backcountry baking

Laurie asked:

What is your favorite way to bake on a lightweight backpacking trip?

I take an Outback Oven Ultralite and really enjoy having fresh bread on the 10th day of a trip.

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You can bake things that come out just like they do in your oven at home by using a cook pot with a stove that will simmer low for at least 20 minutes. It save carring the extra “Outback Oven” or other things to bake with.

This is a series of about 17 pictures I took some time ago showing how to do it. They were posted about a year ago
here

This type of baking works with about any “Fat Free” type bake mix. The pictures show me using my old MSR Rapid Fire remote canister stove as it really simmers great.

thanks Bill that is great… do you still get a nice golden crust on your baking? Probably eh?

Laurie,

I thought the link would open my “gallery” at WhiteBlaze but it doesn’t look like it did. Yes, I get a nice golden crust on things just like they came out of my oven at home. You do need to let it bake long enough and you don’t want to look often as the heat temp drops fast with the lid off the cook pot. The key is an 18 to 20 +/- minute simmer.

This link should show
a finished muffin

Note:
If you look at the bottom of the page and click where it says (View all of Gardenvilles images) them click on page 3 it will take you to all the Baking pictures. There are also 3 more pictures on page 2.

You could also try the BakePacker at http://www.bakepacker.com/ and they have a ultralight version (4oz.). It’s definitely lighter than the Outback Oven.

When I bake on the trail, I use my Snow Peak 700 cookpot and one of those aluminum foil pot pie tins as they are pretty light. You can usually find them in 5 or 10 packs in the baking section of the grocery store. Before I leave for a trip, I prepare pre-measured mixes for stuff like cornbread, biscuits, banana nut bread or muffins. There are some good ones that only require water like Martha White, Bisquick, etc. For my cornbread mix I like to throw in some dehydrated jalapeno’s – awesome.

Once I’m in camp and ready for dinner, I get started by lightly coating the tin with oil, throw in the mix, add water, stir and then put a piece of tin foil on top of the tin. The tin foil should be able to go over the lip of the tin and molded around the entire edge so it acts like a lid but somewhat airtight. It also helps if it has a slight convex shape to allow for the mix to rise. It’s important as Bill mentioned in his post to have a stove that simmers well. I use a Snow Peak GS-100A for my baking.

Once I have everything ready I set my empty cookpot on the stove then set the tin in the top of the cookpot. After cooking on low heat for about 20 minutes it’s ready. It’s a perfect size for solo cooking.

You can also use a solid aluminum tin rather than the tin foil kind. These are easier to clean, the weight penalty is minor and they are infinitely re-usable. It’s a good idea to practice your baking at home before you try it in the woods too.

Laurie,
If you are already carrying 2 nesting pots, then just add .3oz of 1/4″ long aluminum tubing (3 pieces, any diameter)and you’re cookin’ with gas!

Set the 3 short tubing pieces in the bottom of the larger pot to support the smaller pot and keep it from touching the larger (outer) pot. Grease smaller pot (or foil pan if you only want to carry one pot)and fill it with cake or muffin mix, quick or yeast bread dough. Leave lid off smaller(inner) pot to hasten cooking and browning, set it inside larger pot (resting on tubing pieces) and put lid on larger pot.

My white gas MSR stove demonstrates exemplary very low simmering (which is essential) if you open the valve to full fuel flow and pump almost no pressure into gas bottle. When the flame begins to fail, give it one or (maximum) 2 pumps and a very low flame will return for another 5 minutes. You can add a cozy over the large pot while baking to improve efficiency, but I’ve had very good results without one.

Backpacking with my brother-in law and nephew, I made up whole wheat yeast dough (1/2 with honey)with warm water, let it rise in my sleeping bag, kneeded the dough and let it rise again and then baked the split loaf for about 40 min. (uses very little fuel). We had fresh whole wheat yeast bread (much tastier than the easier and faster quick breads)with dinner stew. In the morning we sliced and toasted the honey-wheat half of the loaf on the stove and served it with our porige. UL gourmet dining!

Have fun experimenting with set-ups, techniques and recipes. Pretty much anything that isn’t burned (hence the low stove flame) is going to taste good and add fun and pride to your alfresco dining experiences.

Cheers, Al

Curt….Are you saying that you cover the pan that bas the dough in it with aluminum foil as part of the baking process?

Glenn,

Yes… once I have the mix stirred up in the tin I cover the pie tin with tin foil and form the foil all around the edge of the pie tin like a lid. Then I set the pie tin in the top part or opening of the empty SP Trek 700. It fits perfectly. It took a few tries at home to get the mix portion right as well as the timing & simmering technique. About 1.5 to 2 oz. of dry mix is about right. Unless you’re in a hurry it’s fun and adds a little variety to your cooking on the trail.

I’ve been using a 12″ outback oven for years for groups of six or more, ever since I saw it written up in Backpacker. I find a dragonfly stove works best for the slow bake, other stoves have scorched.
Even so foods forgiving of high heat on the bottom do best for me. I really bake only 4 dishes.
1) Pesto pizza – grocery store pizza mix, a little oil, half a costco pesto jar of fresh pesto, and a package of grocery store shredded mozerella. Bake on high until the cheese is brown. This is the kids favorite. For adults I add various sliced garlic, onions, dried tomatoes, dried eggplant, etc. Worth every bit of the weight.
2) Corn bread, any good corn bread recipe with stone ground corn meal works well. 2 fresh eggs are needed. Good with any sort of stew, or creamed chipped beef over it.
3) Plum or peach upside down cake. This is my favorite for birthday celebration or last day of a long trip. I use home dried plums or peaches, soaked to rehydrate (the recipe doesn’t work if they aren’t rehydrated!) This is from Moosewood deserts cookbook and is even better with fresh fruit, but dry is good. Arrange fruit on the bottom of pan. Pour over 1/2 cup melted butter and 1/2 cup sugar. Make the batter: 1/2 C butter (oil works fine) 3/4 C sugar, 2 eggs,1/4 C yogurt (I use powdered milk and water) 1C flour, 1/4 C corn meal, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp cinnimon, 1/2 tsp salt. Pour over the sugared fruit. Bake at “350” for 30-35 minutes. This is really good and the fruit on the bottom tends to prevent burning.
4) And last I use store bought refrigerator cookies and bisquits and cresent rolls.
Not really light weight, but delicious fare.
In the old days I’d carry a pot with a lid that would invert, and build a hot little wood fire on the top of the pot and bake cornbread. Lived on that hiking before I could afford a stove.

Has anyone tried a backpacker with a jetboil GCS pot?

Lloyd, There is no reason why you can’t Bake in the JetBoil GCS Pot. The JetBoil needs to be set to low simmer.

I get a nice golden crust on things just like they came out of my oven at home. You do need to let it bake long enough and you don’t want to look often as the heat temp drops fast with the lid off the cook pot. The key is an 18 to 20 +/- minute simmer.

This link should show
a finished muffin

Note:
If you look at the bottom of the page and click where it says (View all of Gardenvilles images) them click on page 3 it will take you to all the Baking pictures. There are also 3 more pictures on page 2.

see page 66 in Don Ladigin’s book:
LIGHTEN UP!

THere is a systemm to steam bake.

I used a variation of that system. I just used batter in my titanium mug, and put that in my titanium pot.

It worked great…

peace, M!

that is quite the muffin! yummy looking!

I only take the tent and riser for the Outback Oven – I can’t remember what the weight is – but I found it to be pretty decent. I am actually under contract to write a backpacker’s cookbook (that is why it took so long for me to reply). And because of this I am testing out the BakePacker and other methods of baking that I am not as familiar with. I’ve been testing each recipe 3 to 6 times. It is a ton of work but worth it to know that every recipe should turn out in a variety of conditions.

Thanks so much for all the help. You can’t imagine how I appreciate it.