Campfire bread experiment

[Quixoticgeek]

As part of my [thread=136432]Sixteen Skills in 2016[/thread], I wanted to have a go at baking bread over an open fire (ideally without resorting to very heavy Dutch ovens). After much research it seemed that dry baking was the way to go.

Dry baking is basically sticking one pot inside another with the item you're baking inside the inner pot. The inner pot is kept from the outer pot by some sort of separator. You can buy dry baking kits designed for hiking, but being on a budget and with most of these being US in origin, I decided to have a go at using stuff I already had.

Equipment wise I used two Tatonka stainless steel kettles, the 1.6L and the 1.0L.

The recipe was for a simple white loaf.

• 500g Strong white flour
• 1 Sachet bread yeast
• Salt
• Slug of olive oil
• Warm water

I mixed the ingredients together in the 1.6L pot. In hindsight I put a bit too much water in, which made a very damp mix. Fortunately the friend I was camping with had some spare flour, unfortunately it was self raising flour. After a bit of kneeding the dough was left in the covered pot by the fire for it's first rise. I was making this outdoors in April so needed the warmth of the fire to get a rise within a reasonable time frame.

First rise went pretty well, but it became apparent that 500g of flour makes a lot of bread, I split the dough roughly in half, one half for my experiment and the other half I gave to my camp mate for her to experiment with. Knocked back and with a brief kneed, I left the dough in the lid of the 1.0L pot with a loose covering of foil to keep it from drying out. The dough spent about half an hour next to the fire rising.

While the dough had it's second rise I built up the fire. It had been burning since breakfast that morning, but I turned the Just A Pile Of Sticks™ fire lay into a log cabin fire lay. The fire wood was seasoned hornbeam approximately wrist thick. The aim was to get a good hot bed of embers.

I dropped the dough in it's lid into the 1.6L pot, with a layer of aluminium foil in the bottom crumpled slightly to provide a gap between the outer pot and the inner pot. Then it was just a case of putting the pot on the fire, and hoping...

While the bread cooked, I carved a butter knife out of a piece of green hornbeam.

After about 40 minutes I took the lid off the outer pot to take a look. It looked like the dough was cooking nicely on the underside, but not fully cooked on the top. I gave it a bit longer while I had a think, before deciding to turn the bread over. I had oiled the lid before I put the dough in, but hadn't managed to fully coat the rim and the bread was stuck. Eventually with some levering and poking with sticks, I got it separated.

Inverted, the dough got another 20 minutes or so. I then just had the slight issue of how to get the bread out the pot without burning myself. After inverting the bread into the lid of the 1.6L pot, then turning that back out onto the ground. The result? One good looking loaf of bread, with a nice hollow sound when tapped.

Slicing the bread through the middle, it was cooked through. Just perfect. The crust was not brilliant, I'd forgotten to score the top of the loaf before cooking. But inside the crumb was lovely. I might not win any prizes on bake off, but for a loaf of bread cooked over an open fire in the middle of the woods. I am pleased.

Of course the proof of the loaf is in the eating. Served up with some salted butter, spread with a simple hand carved butter knife, the loaf didn't last long, disappearing in about 10 minutes. The taste wasn't the best I've ever made, I think it could have done with a bit more salt. But it was certainly tasty enough that it all got eaten. In future I think I'll use about half the flour and increase the salt. I'm guessing 200-250g of flour is about right for this size pot setup.

All in all, tasty fresh bread baked on an open fire, using no specialised equipment, just the stuff I have in my pack, I'm pleased with that.

Next time I may have to see if I can bake a cake...

 

[santaman2000]

Looks great!

 

[Russell96]

Looks lovely. I think you can chalk that one off your list!
Russ

 

[nic a char]

very good - would you not prefer a healthy recipe - eg wholemeal flour/a farl?

 

[Mesquite]

That looks like a tasty loaf

 

[Herbalist1]

That looks great. Nicely risen and looks to have a good, light crumb. Ok now you can play with the mix/other recipes but hink you can definitely tick this off the list.

 

[Quixoticgeek]

very good - would you not prefer a healthy recipe - eg wholemeal flour/a farl?

Since when has white bread been unhealthy?

I chose white for a couple of reasons:

a) I already had the flour in the cupboard
b) Wholemeal bread tends to rise slower, given I was going this in the woods in cool conditions I wanted things to work in my favour
c) This was mostly a test of the cooking technique, now I know it works I can experiment with other recipes.

J

 

[stonyman]

Mass produced white bread is incredibly unhealthy due to the additives in it, that's only my opinion mind you. That loaf of camp fire bread looks abso-blooming-lutely fabulously tasty, I could almost smell and taste it.

Sent from my Hudl HT7S3 using Tapatalk

 

[santaman2000]

Since when has white bread been unhealthy?

I chose white for a couple of reasons:

a) I already had the flour in the cupboard
b) Wholemeal bread tends to rise slower, given I was going this in the woods in cool conditions I wanted things to work in my favour
c) This was mostly a test of the cooking technique, now I know it works I can experiment with other recipes.

J

Mass produced white bread is incredibly unhealthy due to the additives in it.....

She's made this from scratch so there aren't any additives such as in the mass produced stuff (which are also in the mass produced whole grain breads unfortunately) However white flour is somewhat unhealthier on it's on because it's had all the bran removed and is thus lower in fiber (meaning it's also proportionately higher in net carbs) Most dietary guidelines advise either limiting intake of processed white flours or avoiding them altogether. As to the question, "Since when...?" the answer is most dieticians and diabetic counselors have been teaching it for about the last 50 years.

All that said, it still tastes far too good to pass up (to me at least)

 

[Mike313]

The bread looks amazing. You did a great job of cooking it so evenly.

 

[bearbait]

That looks like it would go very nicely with a few olives. (Or probably any number of things.) Tidy job.

I note that you used some crumpled foil to separate the two billies. I think some bush bakers use two or three small stones or pebbles to keep them separated, not from a creek for explosive reasons.

 

[robevs73]

Looks good.
My camp baking is a bit hit and miss, sometimes it's great other times it's terrible and I've had a lot of practice!

 

[robevs73]

Here's a cake I made in Sweden two years ago in a greased zebra pot rotated at the edge of the fire.

 

[robevs73]

Morrison's brownie mix dry baked in two pots with baking paper to keep the inner pot clean.

 

[Quixoticgeek]

She's made this from scratch so there aren't any additives such as in the mass produced stuff (which are also in the mass produced whole grain breads unfortunately) However white flour is somewhat unhealthier on it's on because it's had all the bran removed and is thus lower in fiber (meaning it's also proportionately higher in net carbs) Most dietary guidelines advise either limiting intake of processed white flours or avoiding them altogether. As to the question, "Since when...?" the answer is most dieticians and diabetic counselors have been teaching it for about the last 50 years.

I'll bite. [citation needed]

All that said, it still tastes far too good to pass up (to me at least)

Quite. And in moderation, it's not going to do any major harm, it's not like I'm eating 1kg of the stuff every day.

J

 

[santaman2000]

I'll bite. [citation needed]



Quite. And in moderation, it's not going to do any major harm, it's not like I'm eating 1kg of the stuff every day.

J

A specific citation? Don't know. However every PSA for the last 50 years or so; plus as a diabetic for the last 23 years I've had almost annual dietician counseling. All saying the same thing regarding processed white flours. Likewise white rice vs brown rice, although the fiber difference there is less.

General rule for any foods: the closer to natural (less processed) the healthier.

Agreed that in moderation almost all of it is acceptable.

 

[nic a char]

"Since when has white bread been unhealthy?" "in moderation, it's not going to do any major harm" =

"the answer is most dieticians and diabetic counselors have been teaching it for about the last 50 years." - so, why eat unhealthy crap?

a farl made from wholewheat flour, runny honey, healthy oil, and bicarb or BP is simple and cooks very quickly

 

[Joe tahkahikew]

The way we make bread when out in the bush or forest is to wrap dough around the end of a stick and bake it over the fire. Only takes few minutes.

 

[Tantalus]

Nice job !

My home made bread always has a sweeter taste than anything you can buy.

You mention putting more salt in to improve the taste... Salt and yeast dont get along well, the more salt you add the less your bread will rise. Experiment away to find the best mix for you

Love Joes idea of twisting dough round a stick.

Tant

 

[santaman2000]

.........a farl made from wholewheat flour, runny honey, healthy oil, and bicarb or BP is simple and cooks very quickly

Exactly. Use whole grain rather flour than processed white flour.