Baking Bread

Thanks

I am just not sure if enough heat will get to the top of the loaf...might try one tonight and see how it works

Hope it works. And please let me know the result (my wife likes the idea of fresh bread too, and we certainly don't want to be dependent on 240v).
p147chris@bigpond.com

Just get youself a Coleman stovetop oven , takes up very little room.

Using heat beads in any confined space is vey dangerous as they give of a large amount of carbon dioxide and other gases. You need a well ventilated space. Not sure of the legality of having "fire" in camper van / tent/ trailer etc. I believe most states forbid fires (even inside tents etc possibly even gas ) on total fire bans. Others will have more knowledge on this.
regards

Hi Fred

Sorry for delay in come back .... My mistake with "confined space". I meant the confined space of the old gas bottle (cooker) not the interior of a tent or van.

Malcolm

I thought you could not use them when there is a fire ban....my understanding is gas fuel stoves are the only ones you can use?

You can't use gas stoves or cookers on total fire ban days.

it's not the same as a nice warm loaf with the butter melting on it :)

Warm loaf melting butter - come on you're making me drool now - lol.

By the way I have found if you use the pre mixed bread packs add some bread improver. it works wonders and will provide a much bigger loaf and not so stodgy. Well that's been my experience.
I was put onto it by a 30 years plus veteran of desert travel.

cheers

So you can't use the cob in a fire ban

Hi Pinko.

Can I ask how long it takes to cook bread please ?

Thanks Lyndsey

Hi Lyndsey
I use supermarket premix but add a little more yeast. There are two separate cellophane packs in the cardboard box and each makes one loaf. Normal time is about two hours start to finish and that includes thirtyfive minutes bake time.
My method is to make the dough as soon as we stop give it a knead for ten minutes place the dough in a dish covered with a tea towel then place the dish in the warmth of the closed car to prove. when the dough rises to the point of almost collapsing give it a good knead to knock the gas out of it then mould it up and put it in your tin and let it rise to about three quarters the size of the finished loaf and then bake it in a fairly hot oven. I am a pastry Cook.
Hope this helps
Stan

Hi Stan. Yes that does help. I was just after the baking time mostly. Sounds great !
Thanks
Lyndsey

Hi Mike

They don't really get hot enough to brown , however we have used ours to make scones , and while they don't rise as much , they come good enough for me.

Year or two ago I put a project on this site about my Version of D Smith Oven - I used the heating sides from 2 of them to make 1 oven and this means I get the 150c max all around what I am cooking and this works better.

Other plus is that you can cook it while driving to campsite, smells yummy in the car.

(Note - some new versions of these ovens only claim 120c these days)

Robin

Do they have a Thermormostat or do they just depend on temperature stabilising when heat input equals heat leakage ?

Could the Thermostat be tweaked ?

They have a sealed bi-metallic type switch bonded to the Aluminium food container and it cannot be modified unfortunately.

I think that inside the sealing is a sort of metal clad wirewound resistor which dissapates the heat.

Actually the 150c is enough as its all inside a plastic box.
My guess would be that the ones that claim 120c have skimped on the internal insulating layer.

By using two halfs and improving the insulating from the spare bits mine really works well with the heat coming from both the top and bottom.

This effectively reduces the heat leakage and makes it heat up faster and the temp cutout still operates, reducing power use.

Some of these things can be gimmicks but after 2 years of steady use it has proved to be quite an asset and the wife is the first to miss it, espically since
she discovered we can heat up heatbags in it.

While I was in there I added an indicator light , as well.
I actually worked out a temp sensor hooked up to a Pic based LCD readout , but that was overkill.

No, but I've run a Breadmaker from a 1kVA Generator.

Well, Malcolm, my maths tells me that 425W at 240v, given 90% efficiency of the inverter, will draw almost 40 amps while the bread is baking (say 15 Engels in a row!). Apart from that, there are no problems, unless the 425W load is too much for a 500W peak inverter.