ESBIT: Simmering and Ultralight Baking

[QiWiz]

Hi, Rob,

Corn bread sounds good. Now why didn't I think of that? I've just experimented with muffins, biscuits, cookies, and cakes.

What kind of a mix are you using? Do you need oil?

HJ

My favorite is Jiffy Corn Muffin mix. Needs milk and egg. I use Nido powdered whole milk and Ova Easy egg crystals. I repackage at home, measuring stuff, so that I only need to add water on trail.

Here's another video you might enjoy:

[zelph]

Look at all the additional ingredients in this corn bread mix and how nice it turned out:



Makes me want to do some baking

[Wise Old Owl]

My favorite is Jiffy Corn Muffin mix. Needs milk and egg. I use Nido powdered whole milk and Ova Easy egg crystals. I repackage at home, measuring stuff, so that I only need to add water on trail.

Here's another video you might enjoy:

Never seen egg crystals at REI but its on the website... I prefer the Betty Crocker corn meal - less gritty and smoother.. ..

[QiWiz]

I prefer the Betty Crocker corn meal - less gritty and smoother.. ..

I guess I like the gritty kind! Betty Crocker seems overly processed to me. HYOH, BYOCB (bake your own corn bread)

[zelph]

Look at all the additional ingredients in this corn bread mix and how nice it turned out:



Makes me want to do some baking

I like the DIY spicy cornbread with real corn kernels. Smokeeater makes it look easy. Heating a pot with esbit, wood fuel or alcohol all seem to work well. Minibulldesign recently made a nice looking corn bread using alcohol.

[QiWiz]

I like the DIY spicy cornbread with real corn kernels. Smokeeater makes it look easy. Heating a pot with esbit, wood fuel or alcohol all seem to work well. Minibulldesign recently made a nice looking corn bread using alcohol.

Agreed. I would not make it as spicy as he does, but the corn kernels and sausage look great. Also agree that dry baking inside a pot can be done in many ways, as long as you can keep your fire/fuel/burner on "low". Without a pot with a lid (open pan under foil hood) I would only use wood (I'm concerned about methanol or Esbit fumes affecting taste and safety of baked goods), but I am intrigued by readyfuel gel, a new fuel that comes in 1.25 oz pouches and is squeezed out onto a surface and burned a lot like Esbit. Has anyone tried this? May be better smelling and less toxic, per their website claims. They also sort of imply but don't clearly state that TSA might let you take it on a plane.

[zelph]

Agreed. I would not make it as spicy as he does, but the corn kernels and sausage look great. Also agree that dry baking inside a pot can be done in many ways, as long as you can keep your fire/fuel/burner on "low". Without a pot with a lid (open pan under foil hood) I would only use wood (I'm concerned about methanol or Esbit fumes affecting taste and safety of baked goods), but I am intrigued by readyfuel gel, a new fuel that comes in 1.25 oz pouches and is squeezed out onto a surface and burned a lot like Esbit. Has anyone tried this? May be better smelling and less toxic, per their website claims. They also sort of imply but don't clearly state that TSA might let you take it on a plane.

To me, Esbit fumes are the most gross smelling fuel on earth. Before, during and after burning them.

The readyfuel packets look interesting. Look what one military site says about them:

*COMES SEALED IN PACKAGE WITH 4 PACKS OF FUEL GEL

*ORDERLESS

*WATER SOLUBLE
*NON-TOXIC
*LITTLE TO NO GENERATION OF ODOR,VAPOR OR SMOKE EMISSIONS WHILE BURNING.
*BOILS A CANTEEN OF WATER WITHIN 8MIN
*LOW LUMINOSITY CLEAR BLUE FLAME

*GOVERNMENT ISSUE APPROVED

*LIGHT WEIGHT

*AIR TRANSPORTABLE

[CenAZwalker]

[QUOTE=zelph;1462649]To me, Esbit fumes are the most gross smelling fuel on earth. Before, during and after burning them.

The readyfuel packets look interesting. Look what one military site says about them:


*ORDERLESS


Doh! and I was going to order some . . . so much for that.

[zelph]

[QUOTE=CenAZwalker;1462704]

To me, Esbit fumes are the most gross smelling fuel on earth. Before, during and after burning them.

The readyfuel packets look interesting. Look what one military site says about them:


*ORDERLESS


Doh! and I was going to order some . . . so much for that.

that's cute. If we only lived in a perrrfect world

[Another Kevin]

Agreed. I would not make it as spicy as he does, but the corn kernels and sausage look great. Also agree that dry baking inside a pot can be done in many ways, as long as you can keep your fire/fuel/burner on "low". Without a pot with a lid (open pan under foil hood) I would only use wood (I'm concerned about methanol or Esbit fumes affecting taste and safety of baked goods), but I am intrigued by readyfuel gel, a new fuel that comes in 1.25 oz pouches and is squeezed out onto a surface and burned a lot like Esbit. Has anyone tried this? May be better smelling and less toxic, per their website claims. They also sort of imply but don't clearly state that TSA might let you take it on a plane.

I'm not overly worried about fumes from the methanol because it burns so very cleanly. Even with a foil lid, you're not going to get much of the fumes circulating inside the pot anyway.

But I am worried about dry baking inside most backpacking pots; they often have some sort of nonstick treatment or lacquer, or some sort of heat-resistant plastic handle, or something that isn't designed to take the high temperatures of heating the pot dry (as opposed to boiling something in it). Given that steam baking is so much faster and more fuel efficient, and never burns the baked goods unless you let the pot boil dry, I think I'll put up with the lack of a nice crispy tasty crust for now.

Hmmm. It occurs to me. Boston brown bread is usually steamed. It calls for buttermilk, but I bet that reconstituted powdered milk artificially soured with vinegar or lemon juice would work (and my local fish fry has both in single-serving envelopes). Dark brown sugar would substitute for the molasses, just add a little more liquid. The traditional recipe takes over an hour to steam, but that's for a full-sized coffee can. I bet that scaling it down to muffin size would go much quicker. I think I got me a project, the next time my wife is out of the house.

[zelph]

Given that steam baking is so much faster and more fuel efficient, and never burns the baked goods unless you let the pot boil dry, I think I'll put up with the lack of a nice crispy tasty crust for now.

Hmmm. It occurs to me. Boston brown bread is usually steamed. It calls for buttermilk, but I bet that reconstituted powdered milk artificially soured with vinegar or lemon juice would work (and my local fish fry has both in single-serving envelopes). Dark brown sugar would substitute for the molasses, just add a little more liquid. The traditional recipe takes over an hour to steam, but that's for a full-sized coffee can. I bet that scaling it down to muffin size would go much quicker. I think I got me a project, the next time my wife is out of the house.

I agree, I prefer steam baked. I've done a lot of it using a fancee feest and StarLyte stove with one ounce of fuel to make 6" muffin. That's a lot of muffing. Someday I'll bring in some photos and videos from my blog and show how I bake.

[hikin_jim]

Here's another video you might enjoy...

Thanks, Rob, you make a good video by the way. You come across well.

A very impressive set up in terms of weight. Less than one ounce of "overhead". Very nice.

The fuel port in the FireFly is a nice deal. I've been experimenting with another wood stove lately, the Biolite (not for baking though). It's nice, but it's a bit of a fuel hog, and there's no way to feed it except to remove the pot.


Sure cranks out the heat though.

My favorite is Jiffy Corn Muffin mix. Needs milk and egg. I use Nido powdered whole milk and Ova Easy egg crystals. I repackage at home, measuring stuff, so that I only need to add water on trail.

Thanks for that. I've been mostly using the pre-made mixes. I've been super busy at work (but super blessed and grateful to have some work), so I've needed to keep things pretty simple for the most part lately.

HJ

[Bronk]

Some of the cake mixes actually call for vegetable oil, and in those cases I just leave it out of the recipe because the finished produce is pretty greasy...it soaks in as you cook it. It tastes good, and it is fatty, kind of like a funnel cake. Corn bread is really good made this way, but virtually any cake or muffin mix will work.

[zelph]

Hey Rob, take a look at what oops56 used for baking in a kettle. did you ever try any of these little jello molds? I've used one in a one egg poacher and they work great.

[QiWiz]

Hey Rob, take a look at what oops56 used for baking in a kettle. did you ever try any of these little jello molds? I've used one in a one egg poacher and they work great.

Nope, but they look they are probably pretty light as he is handling them in the clip. The center hole should make for faster baking times. If they are 4" wide or less, they would fit in many pots that people use, not just kettles. Worth a try.

Since I use a fold-flat stove that is stored in a pouch, it has led me to experiment with baking systems that also fold flat and can go right in the pouch with my FireFly. The fold-flat baking pan I shape and use for most of my trail baking can go in my pot on top of a spacer or can be used without a pot on top of a flat ti foil heat shield and spacer and under a foil hood. Either of these options lets me dry bake with very little added weight, with things that go right into my stove pouch. It's also easy to get your cornbread or muffin out of, since the sides just fold down. But it's clear that there are many ways to bake on trail with ease. I'm surprised that more people don't do it. It's a rare trip now that doesn't see me baking something.