Solar Cooked Bread

I mentioned in my opening post yesterday that I had just finished baking my first loaf of solar cooked bread. Well I made another loaf today with a slightly different method and will discuss them both briefly.

First for yesterdays loaf.

I used a basic white bread recipe (ingredients below) and used my bread machines dough cycle. Yeah I know, but if I have it and can do other things, why knead it if I'm not in the mood?

Once it proofed according to the machines settings I removed it, rolled and formed it and placed it into my loaf pan. When it had risen again I placed the whole pan inside a dark turkey roasting pan with lid and put that into my turkey bag along with an oven thermometer. The idea was to make a little oven to try and get as much heat as possible. It was then placed onto the solar funnel.

The bread cooked for about an hour and 10 minutes before I removed it because when I checked it part way through, the "oven" only reached about 245 degrees.

The results... a pale loaf of bread that was cooked all the way through and smelled well, like a loaf of bread. Other then color and length of time to bake, it was a pretty standard loaf of bread. Well, that and I didn't let it rise enough in the pan because I was using it for the kids lunch and running late so it was not as tall as it should have been. It began baking at noon.













Today's loaf was the same recipe with a couple of differences in method. First, I let it rise properly in the pan. Second, instead of putting the whole thing in the roasting pan I put it straight in the turkey bag with a couple of clean clear pop bottles on either end to hold the bag off the bread while it cooked. This was all set onto the shelf of the solar funnel.

This time I let it cook from 11:30 am to 12:50 pm. The temp. in the bag reached 250 degrees by the time I removed the loaf and looked pretty much the same as yesterdays except it was taller. It cooked just as well, and one other difference my kids pointed out today is that the crust was soft, almost like store bread which they liked. It browned where it touched the pan, but was otherwise a pale loaf of bread. I also squished it when taking it out so you will notice the top is lopsided.

Today's temp. outside while cooking was 75 degrees and the sky was clear.

Ingredients-

1 cup warm water
2 T sugar
1 tsp salt
2 T oil
2 T milk (should be dry but I am out)
3 cups all purpose flour (recommend bread flour)
1-1/4 tsp dry yeast

My first time

For the last couple years I have read a bit here and there about the practice of cooking with the sun. Since first reading about it I have imagined myself one day giving it a try, only to put it off til later.

Well recently I decided it was finally time and so started looking for the exact method I would start the experiment with. Shortly after having decided on a set of plans, we got word that my father in law was bringing his solar cooker that same weekend on his visit. This meant of course that I could use his first before making my own which was a good thing. It helped me finalize my own plans.

The first thing we made was a roasted chicken with potatoes. We set up his cooker, put a whole, defrosted chicken into a black pot with a clear glass lid, surrounded it with cut up potatoes and onions and placed the whole thing into a large turkey bag. The kind of bag you put into the oven. The idea is the bag allows the suns rays in to heat the pot while holding the built up heat inside the bag allowing it to cook at a higher temperature.

Later that evening, when everyone returned home from a day at the water falls, we had chicken that was falling off the bone, moist and delicious. The potatoes were cooked through and so were the onions. I was really surprised to be honest. I mean, there was no doubt it would work. After all, my father in law had done it before and so had countless others. But seeing it and reading about it are two completely different things.

So of course all I could do the next couple of days was think about what I was going to do once I made my own solar cooker. This blog is one of the results and in it I will try and keep track of my experiences as well as put up recipes that we have tried. This will be my note book and with any luck, maybe even the extra nudge needed to get others to give it a try.

Since my first time one month ago today, I have made another chicken, stew, soup, a couple pots of beans, a couple pots of chili, a large pot of spaghetti sauce, 3 cakes and just today I baked my first loaf of bread. Each of these things will be discussed to a degree based on memory and future items will (hopefully) have a bit more detail.

For the record, I live in Oregon. So if you think you don't get enough sun or maybe not an intense enough sun, keep that in mind. You may just be surprised at what you can do at home.