I have been reading the bread-bakers list for years, but have never
posted. This questions below from Reggie has enticed me to post
because I do outdoor bread baking as part of 19th century living
history reenactments. Hope I have posted this properly.
I have been involved with Civil War reenactments for a number of
years (U.S. internal conflict of the mid 19th century). I started
being an assistant cook (cast iron cooking over open wood fires). Our
chief cook was so good and highly productive that I had to find a
side line to keep me busy. At his prompting I started making bread
products. Subsequent to that I have done other similar events with
more emphasis on the baking rather than the cooking.
We mostly use turn of the 20th century tin ovens originally designed
to sit on top of kerosene or early gas stoves. Yes, they are not
period to mid 19th century, but only we know :0) They were designed
for heat to come up from the bottom from a gas burner. We mount
them on a stack of bricks with a small wood fire underneath. These
ovens are double walled, with the heat rising within, then entering
holes near the top and circulating back down between the walls to
exit near the outside bottom. There is a partial plate across the
bottom to keep the direct radiant energy from the heat source from
overheating the bottom of the bread pan. I have not yet tried
cooking with a stone or ceramic tiles, but do intend to try that some
day once I locate appropriate tiles. I have also done this in large
dutch ovens which would be more period correct.
I use basic bread recipes, usually 6+ cups of flour which creates two
loaves. I usually augment them with a bit of sweetener, oil/egg, and
milk (sometimes use dry milk powder). I use somewhat old (or at
least old looking) metal baking pans, but have also used old ceramic
pans. The major problem with this cooking is creating and
maintaining proper and consistent heat within the oven. I have
"cheated" and a modern BBQ thermometer through a small hole in the
back to help judge internal oven temperature. The fire is built
either with good hardwood chunks which will burn down to a nice
glowing small fire which provides more heat than flame. I have also
used charcoal, but the 100% charcoal chunk kind, not the ubiquitous brickettes.
Sometimes the bread cooks too slow, sometimes too fast, sometimes too
hot, sometimes too cool. Sometimes the outer crust gets a bit over
baked (read burnt), and sometimes the outside looks fantastic but the
inside is a bit undercooked (sometimes gooey). But rarely is a loaf
so bad that it is tossed. The kids really like it and my biggest
problem is convincing everyone that bread needs to rest after baking
and cool before it is cut. They all like bread hot out of the oven.
I sometimes have to put a body guard near it to prevent premature
cutting :0). I do cheat further and use a modern instant read
thermometer to check doneness. I keep that discretely hid under my
apron when not in use.
I have not, but do intend to try doing the same thing in my home BBQ
grills. I have a very old cast aluminum one which I use regularly.
It would easily hold a loaf or two off to the side of the charcoal
fire. I would use either briquets of 100% charcoal chunks. These
grills are much easier to maintain temperature than the ovens over
fire. I also have a large side firepot wood fired BBQ grill, big
enough to roast about a 1/4 hog. I suspect I could get 6-8 loaves in
there side by side and would only have to rotate the loaves to/from
the firepot side to even out the cooking.
This works folks, and if you are into the fun of doing this kind of
stuff you could achieve quite satisfactory results. I have a friend
locally who has one of those large brick wood fired ovens that weighs
tons, but those things require at least a 24 hour committment, and
are only worth it if you are prepared to do a couple of dozen loaves
at one time. My method is much quicker and much more portable. At a
reenactment earlier this spring I cooked a true sourdough loaf with
no added commercial yeast. Put it in a ceramic pan I found at an
antique mall for $3 and put that in a large 12" dutch oven (the tall
version). I didn't put enough heat under the oven, incorrectly
focusing on the top, so the loaf was not properly cooked on the
bottom and wouldn't even release properly from the pan, but the top
sure looked nice and golden brown and the top half was quite edible.
I learned from that and the next time it will be much better.
I really enjoy reading this list each week and hope that my comments
will encourage some of you to try outdoor bread baking on the cheap.
Cheers -- Scott
Scott Stager
Columbia Missouri