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| Gluten Free bread. Risen and baked in the BBQ |
It's actually closer to seven months now since our caravan home was attached to mains power and water. I have been reflecting on the whole process.
We are very used to living in a 20 ft long space. We have mastered the gymnastic like moves that are required for two people to get ready in the morning, passing over and or past the bed the five or six times it takes me to find everything and get presentable. Takes K a lot less moves than me, but .....
Managing off grid living long term takes a bit more than basic gymnastics.
I'm not a baker per se, although I do make bread for K. I have always used the stove top, microwave and my portable electric oven for roasts and such. Had to rethink the whole process. I have had to go back to planning and getting meat out of the camp freezer in the morning to defrost. This is a right pain because I have always been a "goodness it is time to cook dinner. Lets open the freezer and see what is there" type of cook. Love my microwave. 30 minutes from the freezer to the plate.
No electricity connection.... ok lets think about this.
Now if you think the solution is a camp fire...not for me. Not that I can't bbq and camp oven ... I just don't (fire restrictions most of the summer anyway) I am a very strange camper. I don't like smoke. Happy to look at other people's camp fires. Fire is fascinating. I just like it behind the glass door of a combustion stove. Happy to cook on top of one of those.
So what do camp fire allergic off grid cooks use. .... The hooded bbq, portable gas burners and the 700watt microwave when the sun is shining to charge the batteries. The trick is to conserve what ever power source we are using. So check the volt meter to decide if I reheat in the microwave or on the burners.
I love the days the sun shines....then my microwave can be used sparingly to heat things.
Otherwise it is gas from the bottles or the canisters.
K put a thermometer in the hood of our bbq. This has become our oven. When it is going everything for the meal gets cooked in it. We have two metal rectangular tins that fit side by side in it. Meat in one, vegies in the other. Dinner in 40 minutes.
I bake gluten free bread for K, scones and last week even a cake in the bbq.
The first few attempts were a bit brown on the bottom. The trick is to protect bottom of the pan with several layers of metal foil and to use a plate or rack to get some air space from the BBQ plate.
I usually rise my bread inside the car. In the summer that is the warmest place and ideal for the job. No fuel expended to rise the bread dough. But in this cold weather the car is freezing inside. So the BBQ goes on for 5 minutes or to 50 degrees C and then is turned off. The bread is put in wrapped in a wet tea towel and I cover the BBQ in an old towel. Bread rises. Grab it out almost risen, pop the tin under the BBQ while I reheat BBQ to baking temp, bread in and bake an hour. Does the annex smell good!!!!! Heats the annex up as well. Can sit in there with a coffee, a book and the smell of baking bread. Heaven.
Another trick to saving cooking fuel is not using too many pots. We have a 26cm square pan that is oven proof and has removable handles. K hunted for a couple of years for this. I use lots of metal cooking foil, so I can separate veggies and meat and use the same pan. I even rehydrate dried peas in the same pan wrapped in foil with water or stock. This works in the BBQ or on the portable burners or stove top. I like to cook in the annex as I hate residual cooking smells in the van and in the summer hot things should be outside. However now in the winter heating a kettle up inside the caravan at night does warm it up some.
Old towels work to keep things warm while Mr Fix It finishes what ever project he is inevitably attached to when the food is ready.
One of the things that off grid cooking has done for me is increased my exercise. In the van, grab a pot, out of the van, turn on the the burner...opps forgot the lighter.... oops left the pot behind. You get the picture.
Cheers Sue
A Ferg on the Move
We are very used to living in a 20 ft long space. We have mastered the gymnastic like moves that are required for two people to get ready in the morning, passing over and or past the bed the five or six times it takes me to find everything and get presentable. Takes K a lot less moves than me, but .....
Managing off grid living long term takes a bit more than basic gymnastics.
I'm not a baker per se, although I do make bread for K. I have always used the stove top, microwave and my portable electric oven for roasts and such. Had to rethink the whole process. I have had to go back to planning and getting meat out of the camp freezer in the morning to defrost. This is a right pain because I have always been a "goodness it is time to cook dinner. Lets open the freezer and see what is there" type of cook. Love my microwave. 30 minutes from the freezer to the plate.
No electricity connection.... ok lets think about this.
Now if you think the solution is a camp fire...not for me. Not that I can't bbq and camp oven ... I just don't (fire restrictions most of the summer anyway) I am a very strange camper. I don't like smoke. Happy to look at other people's camp fires. Fire is fascinating. I just like it behind the glass door of a combustion stove. Happy to cook on top of one of those.
So what do camp fire allergic off grid cooks use. .... The hooded bbq, portable gas burners and the 700watt microwave when the sun is shining to charge the batteries. The trick is to conserve what ever power source we are using. So check the volt meter to decide if I reheat in the microwave or on the burners.
I love the days the sun shines....then my microwave can be used sparingly to heat things.
Otherwise it is gas from the bottles or the canisters.
K put a thermometer in the hood of our bbq. This has become our oven. When it is going everything for the meal gets cooked in it. We have two metal rectangular tins that fit side by side in it. Meat in one, vegies in the other. Dinner in 40 minutes.
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| Dinner in the BBQ. Lamb curry in one side, vegies in the other |
I bake gluten free bread for K, scones and last week even a cake in the bbq.
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| Chocolate cake in the BBQ. Just needs hot chocolate syrup and cream |
I usually rise my bread inside the car. In the summer that is the warmest place and ideal for the job. No fuel expended to rise the bread dough. But in this cold weather the car is freezing inside. So the BBQ goes on for 5 minutes or to 50 degrees C and then is turned off. The bread is put in wrapped in a wet tea towel and I cover the BBQ in an old towel. Bread rises. Grab it out almost risen, pop the tin under the BBQ while I reheat BBQ to baking temp, bread in and bake an hour. Does the annex smell good!!!!! Heats the annex up as well. Can sit in there with a coffee, a book and the smell of baking bread. Heaven.
Another trick to saving cooking fuel is not using too many pots. We have a 26cm square pan that is oven proof and has removable handles. K hunted for a couple of years for this. I use lots of metal cooking foil, so I can separate veggies and meat and use the same pan. I even rehydrate dried peas in the same pan wrapped in foil with water or stock. This works in the BBQ or on the portable burners or stove top. I like to cook in the annex as I hate residual cooking smells in the van and in the summer hot things should be outside. However now in the winter heating a kettle up inside the caravan at night does warm it up some.
Old towels work to keep things warm while Mr Fix It finishes what ever project he is inevitably attached to when the food is ready.
One of the things that off grid cooking has done for me is increased my exercise. In the van, grab a pot, out of the van, turn on the the burner...opps forgot the lighter.... oops left the pot behind. You get the picture.
Cheers Sue
A Ferg on the Move
Now that we have been using our electric pressure cooker for a couple of years and love, love, love it I reckon we could easily switch to a stop top pressure cooker and get the same results - pressure cooker recipes are a far cry from the sloppy overcooked mush of the old days.
ReplyDeleteHaven't used a pressure cooker in 30 years. The one we had scared the living daylights out of me
Deletethese are excellent tips as I have stood and wondered how on earth to put a meal together if the electricity goes off. We do have a grill, and now I can see how to do several dishes at once. Like the tip about raising the dish a bit to get the extra air circulation underneath. We do have a themostat on the outside of the grill. Thanks. But on another topic, I've been trying to track down Phil Pogson and his blog--it seems to have disappeared... any idea of what is going on with Phil?
ReplyDeleteHi Joy. It took me a while to work out how to protect the bottom of my food. My bread tin has three folded fil sheets in it then baking paper and I put it the rack to get air space. Hooded grill is hotter than the thermometer says closer to the flame as well. Bit like using and old wood fired stove.
DeleteNot heard from Phil since he dropped off the blog. Might ask around.
He is right here - email me for the whole boring story if you want. Click on my name to get to my new profile and blog.
DeleteNice to know where in the ether you floated to. Catch you face to face next time we are in the neighbourhood.
Delete