Beer Bread in a Solar Oven

Hi, Bear here... 

Does this title grab your attention? I hope so. I haven't been blogging much lately (Theresa says "Summer is so busy with other stuff") and I hope people haven't lost interest. Still here, just sayen... Anyway...

We have been learning to use the solar oven we bought at the Mother Earth News Fair a few weeks ago. We were told that it is great for making bread. I wanted to try it out with a simple beer bread idea I got from the book:

Grub!: Cookin' fer mountain men

Here we go...

It is best to warm up your solar oven before you are ready to use it.

I set ours up in our driveway when I got home from work so it would have at least 1/2 hour of warm up time, after which the oven temp read 300 degrees F (in full sun with the door sealed shut).

(If you are using a regular oven the GRUB! book says to bake for about 45 min. at 350 degrees.)

Assemble your tools and ingredients:

• The book helps
• 12 oz. of beer at room temp. 
• 3 cups self rising flour: We don't have self rising flour, so I checked a book by my guru Alton Brown and found you can make your own by combining 1 cup flour, 1 1/2 tsp. of baking powder, and 1/2 tsp of salt. For this bread, I used 2 cups whole wheat flour and 1 cup white flour, plus my favorite smoked salt.

Oops... I also need some butter to lightly grease the bread pans. Then lightly flour them.

(Side note... The book calls for one bread pan. I am thinking the last time I tried this there was enough dough for two pans, so I am ready just in case.)

Whisk or combine the dry ingredients until they are well mixed. (Especially if you are using the baking powder. Clumps of that stuff taste nasty.)

Oh by the way... READ THE FLIPPEN RECIPE! The book calls for 4 tablespoons of sugar (I like brown sugar) which I didn't have in the first photo but I did mix in after checking the book, again.

Next note: 12 oz. of beer is more than a cup. I figured that out when I mixed a cup of beer in and the dough looked a lot dryer than the last time. Silly me, wanting to drink more leftovers.

When you mix it right the dough should look like this (left). Let the dough rest for 10 min. (I am guessing to let the flour absorb more of the liquid.)

Guys, now is the time to earn brownie points. Clean up the mess, chicks dig that. Am I right ladies? I got to clean the dishes and that extra bread pan I didn't use.

Load the oven and let it bake. When time is up check the bread with a toothpick or a fork. Put the fork into the center of the bread. If it comes out clean, the bread is done. If not, continue baking and check every 5 - 10 min. until done in a regular oven, or less often in a solar oven.

For a regular oven:  bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees F.

For the solar oven, the bread took 1 hr. 45 min. (I checked it every 1/2 hour and moved the oven so it would keep facing the sun.)

Looks like Theresa is home. Time to get off the computer and eat some dinner.

Type at ya later...