Field Testing Dry Baking

[Don A.]

Just to follow up on my original post about baking with esbit. The original post is here: Another Look at Dry Baking

The pertinent information is at the beginning before the bitchiness started.

After having had some success at home and on a short trip it was time for a full in the field test. I did a PCT section hike over 25 days. I baked something, either for breakfast or dinner about 12 times.

Would I do it again?–most definitely. There is a futz factor using this method in terms of time, plus a bit of added weight but the reward was well worth it by eliminating the food boredom I so often encounter on long trips. Even on the days I needed to put in more mileage because of the distance between water sources I didn't find any extra time used to bake in the morning a problem.

There were five days of rain/hail/snow at the end of my trip and on a number of mornings I just baked a muffin while still in my bag and waited for a break in the weather.

I sent baking mixes in my resupply packages but it would be easy enough to resupply baking mixes from larger stores when available.

As much as I have worked to eliminate weight from my pack in this case I'm one happy camper to be carrying the few extra ounces. There is something very civilized about drinking coffee while munching on a fresh baked blueberry muffin in the wilderness.

[Diane Pinkers]

This is close to a new solo system I'm using in size. Did you have a spacer at the bottom of your pot under the cup?

I really prefer alcohol, so I'm going to try this with my 600 ml Snow Peak and the new Starlyte XL someday–gotta get the small baking pan first. I have a carbon felt hat, but wondered about needing a spacer too.

[Don A.]

I experimented with a spacer (titanium washer) and decided it wasn't essential. I also tried round cut pieces of parchment paper at the bottom of my baking pan and have eliminated those. This was all about preventing "over baking" and/or sticking to the bottom of the pan.

After making far to many biscuits, muffins, scones, and tall pancakes I learned some tricks and gained some confidence in the system to say nothing of the weight I gained.

As long as I'm careful preparing my baking pan with a light layer of oil and waiting to allow whatever I'm baking to cool a bit all is good. If I get in too much of a hurry and try to pop the muffin out of the pot by turning it upside down it won't come out in one piece. Also, running a flat object like the handle of your spoon or a popsicle stick between the pot and your baked item it usually frees things up.

Some of the just-add-water mixes I use tend to cook faster than others so I've learned through trial and error to cut the cooking time shorter than a full fuel tab burn. My 6gr Coghlan tabs are just right for most baked items.

You just need to experiment to see what works for you. You will need some kind of simmer ring if you use an alcohol stove. Jon Fong of FlatCatGear has a wealth of info on his site. I wouldn't be baking anything if I hadn't watched him in the field creating some baked wonders.

One nice feature of using the aluminum baking pan is that it holds heat forever making it a great hand warmer on cold mornings.

[Diane Pinkers]

The other question I was wondering, for a single muffin/biscuit, how much mix are you using?

[Dan Yeruski]

Diane, I've had good luck with steam baking but the recipe might work well for dry baking also. The two pans in the photos are in my garage, will look for them tomorrow and send them along with the package, no charge. I won't be using the pans. It was just fun learning experience.

recipe: 1 part angel food cake mix, 1 part double chocolate cake mix,
2 parts water, and 6 min. baking time.

The photo shows the muffin in a 3 cup stainless steel mug (china)

[Diane Pinkers]

Thanks, Dan! That's awfully nice of you, once again. If you ever need tiny dropper bottles and 3 cc syringes with a funnel tip to fill them for hiking, let me know. That's something I have repurposed from work. Great Dr. Bronner's, Aqua Mira, etc. I find the syringes with the tip to be the easiest way to fill the bottles without spilling.

[Dan Yeruski]

Ok, great…send me 2 of each :) thank you.

I sent the package out yesterday with the 2 part bundt pan. Couldn't find the other one. Use parchment paper with it and it should work well, less clean up.

[Don A.]

With my system using the 3 inch baking pan I've found that 60-70 grams of dry mix works. The Betty Crocker complete mixes using water only are sized for 6 biscuits/muffins so I divide them in thirds to get to the 60-70 grams figure. I have gone to as much as 90 grams but that is stretchering it in terms of getting a 6 gr hexamine tab to completely cook your muffin. Altitude, air temp etc. will all have some effect but 60-70 gram mixes have consistently worked for me under a wide range of conditions. Also, using more mix can result in getting a super-sized baked item that will start to lift the top off your pot, kind of like using too many pop corn kernals. Not a bad thing as long as it cooks completely.

[Ben H.]

"I experimented with a spacer (titanium washer) and decided it wasn't essential." – D.A.

Is your inner pot touching the bottom of your outer pot? If so, how do you prevent it from burning?

[Don A.]

The Fat Daddio pans do a pretty good job of distributing the heat evenly and combined with the simmer ring the temperature is lower than when boiling water without the ring. Under certain circumstances burning will happen (improper height from heat to pot, type of baked item, ambient temp, cooking longer than necessary). I've learned with practice to determine by sight (lift the pot lid and smell) to tell me when to take the pot off the heat. When all is right it's a light it and for get it process. I just found that the spacer didn't really prevent burning. Even things I have burned weren't at the charcoal stage and were still edible. For those with a more discerning pallet the crusty bottom can be trimmed off.

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Don,

You can bake more than breads. I am backpacking in Iceland and I just bake a lasagna and a cheeseburger. I'll post pictures whe I get back to the States.

[Don A.]

Remember Jon, I have sampled some of your gourmet creations. Lasagna however was not one of them. I'm looking forward to a picture of that and the recipe. I may have to get a bigger pot or do an analysis of the benefits derived from a lasagna in a 3" pot. Or maybe that's your point, talking me into a bigger baking system.

Backpacking in Iceland, now that sounds interesting.

[Dan Yeruski]

Don, have you ever tried steam baking?

[Dan Yeruski]

I can see it takes practice to get a non crusty result :)

[Don A.]

No, I haven't tried steam baking. I once looked into it but found the process a bit to futzy for my hiking style. This utube by Jon Fong is a great comparison of the two types of baking and also explains the crust issue.

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Don,

We dry baked a lasagna on the second day on the the Laugavegur trail in Iceland. We camped at Hrafntinnusker and the snow was pretty deep. There were white out conditions and we did not bring a GPS; luckily about 1/4 of the backpackers carried one so we didn't get lost. More pictures later.

[Don A.]

That looks yummy! I'm going to have to see about what can be done with my little solo system.
Regarding my question I should have checked your online cookbook. For those that are interested Jon has produced a cookbook available on his web site. Here is a direct link.

Flat Cat Gear Cookbook

[Don A.]

I dry baked some lasagna last night using my kit with the Coghlans hexamine tabs. I must say the results were great. I had a hard time keeping it away from my wife who often rolls here eyes when I bring out my cooking kit in the house. I substituted dehydrated tomato pasta sauce for the canned tomato paste in Jon's recipe. I idea of carrying a can of anything on the trail is a bit jarring to my senses. I used parchment paper at the bottom and around the sides in this case to prevent prolonged cleanup. As shown in the last picture it worked out well.
There is a lot more futzing involved in lasagna baking as opposed to muffins but some field testing is in order to work out the futz vs. reward calculations.

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

Has anyone tried silicone baking implements out in the field? I have some large silicone muffin cups as well as a large collapsible camping cup and I've wondered if there might be a way to use one of these items for baking in the field.

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

The way I that I dry bake requires that the heat transfer up from the pot to the pan. The side walls of the pan are what gets hot and does the baking. Silicone would act as an insulator preventing this type of heat transfer. Silicone is fine for steam baking, but IMHO not a good candidate for dry baking. My 2 cents.

[todd]

Hi Don,

Having enjoyed your threads on this topic, I'm about to start testing with my kit.

For biscuits, etc, I was wondering why you don't add parchment around the outer wall like you did the lasagna – and not just on the bottom? I was hoping to minimize cleanup.

Thank you,
Todd

[DAN-Y]

Dry Baking with Shug

Simmer Ring for the Fancee Feest Stove

[Jeff McWilliams]

This is great stuff.

I’m going on a trip to the Canadian Rockies in September, with 4 days of car camping and hiking followed by 6 days in Mt Assiniboine Provincial Park.

I’m especially intrigued by the idea of doing some dry baking during the car camping days.  If the results are good, it might be a great treat for my wife and the rest of the group.

Jon – would either of your baking cups fit the Olicamp 24 ounce hard anodized aluminum mug?  I was wondering if it would be a feasible substitute for one of the two titanium pots you mention.  Would the different heat transfer characteristics of aluminum vs titanium make a significant difference?

Also, could a small canister stove like the BRS-3000t in simmer mode work as a stove?

The group I’m going with is largely JetBoil users.  We’ll be flying into Canada and picking up fuel in Banff, and it would be simpler to pick up an extra IsoButane canister instead of maintaining a separate fuel supply of esbit for dry baking.

 

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

A Fat Daddios 3″ by 3″ pan should fit inside your Olicamp 24 mug.  Aluminum will work fine for baking and actually, it i\\has superior heat transfer compared to titanium.  Funny you should ask about canister stoves as I just finished a prototype heat diffuser for a Kovea Spider (it has a small burner like the BRS-3000t.  Unfortunately, I think that a windscreen would be required for baking and stoves that sit on the top of canisters will only work if there is absolutely zero wind.  My 2 cents.

[Jeff McWilliams]

Has anyone ever tried Primus’s windscreen with various non-Primus canister stoves?  The wind screen appears to clip onto the turned lip of the fuel canister.  Would it provide the type of protection you have in mind for dry baking?  Primus Windscreen

I have one of Roger Caffin’s custom made remote canister stoves that uses the Firemaple FMS-116t burner head.  I think I’ll try that in combination with the ubiquitous 2qt aluminum kettle and the Flat Cat 5″ trimmed baking pot.   I already have the stove and kettle.  The stove is windscreen friendly, and I can justify car camping with the bigger kettle and making some slightly larger gourmet goodies for the group.

 

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