Solar Cooking: Bread

There’s nothing like a loaf of steaming fresh bread while a person is out camping! July 30-August 1 my husband and I joined many members of his family camping along the east shore of a large lake, with no trees nearby. We’d been here before, so I knew it would be an ideal spot for some solar cooking and came prepared.

Because our campsite was a busy place with lots of people and dogs, I decided to set up our foil windshield shade cooker up in the back of the truck, out of harm’s way! I kneaded up a one loaf batch of Cottage Cheese Bread with some variations, formed it into a loaf, and popped it in a bread pan. Then I took a second bread pan (both pans were greased) and clipped the two pans together using binder clips.

Then I tucked the whole combination into a large oven bag and clipped it shut with a third binder clip. This conglomeration went out into the cooker on the back of the truck, as shown in the photo above.

At one point a bit of wind came up and sent the whole thing flying over. Because both pans were identical (as were the clips) I had no way to know which side had previously been up, so I just set the whole thing back up (a bit lower) and hoped for the best. I’m guessing that was when this interesting shape got carved into the bread, though!

It spent about six hours in the cooker, give or take. My solar cooking mentor suggested leaving it for at least half an hour once there were definite signs of steam. I took it out then and checked the bottom, which was still too moist, so turned it over for another hour and a half or so. It was fun to slice up the loaf and share the joy around camp!

For last summer’s solar cooking adventures, check here. To read my friend Sharon’s three part series on solar cooking in general, start here. And if you want to know how simple it is to bake cookies in your car on a really hot day, read this fun blog post!