to make bread or biscuits etc…
Skillet Baking
Here’s a pretty good article on how to ‘skillet bake’. Seems like this would be a good idea since you wouldn’t have to carry any special equipment or anything.
http://www.packitgourmet.com/How+to+Make+Bread+in+the+Backcountry-sp82.html
I’m with campsalot
Pita is the way to go… it doesn’t get squished like bread does, it makes sandwichcraft a lot easier, and it takes up less space than bread. I’m a lazy cook in the wilderness. I want the least amount of trouble when it comes to my meals, plus tend to have full days of activity with not a lot of leisure time in camp, so baking is not an option for me.
My favorite application so far for pita bread is Hormel cooked chicken breast in a pouch, some pre-cooked bacon, a packet of Chik Fil A Mayo, and a bit of Tabasco sauce in a pita. If you want a hot meal, warm up the chicken in your cook pot for just a minute or two. Also, if you like freeze dried omlettes or scrambled eggs (or regular eggs for that matter) they go nicely in the pita and save you a little bit of cleanup.