Primitive Cooking Techniques & Discussions
I've been trying to work with volumes instead of weights while developing my baking skills. Most responses to my questions have been, get a set of scales, use percentages and weigh your ingredients. My reason for using volume measurements instead of weights is that bread was made for centuries this way and baking bread survived. Weighing the ingredients does make bread making easier and I'm sure scales came into use after their invention, but
What if?
1) There's a sudden contrastrophy and you are left without modern conveniences, i.e. electricity, running water, your batteries for your weigh scales deplete; suddenly you are thrown back into time while waiting for services to be restored and it might take years.
2) You've baked bread for years and have mastered the craft, but all your recipes are based on percentages and weight, what do you do? How are you going to bake bread? Surviving will be paramount and eating is a must for living. How will you convert your recipes for baking to help support your family and those trying to rebuild?
What do you do? You've built your fire pit and managed to make a temporary oven. And you've managed to collect some supplies like flour, water, and maybe some cooking oil.
1) Let's have some ideas. I'm not a survivalist but I do live in a hurricane prone area and have been with electrical power for up to 2 weeks. I did have a gas grill, but even then that source gets depleted. A major earthquake, or even a terrorists attack can cause unseen things to occur. And, even without anything happening let's explore how to cook in a primitive environment.
Maybe I pose this idea as I was a member of a Colonial Society group that used primitive practices to re-create living conditions during the period of time between the French Indian War & the Civil War - 1740 to 1840.
1) I learned how to make coals for using a cast iron pot and various methods for cooking over a camp fire.
2) Everything from roasts to cakes can be made in a cast iron 3-legged pot Cutting wood to proper dimensions is important for this process
3) I learned how to roast chicken or other poultry in a primitive oven, a small rock wall enclosure with 3 sides and a coal fire to heat the rocks and uses reflective heat to cook the poultry while it is suspended above, vertical and rotates back and forth, like a swing twisted around it's chain.
4) Now I want to learn basic bread baking skills without resorting to modern conveniences. I know there are those using wood fired ovens and cast iron pots for their bread baking, but what about methods and recipes for this type baking?