Did you know it’s possible to bake without an oven? Let me let you in on my little secret…
Living in a homestead means living the unconventional kind of way. So this coming winter season, step away from the comforts of your kitchen oven and discover the wonders of baking…in a totally different kind of way!
Baking in Dutch Ovens
A Dutch oven is one of the most versatile cooking implements you’ll ever use. It is made of very heavy cast iron and if used right, can provide a very regulated heat. This makes it perfect for outdoor cooking.
This may or may not come as a surprise, but baking in a dutch oven does not require an open fire. You can use charcoal briquets or wood to keep your fire low and regulated.
Once you’ve got the fire burning, create and maintain the desired temperature you need for your food. If you’re using charcoal briquets, you can estimate 10 degrees per briquet. For example, if you need to achieve 360 degrees, use 36 charcoal briquets. Learn more about this here.
It is also important to take note that you may have to replace some of the charcoal or wood partway through the baking process as they cool down or burn out. Keep a stack of charcoal or wood ready when doing campfire baking.
Baking in Stovetops
Who knew you can actually bake using a stovetop? There are a couple of things to make sure if you’re planning to try out your first stovetop marble cake. First, make sure that the lid of the pot you’re going to use fits perfectly for an even temperature. Second, pre-heating your stovetop pot is a must. Just like pre-heating an oven before baking, turn the heat on high over your covered pot for 5 minutes.
Bake your first cake by following these simple instructions.
I have used dutch ovens for years at our historical reenactment programs. I used them as an oven rather than a cook pot. I have a trivet in the bottom and usually use a cake pan or pie pan to hold whatever I am cooking. The bottom rarely burns (if I’m paying attention) and very little clean up to my oven. I have about 6 ovens plus a wonderful deep oven for bread!
It’s amazing what we can do when we have to. When I was a child our oven went out, and it was going to take awhile to get the part needed to fix it. One night, my mother was craving pineapple upside down cake so she tried it in her electric skillet. Worked beautifully. She also made meatloaf and other things she usually used an oven for, even after our oven was fixed.
Best beef stew I ever made. Cleaned up the dutch oven and made a chocolate cherry cobbler for dessert.
Thank you for this!