Hey camp_girl and intrepid_camper...thoughts on bringing bread out in the boonies...  I have always wanted to try making bannock on a camping trip, but when I can so easily get by without sacrificing taste with bagels and tortillas, I have never gotten around to futzing with any other kind of bread.  thoughts?

prouboy  

Puckster wrote on Mar 27^th, 2009 at 1:45am:

Hey camp_girl and intrepid_camper...thoughts on bringing bread out in the boonies...  I have always wanted to try making bannock on a camping trip, but when I can so easily get by without sacrificing taste with bagels and tortillas, I have never gotten around to futzing with any other kind of bread.  thoughts?

I've pretty much given up on making bread on early spring canoe trips.  I made bread sticks to go with spaghetti several years ago.  Making and rolling out the stick ... even cooking them, was no big deal.  However, its hard to get dough to rise when the outside temperature is barely pushing 50.  To get at least some rise out of the dough, I put it in a baggie and placed it inside by sleeping bag ... then I took a nap.  Body heat finally did the trick.

dd

DD -- you give a new meaning to warm buns...

prouboy

Off topic-sorry....should we start another topic? I do the bread thing all the time-yeasted....french, whole wheat, 50/50......its a walk in the park and it is a staple on all of my trips! The rise issue can be handled by starting with warm water, to hot can hurt the critters-yeast.  I mix and knead the dough in a large zip lock that is packed in the vaccuum bag with the dry ingredients less the yeast. Pour dry ingredients into ziplock add warm water and yeast and dont forget olive oil-the oil is important a lot of receipes dont call for it...a TBS or 2 will do the trick-the dough will rise better and it is easier to handle...better for ya too. Mix well-the more you mix the better the crust. Now here is the spot that you all can play. I have carried dough all day long in two ziplocks inner one sealed, the outer one ajar...remember dough rises-and it is super sticky....have not learned this the hard way but been close a couple of times----punch it down at the portages and the lunches-I have carried it a thwart bag, food pack, and on the cooler days tucked into my shirt(warm...and this is my son's favorite way..."bread belly"). I  have also started the dough @ 4 in the afternoon for dinner that night. Heat.....not to hot....that is the key-the warm the enviroment for the yeast the faster it consumes the sugar and the faster the bread rises. The longer route to bread is better however, but sometimes things just have to happen.... :PAnyway....the bread is in the bag punch it down that one last time and drop into the pan....I use an outback oven....in combo with a dragonfly. Top fire and such will work but you will have to be deligent ;). The outback works for me because it is a little more hands off and I can focus some of my energies on the rest of the meal and such. In addition the oven allows me to warm the dough for its last rise before baking the bread-this is important on those cool days...otherwise I just let it rise with the cover on in a warm sun spot....maybe a black shirt over the pan.....When i am happy with the volume and size of the dough i bake the bread.....I also remove the cover to the outback pan but not the reflector to finish the baking process because I like crusty bread....dont forget the real butter in the nalgene, think about additions like sunflower seeds, flax, millet and such, experiment with your sugar sources-honey, white sugar, brown sugar, etc, High gluten flour adds to the bread,----have fun I am still tweeking and exploring the bread thing-A good carefree place to start is to use the bread machine mixes...they come with fresh yeast(yeast is important) and then all you need is the oil and the warm h2o. One of the things that I am thinking about is using a hole saw to modifiy the outback oven cover so I dont have to mess with it any more. Bread is a great thing on trail-give it a try it is worth it. If there are left overs be sure to cure the bread before putting into a ziplock-let it cool completely or you will have soggy bread instead of crusting bread for lunch the next day. I have adapted many receipes all have worked. The oil is key as is the overall moisture of the dough-moisture thing is totally qualitative and something that a bread machine has really helped me with. Corn bread, bannock, tortillas are other possibilites-from scratch.

Marlin: damn, I'm impressed!  

I bake a lot of bread at home, especially during the winter.  I love experimenting with seeds, different flours, etc.  and pride myself with my breadmaking...but have NEVER tried it camping.  Don't even have any idea what kind of oven I'd use.  I have a thing called a "bake packer" which is really a heat exchanger.   I suppose I could use it to bake bread (I bake muffins in it, using reynolds oven bags.)  Tell me more about your oven...heavy?  big?  what's the name?  Got a pic?

Yeah, we should probably make a new thread, but what the hell, no one is watching...

prouboy

[moved from another thread; original poster:  prouboy]

wow DD!  I've just had a new QJ experience....getting my thread split!  

I think I like it!

prouboy

(and now I know someone IS watching..)

Marlin:

I'm impressed- hope that someday I follow the scent of fresh baked bread into your camp just in time for a sample.

Oil slows rather than speeds the fermentation process but tends to make the bread hold its moist texture longer as well providing flavor and nutritional benefits.

Puckster wrote on Mar 27^th, 2009 at 1:45am:

Hey camp_girl and intrepid_camper...thoughts on bringing bread out in the boonies...  I have always wanted to try making bannock on a camping trip, but when I can so easily get by without sacrificing taste with bagels and tortillas, I have never gotten around to futzing with any other kind of bread.  thoughts?

We usually do skillet bread when we’re camping. I’ll try to write up a detailed explanation and post it on the site later – I’ve seen this question come up a lot!

In the meantime, we did write a blog entry on the Backpacker Oven awhile back which will give you a good idea of that particular oven and some idea of skillet 'baking'.

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Is it?the outback oven....backpacker pantry....I think that is it....Comes in 2 sizes...I use the larger of the two-skip the parchment paper I have found that it is not necessary, but i have not made mom's famous yeasted carmel rolls yet :P. No adhesion issues with cakes and such-MMMMMMMM can you say Blueberry cornbread, chocolate chocolate chip cinnamon cake, double peach yellow cake-you soak the dried peaches in peach schnapps, MMMMMMMM :P The pan doubles as my frying pan and fish steamer. It comes with the no brain thermometer, the pan w/ cover, the heat defuser, and the reflector envelop....the only thing that would make it lighter is to find a Ti pan and drill a hole in the cover to accept the thermometer. Got turn on to it via a trip to Woodland Caribou by a very good friend-I think of him and mentally thank him every time I use it ;) Has proven to be the BOMB and no issue with the thing to date-DOnt forget the heat difuser...I did and that is how I got my nickname of ScORCH! ;) A good simmering stove is necessary-like I said B4 I use the dragonfly by MSR-I have not used it on a wood fire nor would I try. The thing is efficient with fuel-I estimate fuel via the NOLS recommendations and have never run out, and usually return with a little extra-All my cooking is via the stoves-I like leaving the wood to other critters-then I skip the permadirt and with a little more finger hair and that is important to me it makes wiping the bread crumbs and such a little cleaner and a efficient process. ;) Do any of you folks use this thing? If so has anyone made modifications to the top so things come out a little less steamed like- I am currently removing the Al cover to finish the baking process to dry my creations out a bit-I believe doing this makes me a bit less efficient with my time and fuel.....Any pointers from ya all? I will find out about the tortillas from scratch....Anyone doing spelt breads-looking for a receipe for a starting point-what about sour dough always thought that would be the bomb with my steamed herby lakers and thymed carrots?

The Flashing Oven I made will do what the Outback oven will, IF you want to got the do-it-yourself route. About 2 lbs not counting baking pan.
Works on single burner stove, with a heat diffuser, over coals, and has a thermometer and inspection port.
 
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I make yeast bread if we are camping with a group of people, because then I've also brought along a fairly large reflector oven for baking.  I make a lot of muffins and quick breads in the Bake-packer too, which I take along when I am going solo or with just one other person.
I haven't had the problem of trying to raise dough on cold days, I guess it has always been warm enough.  Generally I bake bread when we are on a layover day to be able to start the raising process around 2-3:00 in the afternoon for supper.  I make very simple bread: flour, water, a dash of oil, salt, sugar and yeast.  I make it into dinner rolls which makes it easier to divide up when cooked and I think it cooks better in a reflector oven than a loaf does.
I can attest to the success of ST's oven, it baked us a loaf of yeast bread just as slick as if we had an electric oven, and it had a nice brown crust on it.
I often make cinnamon rolls with a baking powder buscuit (Bisquick) dough and roll it out, put brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and raisins on it.  Then roll up jelly roll fashion, cut into rolls with a piece of fishing line, arrange in reflector oven pan or bake-packer and cook.
Once I adjusted my patience to the Bake-packer I quit producing half cooked muffins.  :(  I use oven baking bags in the Bake-packer, but I cut them open and in half and get at least 2 out of each bag.  I pack one in each muffin or bread box so it is there when I am ready to cook.  I use a wooden clothes pin to fasten the top of the closed bag shut during cooking.
You can get gingerbread mix at the grocery store which just requires adding water.  It cooks nicely in the bake-packer but only half the mix box at a time will fit.  I divide it into two or three portions while still at home then pack the parts back into the original box for the trip.   ;)

Thanks for all the great info.  I'm buying an Old Scout reflector oven tomorrow.   :)

prouboy

If you are new to reflector oven cooking, you should practice some before you take off on your trip.  Practice with amount of fire and fire distance in front of stove.  I once overcooked the brownies so that they had the consistency of jaw breakers and had to be blown out of the pan with dynamite.  ;D
You may have to turn the pan on occasion so the back or front will keep up with the rest of the pan in baking.  I use a pliers to grab the pan and a pan stiff enough when full (tin foil pans are too soft and "droop") to hold its shape when grabbed at one corner with pliers or pot grabber.  My reflector oven needs to be picked up and moved away from the fire to adjust the pan/goodies I am baking; then put back for more cooking time.  
PS-Cookies!  The cookie mixes available at the grocery store work great in the reflector oven.  You can make them as bars; a thin layer of dough spread into your cake pan.  Or you can make them as separate cookies which allows you to remove those which are cooked and put the rest back to cook a bit longer if needed.  There are also directions on the brownie or gingerbread box to make cookies out of the mix instead of bread/bars. 8-)

You really don't need a reflector oven or a Outback Oven to bake bread just a fire and a fry pan.  

                                       Beer Bread
 
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intrepid_camper wrote on Mar 28^th, 2009 at 4:11pm:

PS-Cookies!  The cookie mixes available at the grocery store work great in the reflector oven.  You can make them as bars; a thin layer of dough spread into your cake pan.  Or you can make them as separate cookies which allows you to remove those which are cooked and put the rest back to cook a bit longer if needed.  There are also directions on the brownie or gingerbread box to make cookies out of the mix instead of bread/bars.

I'm hungry already, and my daughter will go crazy...cookie and brownie mixes -- these are both dry mixes that require just a few additional ingredients?  

prouboy

intrepid_camper wrote on Mar 28^th, 2009 at 4:11pm:

If you are new to reflector oven cooking, you should practice some before you take off on your trip.

OK, so tomorrow I am going to be in my backyard, in the middle of suburbia, hunched over a little campfire with my shiny new reflector over, cooking those cinnamon rollups you? or someone in this thread described.

I finally figured out what to do in March.  

prouboy
 

IC, any suggestions on the best pan for the reflector oven?  Teflon or hard anodized for easy cleaning or plain steel pie pans (might take the heat better).

Terp

Oh my....totally frustrated-am trying to link some info on the outback oven-I must be to old to learn new tricks...... >:(To all that are interested there in a youtube video demo on the out back but I was unable to link it to this thread....Google Outback Oven and look for the youtube result....here is the info....   (You need to Login or Register

T....it all depends on the heat....hot enough to burn the no stick off hot enough to burn the bread ;) Have heard about it happening on a canyonlands trip with one of the high altitude MSr stoves when they ran out of white gas and had to resort to their person stock of Jack Daniels but that it is yet another thread I think, and another lifetime too. ;D

intrepid_camper wrote on Mar 28^th, 2009 at 1:23am:

I often make cinnamon rolls with a baking powder buscuit (Bisquick) dough and roll it out, put brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and raisins on it.  Then roll up jelly roll fashion, cut into rolls with a piece of fishing line, arrange in reflector oven pan or bake-packer and cook.

I_C -- I created a gooey mess trying to make these cinnamon roll ups.  Obviously...too wet of a dough.  What was the ratio you used of dough to water/milk?  

prouboy

My friend cooks this great bread on a previous trip.  We were canoeing mid October but still did have an issue to get the bread to rise.  We love this 9" square aluminum dutch oven.  I don't think you can get them anymore, unless anyone else can suggest a source.

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starwatcher

starwatcher wrote on Mar 30^th, 2009 at 2:55am:

My friend cooks this great bread on a previous trip.  We were canoeing mid October but still did have an issue to get the bread to rise.

On the day I mentioned above (putting dough in my sleeping bag), it was spitting snow and the wind was probably 15 mph.

So, if you can get dough to rise outdoors (sans heat) in these conditions, please provide your technique.

dd

I understand now dd.  I guess the term "cold" is relative.  :)

starwatcher

Prouboy,  I judge by the consistency of the dough, and you do want it pretty dry to work with successfully.  If it is too sticky you can also make a bed of bisquick or flour to work on and sprinkle more on top as you pat it out flat.  You need to remember to bring some extra flour on the trip for this necessity, or remember to hold some back from your recipie when you're making them.  In all instances the bisquick dough is not as easy to work with as yeast dough; just dumping the whole ragged mess into a greased pan would work anyway, just look a bit weird.   ;D
When I make them I work on a large plastic zip-lock.  To roll up you can use the bag to support the dough, rather than trying to directly pick up the dough.  Pinch the edge shut along the roll, cut them with a string by sliding string under the roll, bring the sting ends together over top and cross/pull to cut through the dough without squishing it.
Regarding pans, I use an inexpensive lightweight aluminum pan.  These are easy to find at a dollar store or goodwill.  Foil pans will work too, but are pretty soft and need a little extra care and support when moving them around full and/or hot.  I find that your cooking helpers might not remember this and it is a bummer to have the brownies on the ground  :'(

Cookies in reflector oven, last day of a 12 day trip.

---

Making yeast cinnamon rolls, Argo lake.  Then trying to keep them dry enough to cook and the fire going in the rain till they were done  :-X

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Soaked fire.

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I_C -- I am so damn impressed!  That sheet of cookies looked PERFECT!  Was that a dry mix?  

I can't wait to perfect this.  I'll redo the cinnamon rolls...they actually tasted ok, just not particularly aesthetic to look at!  

thanks for the good advice!

prouboy

Camp_Girl wrote on Mar 27^th, 2009 at 6:50pm:

We usually do skillet bread when we’re camping. I’ll try to write up a detailed explanation and post it on the site later – I’ve seen this question come up a lot!

Finally got around to it:

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Hope this helps!

C_G the link does help, but it assumes you already have a bread recipe.  Am I missing something?

BTW, I just placed an order from pack-it, look forward to the shipment arriving!

prouboy

Prouboy,
Yes that was a cookie mix.  They generally call for egg, oil and water in the mix.  Last year we "lost" the dry egg powder somewhere in bottom of food  pack so we made the cookies sans the egg and they still turned out just fine.
IC

Here is my bread recipie:
1/4 cup warm water, 1 Tbl dry yeast, 1 tsp sugar.  Proof these.
3/4 cup warm water
4 tsp salt (teaspoons! not tablespoons...too much salt will kill the yeast)
2 Tbl olive oil or melted shortening
3 to 3 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
When yeast is proofed, add rest of ingredients and just 2 cups of the flour.  Mix well and then add more flour until it is no longer sticky, then kneed until smooth and elastic.
Put a dash of oil into a large pan, bowl, or I use an ice cream 5qt plastic pail.  Put in dough and swirl around to cover dough and sides of pan with oil.  Cover and set aside to raise.  The more you punch down this recipie and let it raise again, the better it tastes in the long run.

This is pretty much the recipe that I use for my french bread recipe-I dont proof the yeast-probably my lack of patience-and I use a little more salt-do to taste. and I incorporate the oil into the dough as I knead in a zip lock-which makes the transportation of the dough ball a bit easier.

Regarding salt in my recipie...I overstated the amount, it should be 2 tsp to 3 cups flour, not 4.  Sorry...

I'm glad to see that.  I was thinking it was pretty salty bread.   ;)

Salty bread is the bomb-I just use a little more yeast and sugar source to compensate for the extra salt. Try the experiment......

You must be young, marlin.  Us old folks, we have to watch our sodium.   ;D

Yah....I have been 29.5 yrs old for ...well a long time now...I believe in what Jackie Gleason believed-it is quality and then quanity. I guess ...after talking to many ancient folks it is not much fun getting super old so I am making my stand...of sorts anyways....HERE IS TO BEING 29.5 and using sea salt and good bread ;)

Just wanted to thank you for this thread I ordered the   (You need to Login or Register & recieved it on friday. Got around to trying it out on Sunday. Made some just add water blueberry muffins in it.  ;D

They turned out perfectly, It folds down & packs small & light. This is a great oven for the price.

I will be trying a few more things in it this week including bread & pizza. 16 more days  :)

Troy

Hey Troy,


the pizza thing : I use the betty crocker mix-adding olive oil- as I am still nimoying for a crisp crust and this premix is what gets me the closest for now until I get the time to mess with it some more....I also dry slices of raw tomato and place them directly on the mixed crust prior to pulling any toppings on....I have found that that this helps with the overall flavor and helps with the soggy problems.....I also use real moz. cheese and dry spag. sauce and rehydrate on trail.....I have only had the cheese not pass the sniff test once on trail( the packaging broke inside my vaccuum bag) and have made many pizzas in the old outback ....this is the cheese that is the water packaged stuff the authentic  cheese. I have done many variations in the topping realm....dried mushroom, dried hamburger, tomatoes, black olives, spinach, basil,....and such, vaccuum pack chicken and pepperoni ( which is naturally shelf stable) . I have even made fish pizza, yep it is actually very good....not kidding.... ::) The Outback is an amazing thing and really compliments the minimum impact style of cooking with stoves IMHO. I have also considered partially cooking the crust and then topping and finishing.....oh yah dont be afraid to finish the cooking with the cover(metal) off but still use the fireman fabric reflector---will add with the formation of crispy crusts with the breads, muffins, bisquits, cakes, sheppard's pie, and such. The thing that I am also working on it recipes reductions so I dont feed the mices any more ;) It is a very fun toy! ;)