Hi all, does anyone here use a reflector oven, metal of foil perhaps? plans or pictures would be great
All the best
All the best
Reflector oven
- Thread starter rik_uk3
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There are plans for building a reflector oven which are quite good. I've not tried one, so it would be good to hear if you have any joy with it. To me I can't quite see it's worth the effort, I'd rather just use a dutch oven for baking in.
I've used an insulated-box type solar oven in Oz before. It's not something you'd want to carry around, but if you want to bake a cake and you don't have any other means, it'll do the job. You need a climate where you have reliable sun - there's nothing more frustrating than it clouding over halfway through baking something tasty.
Reflector ovens are the dogs ****** !!!! I used one regularly this summer and can't praise them high enough. I made mine from four 99p tinned baking trays for the upper and lower reflectors and the two sides and a more expensive black non stick one for the baking shelf. My proto type was made with MDF and aluminium foil and that worked really well which is why I made a more robust one from tin baking trays. Have a go they really are good.
This one looks nice Made in Sweden??
It seems to pack down small, but can't find any info on the man that makes them??
Click on the bottom righthand corner of the picture to see more of it.
>>> http://www.rutabaga.com/product.asp?pid=1006901
MickT
It seems to pack down small, but can't find any info on the man that makes them??
Click on the bottom righthand corner of the picture to see more of it.
>>> http://www.rutabaga.com/product.asp?pid=1006901
MickT
I made one years ago...cooked a lovely loaf of bread with it. Essentially, you make a hoop that goes into the ground next to the fire. Then you fasten one end of a sheet of foil to the top of the hoop. The sheet of foil then comes down from the hoop to touch the ground a little way away from the fire, where you peg it to the ground with a stick or piece of wire. The rest of the foil folds back along the ground towards the fire and you put the loaf of bread/cake or whatever on top of it and light a big hot fire next to the hoop.
Hope that makes sense! I'll be making another of these ovens to test it again this weekend - i'll put up photos later...
Hope that makes sense! I'll be making another of these ovens to test it again this weekend - i'll put up photos later...
The Coventry bods went out into the woods this weekend and made that reflector oven I was talking about. Made two lovely loaves of bread, ate one and a half, and then I remembered I was supposed to take a photograph for you!
By then I had already dismantled the oven, so I put it back up again to give you the general idea - make sure the shiny side of the foil is on the inside of the oven, and it should meet the ground at about 45 degrees. We used hoops of wire and another length of wire to peg the foil to the ground at the back of the oven, but you could also use sticks.
The fire should be a lovely roaring furnace. You can make fires hotter by using smaller sticks (finger width) so that there is a larger surface area for burning and by putting them on the fire first one way and then at 90 degrees to the first lot, to ensure plenty of oxygen can get into the fire. Also, try to use dry wood as otherwise energy is lost boiling water out of the wood instead of heating your bread oven. The bread will take between about 30 mins and 1 hour to cook.
And here is the half loaf of bread we had left...(but not for long!)
For those interested, this is a sweet yeast bread. We were trying to make our bread-making as light weight as possible so that it could be made on the trail. We used the following method:
Put all the dry ingredients in a plastic bag to carry with you. These are:
2 tablespoons powdered milk, 2 packets of dried yeast such as you'd use in a bread maker, 2/3 mug brown sugar (this makes for quite a sweet loaf), 1/2 mug rolled oats, 2 teaspoons salt, 2 mugs wholemeal flour, 3-3 and 1/2 mugs strong white flour. These quantities make two loaves like the one in the above picture.
When you add water, the bread will need several hours to rise, so it's a good idea to mix it to a dough in the morning and then leave it in it's plastic bag until you cook it in the evening. We actually mixed the dough in the bag, which is easiest if you have a hard flat surface such as a log to rest the bag on whilst you knead the dough.
It's a good idea to smear some oil on the foil before you put the dough on it, otherwise the bread will stick to the foil. You will probably need to turn the bread during cooking.
By then I had already dismantled the oven, so I put it back up again to give you the general idea - make sure the shiny side of the foil is on the inside of the oven, and it should meet the ground at about 45 degrees. We used hoops of wire and another length of wire to peg the foil to the ground at the back of the oven, but you could also use sticks.
The fire should be a lovely roaring furnace. You can make fires hotter by using smaller sticks (finger width) so that there is a larger surface area for burning and by putting them on the fire first one way and then at 90 degrees to the first lot, to ensure plenty of oxygen can get into the fire. Also, try to use dry wood as otherwise energy is lost boiling water out of the wood instead of heating your bread oven. The bread will take between about 30 mins and 1 hour to cook.
And here is the half loaf of bread we had left...(but not for long!)
For those interested, this is a sweet yeast bread. We were trying to make our bread-making as light weight as possible so that it could be made on the trail. We used the following method:
Put all the dry ingredients in a plastic bag to carry with you. These are:
2 tablespoons powdered milk, 2 packets of dried yeast such as you'd use in a bread maker, 2/3 mug brown sugar (this makes for quite a sweet loaf), 1/2 mug rolled oats, 2 teaspoons salt, 2 mugs wholemeal flour, 3-3 and 1/2 mugs strong white flour. These quantities make two loaves like the one in the above picture.
When you add water, the bread will need several hours to rise, so it's a good idea to mix it to a dough in the morning and then leave it in it's plastic bag until you cook it in the evening. We actually mixed the dough in the bag, which is easiest if you have a hard flat surface such as a log to rest the bag on whilst you knead the dough.
It's a good idea to smear some oil on the foil before you put the dough on it, otherwise the bread will stick to the foil. You will probably need to turn the bread during cooking.
