bakestone woes : (

[wattsy]

Just attempted to cook a batch of Welsh cakes and I'm really struggling with the bakestone. Seems its either too hot and burns the outside but leaves the middle uncooked, or too cool, and the outside and the inside don't get cooked. Anyone got any advice? Also does anyone have any decent Welsh cake recipes?

Cheers
Matt

 

[Toddy]

By now you'll know how hot is too hot ? yes ?
Then heat it up to that, and then turn it down and let it set there. Between batches sometimes you have to turn it up again for a bit.
It's always a juggle, but eventually it becomes second nature. You just know it's needing a wee boost.
If the scones are not fully cooked in the middle you can split them and cook them that side down for a little bit too, sometimes easier, especially if the kids are sitting chapping at the table waiting with the butter and jam all ready

I'm rotten at writing out recipes for the girdle; I just use a handful of this and one of that, and a wee bit of this and a splash of something

Tom Bear's been using his to great effect though

cheers,
M

 

[tombear]

I have indeed, 2 or three times a week as a rule

What sort of rings are you using, gas or leki'.

Since I lose or wreck reciepts that I've written down I tend to get them new off the net each time. I habitually swap the sugar for Splenda since I'm not allowed it.

I use the wok ring set as low as possible and let it warm up plenty.

Keep stuff really thin and wipe with a (food) oily rag between each cake you do and if your using a runny batter like for drop scones a palate knife is great for slicing underneath as soon as the tops bubbled up and then a few seconds later flipping them.

It all boils down to practice, oh and always double the ingredients as if you have a family they will scoff far more than you think possible!

Atb

Tom

Ps thanks again Toddy the girdles a corker! Definitely one of my best swaps!

 

[British Red]

can I ask what these bakestones are? I can't imagine they are what I use as a bakestone (a socking great lump of marble!). Is it a skillet or griddle of some sort?

I can't think of Toddy cooking in a girdle...I come over all uneccessary!

 

[Ogri the trog]

can I ask what these bakestones are? I can't imagine they are what I use as a bakestone (a socking great lump of marble!). Is it a skillet or griddle of some sort?

I can't think of Toddy cooking in a girdle...I come over all uneccessary!

Typically a circular metal disk about a foot to 18 inches in diameter with a handle section on one side and about 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick, flat with no outer lip. I have my mothers old one that I was her mothers before that - they wont ever wear out!

A skillet sounds more like a variation of a frying pan and a griddle suggests holes to me.

I recall speaking to Mary about the girdle/griddle confusion but that just comes down to the difference between dialects.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[British Red]

Aaah okay Pete - cheers.

Suprising how confusing these things are - for example this is my skillet


Skillet 1 by British Red, on Flickr

 

[Toddy]

Ah, right that's a frying pan or gypsy pan. I've got two of those. One's kept just for meat, but the other does stir fries and the like at camp

Pete said something very interesting the last time this came up in discussion; that the original bakestones were made of slate.
I oven bake on a ceramic bakestone (pizza's and the like) and had wondered just how sound it'd be used like a girdle.
A griddle is one of those ridged things folks cook meat on, to us.

I have a modern electric hob, it's too wee for the traditional girdles I have, but I bought a modern flat bakestone with a cut out for the handle and am very pleased with it
The old cast iron girdles are brilliant

To get back to the slate though; that's a whole area of bushcraft that's mostly overlooked entirely. Stones and their uses.
I have stone spindle whorls, pump drill flywheels, flint strikers, granite mortars and pestles, and a couple of those beautiful hone stones that QDanT made , but there's little discussion about stone and it's properites and uses, on the forum.
I'll see if I can get photos up (it's pouring, again ) of a thermal shock shattered pot boiler stone that came from an iron age site that was being totalled by building works. Cooked someone's dinner near 2,000 years ago and it displays the characteristic banded colours within.

So, who's first to make their own bakestone ?

cheers,
M

 

[British Red]

Does converting a lump of marble count? If so - mememememe

I use mine for oven baked bread - with a big tray of water underneath ...mmmm home made onion, garlic and rosemary foccacia still warm and steamy.......

I call the gypsy pan a skillet and I have a couple of small cast iron ones and a round one. Don't use em much when I realised the cooking surface of the Esse is a huge lump of iron...bit pointless adding a smaller bit of iron really...just cook straight on the hob!

 

[wattsy]

I have indeed, 2 or three times a week as a rule

What sort of rings are you using, gas or leki'.

Since I lose or wreck reciepts that I've written down I tend to get them new off the net each time. I habitually swap the sugar for Splenda since I'm not allowed it.

I use the wok ring set as low as possible and let it warm up plenty.

Keep stuff really thin and wipe with a (food) oily rag between each cake you do and if your using a runny batter like for drop scones a palate knife is great for slicing underneath as soon as the tops bubbled up and then a few seconds later flipping them.

It all boils down to practice, oh and always double the ingredients as if you have a family they will scoff far more than you think possible!

Atb

Tom

Ps thanks again Toddy the girdles a corker! Definitely one of my best swaps!

using a gas hob going to have another pop tomorrow i've been too long without welsh cakes

 

[rik_uk3]

Welsh cakes pretty much AKA bannock are nice. I personally use a dry Tefal Red Spot frying pan over a gas ring or steel paella pan on the woodbuner/open fire when camping.

Its a matter of getting to know what you are using, practice practice practise and it will turn out good. Recipes are really only a variation on a basic so stick to one, master it, then try others.

Bakestones/Gypsey pans/Skillets, much the same, different name. Your recipe is more than likely sound, it's you who needs to master the equipment you use and this will come after a few attempts; keep at it

 

[Toddy]

Bakestones/ my girdles have no rim though Richard. They're flat plates of cast iron. Fat and juices would just run off them.
Being flat lets me turn things easily on them though. Oatcakes, tattie scones, scones, pancakes, crumpets, bannock, tortillas, etc....bready things really.

cheers,
M

 

[bilmo-p5]

A flat griddle/girdle with a modest lip, such as this folding alu job, makes a very versatile tool indeed...

 

[lannyman8]

i made 1 for my hobo stove to do bread, works a treat, cost nout apart from the time to cut the mild steel, and cutting bits, and let me tell you it took a great old time and effort to do and make a nice round shape, worth it though......

 

[daf187]

My Dad made our family bakestone when he was an apprentice. Now my Bro guards it jealously. I just discovered an old one in our allotment shed, but it's got proper rusty. Any clever ideas for getting it back in shape? Lots of sanding and then resealing would be my guess, but advice from any metalworkers would be appreciated.

Ta,

Daf

 

[bilmo-p5]

Google 'Electrolytic rust removal'

It's the only way; nothing else comes close.

 

[SiWhite]

Google 'Electrolytic rust removal'

It's the only way; nothing else comes close.

X2 - mega easy - bucket of water, some soda crystals, a bit of steel and a battery charger. Easy!

 

[Toddy]

Brillo pads and elbow grease...............and old clothes and a sink that can be thoroughly cleaned when you're finished The old girdle will be a mess of old fat/oil/flour and rust, and it'll need scoured off.
You want to minimise pitting, but if it's an old one the underside can look like a relief map of the moon my oldest one does, but it was used for a couple of generations swung over an open fire. Don't fret about that so much, just get it sound enough not to leave rusty dust over everything.

Then oil and salt the cooking side, and heat it really hot and let it cool down slow. Repeat a couple of times if you have the chance, but otherwise just using it will slowly restore the surface for you.

It's a great bit of kit

cheers,
Toddy

 

[daf187]

Thanks all, some good tips. Looked at the electrolysis option before, but not practical atm. Elbow grease it is. Vinegar seems to be viable too - as long as it's neutralised with soda afterwards, it seems.

 

[bikething]

Thanks all, some good tips. Looked at the electrolysis option before, but not practical atm. Elbow grease it is. Vinegar seems to be viable too - as long as it's neutralised with soda afterwards, it seems.

My bakestone arrived (new) with a rough cast finish on the cooking surface - I took a belt sander to it to flatten it off, then seasoned it.
I think I based it on instructions on cleaning and seasoning a new dutch oven written by British Red ?

EDIT: Yep, it was this thread - might be worth trying the method?

 

[daf187]

Lovely ta. Looking at the stone it's got an amount of pitting, so a goodly bit of sanding required. I'll get to it...

Daf