Outback Camper Bakes Bread

In my time camping and traveling in the Australian bush and desert, I’ve cooked a few feeds.

Sprinkle coarse, brown sugar on the loaf, just before placing in the oven.

While some of them have been a bit rougher than others, among the many camping meals I’ve prepared have been some pretty good looking and wholesome feeds.

For years I’ve been renowned for my camp stew, referred to by my kids as spew. But they always eat it, sooner than go hungry.

Then there’s abalone and onion, cooked on the barbie plate or in the skillet.

Helping Granddad knead the bread at Aragunnu in Mimosa Rocks National Park, NSW.

And pumpkin scones. Now there’s a camping delight. Get the tea time dishes cleaned up and out of the way and by the light from the Coleman lamp, mix up some pumpkin scones and cook them in a deep frying pan with a large saucepan lid to keep the heat in.

But now I’ve graduated to bread making in the camp oven (dutch oven).

Prior to my recent outback trip, I’d made a small number of loaves while camping. They were OK; edible, filling. The look of the crust was better than the texture inside.

Bread baked in the camp oven (dutch oven) at Aragunnu.

But I talked the bread up big time and my grandchildren got into it with gusto, not only the hot bread, but also their sweet little faces and hair, covered in margarine and Grandma’s home made raspberry jam.

While recently in outback South Australia I baked a couple of loaves. It’s not a bad way to have fresh bread while traveling in such an isolated area.

On one occasion, the wood stove in the abandoned Yeltacowie Station Homestead suited the purpose. I used my small camp oven, without the lid, in the old kitchen oven. The bread rose and browned wonderfully, and kept me going for a couple of days.

Hooking into Granddad’s fresh, hot bread, smothered with margarine and Grandma’s home made raspberry jam.

Then, I made a loaf in the coals of the campfire on Bosworth Station. This had to be half of the mix in order to fit in the camp oven with the lid on. Again reasonable success, except that the bottom got a bit too hot.

Since getting home, I’ve been making bread every day or two. I’ll master this yet and am really getting the hang of it. Next time I go camping, I’ll be well practiced at the art of bread making.

Takes a bit of time, but the results are decidedly worth the trouble. So here’s how it’s done; at least, how this camp cook does it:

1. Buy a 600gm packet of bread mix at the supermarket.
2. Read the directions, paying particular attention to the correct amount of water for hand mixing. I use a coffee mug full of tepid water.
3. The yeast is in a foil packet in the top of the bread mixture bag. Empty both of these into a large mixing bowl and mix them together a bit, before adding the water and mixing to a dough ball, with a wooden spoon.
4. When it starts to get a bit awkward to mix, put the spoon aside, flour your hands and begin to kneed by hand in the bowl till all of the mixture becomes a part of the dough ball.
5. Flour the bread board or table top as well as your hands and commence kneading the dough on this surface. Keep it up for 10 minutes.
6. Flour your hands, the board and the dough as necessary to overcome the stickiness of the dough.
7. When finished kneading, flour the bread dough and the mixing bowl. Put the nicely rounded ball of dough in the mixing bowl with a plastic bag over the top, like a tall tent, and place it in a warm spot to rise for several hours.
8. When the dough looks to have risen about as much as it’s going to, put it on the floured board and knead it for another five minutes.
9. Then place the nicely rounded bread dough in an oiled bread tin. I use my small camp oven, without the lid.
10. With the plastic bag over the bread tin, place it back in the warm spot for another hour or so, till has again risen well.
11. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C and place the bread on the middle shelf.
12. Set the timer for 35 minutes but keep an eye on your bread as the time approaches. When done, it will have a golden brown crust, just like bought bread. Test it with a skewer which should come out dry.
13. The hot bread should come out of the tin freely. Place it on a cooling tray. As soon as it’s cool enough to handle, cut a thick slice and butter it. You’ll know what to do next.

Fresh, hot bread, still in the camp oven, having been baked in the electric stove.

Well, happy bread making.

Serious bread bakers will tell you how important the correct temperature is and how accurately you need to measure the water. Nah! She’ll be right, Mate.

The main things seem to be plenty of kneading, plenty of rising, influenced by temperature and time, and plenty of time to bake right through.

Bread that rises more slowly due of lower temperature, has a better flavor.