Bannock, part 3

This morning, for a hike I did today, I decided to make some bannock and take it with me.  That would be my breakfast and snack when we rest.  I used the same recipe as the last time except that I doubled everything as I wanted to make enough bannock to last the entire trip.  One thing I changed was the temperature I set the convection oven to.  Instead of 170 degrees Celcius, I lowed it to 150 degrees.  Before starting to bake, I allowed the dough to sit for 5 minutes or so--I went to do my other daily morning routine in the meantime.  I then allowed the bannock to bake on the glass plate a little longer in the convection oven for a total of 20 minutes.  At half time, I flipped the bannock over to bake the underside.  The bannock came out better than before.  The crust is not as golden brown as before, just golden.  The crust was softer than before, softer than a french baguette.

Bannock, part 2

Well, I'm a bigger fan of bannock now.  I am using the following portions for my version (basically reducing the original recipe by six folds):

• 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1/3 tablespoon of baking powder
• 1/6 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
• 1/6 cup of raisin
• Water as necessary to get a certain dough consistency ... maybe 1/3 cup ... not sure how much water actually

I let the dough sit for 4 minutes or so before putting it in a small convection oven.  I baked the dough on a plate with some oil at 170 degrees Celcius for 10 minutes, then flipped the bannock over (the underside was still doughy), and baked for another 5 minutes.

The crust is crunchy.  The inside is soft.

Maybe I should bake at a lower temperature for a bit longer for a softer crust?

Now ... I gotta figure out how to bake this bannock in a pot over my hobo stove.

Bannock

On my next camping trip, I am thinking of going light on food.  I have never brought dry food and rehydrate them later.  The next time, I will bring only dry food and one of the bags I will bring with me will contain ingredients for bannock.  I saw a number of recipes online and also saw an video of Kevin Callan on YouTube where he was making bannock.  It sounded like a very simple recipe and it sounded nice.  So, last night, I swang by the supermarket to pick up a few items I did not have at home.  This morning I tried making it.

The original recipe calls for 3 cups of all purpose flour, 2 tablespoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 cup of melted butter, and 1 1/2 cups of water.  I changed the recipe a tiny bit, to more like what Kevin was using.  For my first attempt, I cut down the volume by 2/3, so I used 1 cup of flour, 2/3 tablespoon of baking powder, 1/3 teaspoon of salt.  I did not use butter.  After adding water and mixed the powder up, I added some brown sugar and sprinkled some raisin into the mix.

For cooking, I did not feel like baking it so I put some oil in a small pot and placed the mix in the pot over an electric oven at low temperature.  As it was taking too long, I turned up the temperature dial.  That was a mistake as the bannock started to burn a little.  After a few minutes, I turned the bannock over to grill the other side.  That side got burned a little too.  Yikes.

After a few more minutes, I stopped the cooking process.  The bannock tasted ok.  I think I needed more brown sugar and more raisin.  The bannock alone (without the sugar and raisin) has virtually no taste.  Well, now I sort of know how to make bannock.  I am ready for the next camping trip! :)