The Fresh Loaf

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No Oven challenge - take 1 (total failure!)

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

No Oven challenge - take 1 (total failure!)

Finally, I took some time off from baking for customers (at least cut down my baking days) so I have time to do a few more things, like getting ready for Christmas. I figured this was a good time to try the no oven challenge.

It made sense to use the wood stove in the basement. We use this as a significant source of heat for the house in the winter and, as there is a fire going all day, it didn't take much effort to use it for bread baking. I thought I'd use one of my cast iron pots which hopefully would survive the experience without being destroyed for use in the regular oven later.

A simple 123 sourdough seemed just the thing - this one with about 50 grams of stone-ground Kamut added to the bread flour.

It turned out quite nice, and I even managed to score it (you can see the straight razor I use for this).

The stove was hot and I moved the coals to the back and sides to make room for the pot right on the fire brick.

The pot itself had been pre-heating on top of the stove for a while...

The dough got plopped into the pot (with the parchment paper), on with the lid and into the stove.

And then I made the big mistake - I thought "That will take a little while, so I'm going to pop out to the garden to dig some potatoes". Yes, on the first day of winter in Canada I was out in a tee-shirt and cropped trousers, digging potatoes. Then I got a couple of parsnips and a bunch of carrots, cleaned the mud off my tools and tidied up. Oh, and took out the recycling.

Time to check the bread...

Oops! I actually burned the oven mitts on the pot handles! The parchment paper was a little bit of glowing red ash on the side of the little cinder that was my loaf of bread. I had to disable the smoke alarm in the basement and open the window.

I haven't stopped laughing yet. And I hope no one needs a crumb shot! :)

Comments

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

what the inside looked like! At least you gave the challenge a shot which is more than I can say!

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Chllemge every ime.  Once that CI stove is hot all you have to do is scrape out the coals and put the pot in the oven.  No extra heat would be needed at all:-)  No wonder you use the stove to heat the house in the wnter!  This makes my Black Bottomed Beauty look lovely:-)

Take 2 should be much better!.  Happy Cinder Baking LL

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

I just cracked the little cinder like an egg and peeled 1/4" or so of charcoal off of it. There might actually be some bread underneath! We'll try it with dinner and let you know...

nmygarden's picture
nmygarden

A glimmer of light from what first appeared hopeless. I think we can all relate... And it was so pretty on your counter! High hopes for your dining experience. Bummer about the mitts.

hreik's picture
hreik

The bottom of mine looked like your loaf.  Totally charred.  Totally.  I think it's the direct heat. 
Thanks for the laugh.  Been there, done that.

hester

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

There actually was bread inside! And it was quite decent, albeit with a little ... smokey flavour. :)

Just goes to show - you should never give up completely!

Ru007's picture
Ru007

Great story LL!! I laughed so hard (not at you, with you I hope :)), especially when I got to that awesome crumb shot! I guess we've all been reminded to not give up hope for our loaves :)

I did see a post where someone put charcoal powder or something on the inside of the loaf to make it black for Halloween so I guess they could use your idea next year!! LOL!!

I'm glad the inside turned out great and you had something more than edible. 

Happy baking LL

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

I was thinking of that 'fake' charcoal bread too, when I saw my little black cinder. But at least the black was on the outside of mine instead of the inside, which was quite decent actually.

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

so they turn black and not the bread.  How about cabbage leaves?  OR  washed  carrot or potato peels?  Something to use as a buffer between the hot iron and the loaf.  A reversed tuna can with a plate or something along those lines.  Wood shavings?  Wet wood shavings?  Crushed foil?  How about just water, enough to boil the dumpling and escape to let it brown?  I'm stuck in transit traveling and can't participate but would love to get my hands on some dough!   I might try a waffle iron.

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

Hmmmm, how to insulate a cast iron pot without reducing the temperature too much? I don't want something that is going to burn itself (like leaves), as the burning parchment paper produced enough smoke as it was. The crushed foil has me thinking. I'll rummage through the cupboards to see what looks interesting.

Where are you transiting? Heading somewhere for Christmas?

Bread on a waffle iron. Now that is truly intriguing!

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

Cheered me up to no end. That was so funny I was laughing out loud in the office. Hope you don't take offence. It actually looks ok inside.  

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

I'm still laughing about the results myself, actually! :) And I will definitely try again...

PalwithnoovenP's picture
PalwithnoovenP

I have had my share of burnt loaves in this and more and although the extent of charring was not as great as that of your loaf, the charred parts were really charred like wood charcoal. What is amazing here is you've tried and you had lessons learnt. The inside is lovely and you may find joy in shredding the inside and sharing it among yourselves.

Thank you for taking part in it even if one of your loaves had some waste. Your effort is deeply appreciated! I'm sure it will be better next time!

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

Thanks Pal; we did enjoy the inside bread. It was moist and chewy and quite nice, really. And thanks for the link to your experiments - very good of you to try all those different methods and post the results so we can all learn from it. It's nice to know that someday if we don't have electricity or natural gas, we can still have good bread!

leslieruf's picture
leslieruf

smoked bread indeed!  just love it especially that you got something edible out of it.  great isn't it, that this challenge had us all trying new stuff, and learning that there is indeed a multitude of ways to bake some bread.

well done and thanks for the entertainment! :)

Leslie

ps: love the photography! really "lights" up your post....

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

Yeah, that photo of the bread after I cracked off the outside char looks a little bit like one of those Hatchimal things that's all the rage this Christmas! Or some kind of lamp from the 80s, maybe. :)

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Wow...I have expect your bread to hatch and out comes a pterodactyl :).  I actually saw a video someone posted somewhere in Eastern Europe where they bake big giant loaves in a wood fired oven and the crust gets nice and black.  They then scrape off the black bits and bag them for sale.

All kidding aside, it certainly was worth the effort and I'm sure next time if you don't start building a barn in your backyard you may have better luck :).  (Okay, so I couldn't help myself).

Thanks for sharing your bake and Happy Holidays!

Ian

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

Thanks Ian. I'll be watching the stove like a hawk next time. I also have a plan to use a six-inch Fat Daddios cake pan as a bread pan inside the cast iron pot. And let the coals die down a bit more first too. We'll see how that goes.

AnotherLoaf's picture
AnotherLoaf

Hi Lazy Loafer, I know that I'm a little behind, but I am trying to catch up on my reading. I sure did enjoy this post. This is how we learn, HA! Thanks for not being hesitant to post your bakes that are slightly less successful. This will send me to bed with a smile on my face. marybeth

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

Thanks Marybeth, for the "slightly less successful" description. It certainly wasn't something I'd serve to guests. :)

Nice to see you back on the site!

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

#1 What if one took about 50 to 60g of dough, shaped it like a thin slice of bread and placed it between a folded piece of parchment, lie flat and when risen, drop into a toaster?   Might even have a foil sheet on the outside.... think pop tart in a protective blanket.  Think it would work?

I think the trick would be to make the hydration low enough to prevent the dough from oozing out into the toaster.  

#2  Another idea would be to heat two thick bottomed frying pans and place risen wreath shaped dough in one and cover with the 2nd heated pan, coals on top in the second pan.  A small can in the middle of the lower pan would keep the top pan from crushing the dough below it.  (One could also invert the second pan over the first pan and place coals on top of its bottom.)