Baking on the trail

[300winmag]

What do you use to bake on the trail (IF you bake)?

I have a baking setup that I've used for years. It's a Backpacker's Pantry fiberglass hood & aneroid thermometer pot lid handle. You view the thermometer/handle through the center hole in the yurt-shaped fiberglass hood.

Also the "oven" comes with a stainless steel heat dissapation plate & stand-off wire ring. It's too heavy so I use an aluminum plate with my JetBoil 1.5 L. pot. The pot's corrugated "Flux Ring" heat exchanger bottom has enough stand-off from the aluminum plate to work well.

You MUST have a low simmering stove to bake (and an MSR Simmerlite won't work). In summer I use a Brunton FLEX canister stove and in winter an MSR Dragonfly multifuel stove W/ white gas. That stove simmers LOW!

I have baked muffin mix and Biscuick biscuits where I have put jelly in the center of the biscuit mix. Very tasty on a cold winter night with hot chocolate. Also I've baked a small chocolate cake in the pot. Ya gotta pre- measure the cake ingredients at home B/C there is too much in a regular mix box.

If you're camping at high altitudes be sure to follow the "high altitude" directions on the mix box!

Eric

[sarbar]

I either steam bake using a variety of containers (from bags to silicone) or I pan fry over low heat.

I do have a BP oven but for me it is just too heavy to carry. If weight wasn't an issue...maybe, but overall steam baking does it for me.

[jrwiesz]

I carry too much stuff already. :eek:

I usually just do the fry bread type baking with olive oil.

Mary Janes Farm has a great Pesto Fry bread I love. Just use my Jetboil and a miniature fry pan.
She also, has some brownie mixes, but I haven't tried them as of yet.

I haven't tried Sarbars' baking stuff yet; haven't tried to steam stuff either. But, I am certain her methods are proven winners.:sun

[LaurieAnn]

What do you use to bake on the trail (IF you bake)?

I have a baking setup that I've used for years. It's a Backpacker's Pantry fiberglass hood & aneroid thermometer pot lid handle. You view the thermometer/handle through the center hole in the yurt-shaped fiberglass hood.

Also the "oven" comes with a stainless steel heat dissapation plate & stand-off wire ring. It's too heavy so I use an aluminum plate with my JetBoil 1.5 L. pot. The pot's corrugated "Flux Ring" heat exchanger bottom has enough stand-off from the aluminum plate to work well.

You MUST have a low simmering stove to bake (and an MSR Simmerlite won't work). In summer I use a Brunton FLEX canister stove and in winter an MSR Dragonfly multifuel stove W/ white gas. That stove simmers LOW!

I have baked muffin mix and Biscuick biscuits where I have put jelly in the center of the biscuit mix. Very tasty on a cold winter night with hot chocolate. Also I've baked a small chocolate cake in the pot. Ya gotta pre- measure the cake ingredients at home B/C there is too much in a regular mix box.

If you're camping at high altitudes be sure to follow the "high altitude" directions on the mix box!

Eric


Eric... I just saw this. The Outback Oven has to be one of my favorite pieces of gear. I've made everything from calzones to cinnamon buns on the trail.

[mweinstone]

my trangia lets me bake by simmering soooo low. i use a flat rock to cook on too. a heated buttered flat rock makes grilled cheese like nobodys buissness. of course my recipie is with peanuts from the shell between the cheese.bluberry muffin mix burns in titanium unless you use a rock as your stand off.

[BlueTang]

Steam baking to us isn't baking, it's steaming. There isn't any crust on your bread, muffins, whatever. We do alot of pan frying using a GSI toaster as a heat diffuser. Otherwise, we use a Backpacker Oven (http://www.backpackeroven.com) . It weighs about 2 pounds with the pans, but our base weights are so low now (mine is 10 pounds without food and water) it doesn't bother any of us to carry it.

Later this summer we're going to buy one of the Outback Ovens Laurie mentioned.

[Mountain Wildman]

Found this tip for Baking in the Back Country, Have not tried it yet but I will.

DIY Dutch Oven for Baking
1. To assemble the oven, fill the bottom of a 3-quart pan with small rocks or gravel. Rocks or gravel should be about 1-inch deep throughout the pan. Next place the 2-quart pan inside the 3-quart (on top of the rocks). The rocks will evenly spread the fire’s heat to all sides of the 2-quart pan.

2. Fill the bottom of the 2-quart pan with Jiffy Muffin Mix (net weight 8.5 oz.), and mix with water according to package instructions.

3. Depending on the shape of your pans, you can either put lids on both pans (or use tinfoil for the 2-quart one and the lid for the 3-quart), or just put the lid on the 2-quart pan and leave the 3-quart pan uncovered (since the inner pan might stick up too far to fit the 3-quart lid). You can also put coals atop the lid, to spread heat downward.

4. (Optional) Search your surroundings for fresh wild edibles like huckleberries, and add them to the mix.

5. Build a reasonable fire, season permitting, or use a trail stove. If cooking on a stove, medium heat works best. If cooking atop coals, place the pan directly on top of the coals at the edge of the fire (away from the strongest heat). The key is to make sure the pan is not over the coals or stove at such a hot temperature that the bottom and sides burn before the middle has a chance to cook. Cooking time varies according to the heat level, but anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes. The muffins are done when you can stick a knife in and the consistency is the same throughout.

Serve warm, and enjoy! The final product may not look as pretty as those from a real Dutch oven, but don’t tell that to the muffins.

[LaurieAnn]

Steam baking to us isn't baking, it's steaming. There isn't any crust on your bread, muffins, whatever. We do alot of pan frying using a GSI toaster as a heat diffuser. Otherwise, we use a Backpacker Oven (http://www.backpackeroven.com) . It weighs about 2 pounds with the pans, but our base weights are so low now (mine is 10 pounds without food and water) it doesn't bother any of us to carry it.

Later this summer we're going to buy one of the Outback Ovens Laurie mentioned.

I've had the opportunity to test the Backpacker Oven too. It's a great product. It is a little weightier than the Outback Oven UL model and it takes up more room, however, the one key advantage it is has is that you can bake pizza and cookies at the same time. I not sure I would recommend the Backpacker Oven for a thru but it would be good for week long trips.

[BlueTang]

Nah I don't think taking it on a thru-hike would be a good idea either. You can make good biscuits, fry breads and pizzas in a regular frying pan if your careful. I had to burn a few before I figured it out.

[Mountain Wildman]

I've had the opportunity to test the Backpacker Oven too. It's a great product. It is a little weightier than the Outback Oven UL model and it takes up more room, however, the one key advantage it is has is that you can bake pizza and cookies at the same time. I not sure I would recommend the Backpacker Oven for a thru but it would be good for week long trips.

MMMMM, Chocolate Chip, Pepperoni, Mushroom and Onion flavored cookies. :-)

[LaurieAnn]

The items aren't in there long enough for flavors to transfer... because that had crossed my mind too.

[Mountain Wildman]

The items aren't in there long enough for flavors to transfer... because that had crossed my mind too.

I was just kidding:-)
Might not taste so bad though.
I was engaged to a girl named
Lori Ann, didn't work out.
C'est la vie

[LaurieAnn]

I was just kidding:-)
Might not taste so bad though.
I was engaged to a girl named
Lori Ann, didn't work out.
C'est la vie

lol... that's cause she spelled "Laurie" the wrong way

[CrumbSnatcher]

i usually carry a MSR pocket rocket, but when i carry my bakpacker i use my whisperlite stove. i usually only make blueberry cake or pizza!
the pizza i make fresh crust and for toppings, its usually/always the same, shredded m. cheese,sauce from a jar,pepperoni, green peppers,onions, the first pizza takes 5 minutes then i can roll one off every 3 minutes.

[Airblazer]

Recipe for Stick Bread:

4 cleaned sticks
2 cups bisquick
1/2 cup water

Mix water and bisquick, divide in 4, wrap around clean sticks... cook 8-10 minutes over hot coals, rotating.

Haven't tried it yet myself, but I will be this year!

[JRiker]

Found this tip for Baking in the Back Country, Have not tried it yet but I will.

DIY Dutch Oven for Baking
1. To assemble the oven, fill the bottom of a 3-quart pan with small rocks or gravel. Rocks or gravel should be about 1-inch deep throughout the pan. Next place the 2-quart pan inside the 3-quart (on top of the rocks). The rocks will evenly spread the fire’s heat to all sides of the 2-quart pan.

2. Fill the bottom of the 2-quart pan with Jiffy Muffin Mix (net weight 8.5 oz.), and mix with water according to package instructions.

3. Depending on the shape of your pans, you can either put lids on both pans (or use tinfoil for the 2-quart one and the lid for the 3-quart), or just put the lid on the 2-quart pan and leave the 3-quart pan uncovered (since the inner pan might stick up too far to fit the 3-quart lid). You can also put coals atop the lid, to spread heat downward.

4. (Optional) Search your surroundings for fresh wild edibles like huckleberries, and add them to the mix.

5. Build a reasonable fire, season permitting, or use a trail stove. If cooking on a stove, medium heat works best. If cooking atop coals, place the pan directly on top of the coals at the edge of the fire (away from the strongest heat). The key is to make sure the pan is not over the coals or stove at such a hot temperature that the bottom and sides burn before the middle has a chance to cook. Cooking time varies according to the heat level, but anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes. The muffins are done when you can stick a knife in and the consistency is the same throughout.

Serve warm, and enjoy! The final product may not look as pretty as those from a real Dutch oven, but don’t tell that to the muffins.




I've done something like this, but i used my mess kit frying pan w/ lid.

Here's the setup:

1. Fold tin foil into square type shaped bowl... put dough into tin foil bowl.
2. put tin foil/bread into pan.
3. put lid on pan.
4. cook on LOWEST simmer possible. (at the time i was using a penny alcohol stove with a simmer ring made from a coke can, but other alcohol stoves with simmer options work also. i've also done this with a tealight candle (which is now my preferred simmer option))
5. wait FOREVER until it's done (about twelve minutes for a decent sized biscuit type thing.)

I now use a IMUSA grease pot, so i haven't tried this in a while. I might think about some way to do this with my grease pot...

[JRiker]

oh, btw, i used pancake mix for this, just mixed it thicker than for pancakes. kind of sweet, but good...

[Mountain Wildman]

Packit Gourmet sells a small baking kit that is used with your own pot, I was thinking about picking it up, It's only 19.99 and weighs little since most of it is silicone.

http://www.packitgourmet.com/Baking-Set-p203.html

[Hikes in Rain]

Recipe for Stick Bread:

4 cleaned sticks
2 cups bisquick
1/2 cup water

Mix water and bisquick, divide in 4, wrap around clean sticks... cook 8-10 minutes over hot coals, rotating.

Haven't tried it yet myself, but I will be this year!

I've done it for years. Works very nicely, except when you don't get the dough thick enough, and it falls off! Then, they're called ash cakes (http://www.practicalprimitive.com/ashcakes.html). :D

[vonfrick]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Z7F5P8ZRL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

me and warrghy take a pot and a small teflon frying pan and a lid that fits on both

i removed the "wings" from one of these vegetable steamers and cut the legs on it to about a 1/4". it sits in the pot with a little water on real low over a pocketrocket type stove. i used to use foil muffin cups, but i switched to silicon and the pot fits 4 on the platform to steam with the lid on.

i make up ziplocs with 1/2 pancake mix and 1/2 muffin mix for breakfast, corn bread or biscuits to go with dinner, or pizza dough with added garlic, dill, onion, butter buds etc.

once they steam enough to rise i remove the pot and put the teflon pan on the burner and flip the muffins onto it to crisp them.

it smells so good...and it's worth the work for sure.:sun

[Tinker]

I saw this a few years ago and I think it's very informative - Ultralight backpack baking:
http://www.trailquest.net/baking.html