You bet! All you need is a dutch oven, charcoal and the ingredients and you're good to go! David is a mad man when it comes to camping food. We're not one for the basic camping fare of roasting wieners over the campfire and the like... not that there is anything wrong with that, we just like to push the envelope. With that in mind, this year David decided that we're going to make bread on this trip.... yeah, make bread. We found an easy to make one hour french bread recipe on BS Recipes via Pinterest and tweaked it a bit to work with what we had....
12' Dutch oven with lid (cast iron, not a Rachel Ray ceramic one)
This is a 12' Lodge, made in the USA.
Most campfires have a grill over their fire pit, we used a $1 pizza pan from the Dollar store as our base to put the coals on... but I don't want to get ahead of myself...
The ingredients... to yield a camping loaf of bread.
3/4 cup of warm water (has to be warm for yeast to activate)
1/2 to 1.5 tablespoons of honey, depends on how sweet you like your bread
3/4 teaspoon of salt
2 1/4 teaspoons of Active Dry Yeast
1 3/4-2 1/4 cups of flour (depending on your elevation and humidity)
Directions..
1. Combine water, salt, honey and yeast in medium mixing bowl. Let sit for 5-10 minutes until bubbling.
2. Add flour, stirring with wooden spoon until dough is no longer sticky ( place dough on a floured surface and continue with more flour until dough is no longer sticky).
Prepping the Dutch Oven...
In charcoal starter add 34 coals (22 for top, and 12 for bottom) and ignite. You can do this before you start bread that way the oven and the bread will be ready to cook at the same time and you won't be dealing with having to catch up.
When coals are hot, place 22 coals on lid of closed oven (oven is now placed on fire pit grill with pizza pan under it for safety) and 12 on bottom. This is something the other pair of hands in camp can do while you're prepping bread for baking. By the time the dough rises, which takes around 15 minutes, the dutch oven should be ready for the bread.
3. Form dough into a 6' roll. Place on non-stick surface and cover, letting it sit for 15 minutes. When ready cut diagonal slits on top with knife.
4. Place in dutch oven, cover and cook for 18-20 minutes (it's okay to peek once to check...). Be sure you have one of those handy lid lifters, don't use BBQ tongs as they are unwieldy and your charcoal will end up everywhere. Lid lifters are usually sold right where you find your dutch oven and are about $9. A cheap price for safety.
5. Take the lid off and enjoy....
If you have any questions about the recipe as well as baking tools feel free to e-mail me at kimberlycole97@gmail.com
Happy Baking...
