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The Fauxbaker & Trail Baking

Tue, 03/31/2009 - 21:47 — Sarah

Have you ever wished you could have a hot biscuit or muffin in the morning? But not carry a ton of weight? Or a huge pot? You can!

I have been fascinated by the Bakepacker® for a couple years, but the problem is this: even with the light version they sell, it won't fit my tiny pans. You need a pan that is at least 6" across (which would be around a 1.5 L pot). I use a MSR Titan Ti Kettle, which is .85 L and is not even 5" across the top. And truth be told, I am not about to start carrying heavier and larger pans for this purpose. So I started looking around on the internet and came across this site from a couple years ago, where a hiker described his version of making a UL baker. I thought to myself "could I make one that was smaller? Would it work?".  (Though I still hold out for the Super UL Bakepacker® to be produced!)

I wandered around the house looking for what I could use to make it, and noticed I had a brand new windscreen from AntiGravityGear, by Trail Designs that I hadn't used. I smoothed it out, and layed my kettle on top. I traced the shape, then using scissors, cut it out. I then trimmed it down a bit so that it would fit in my pot. You want it so you can drop it in, maybe 1/4" smaller than your pot inside.

There are many materials you could use, one being my idea, another would be a disposable aluminum cookie tray from the grocery store.

Then, using a ruler, I traced a grid of 1/2" squares on it. I used a tiny phillips head screwdriver to do this. All I had to do was gently drag the screwdriver on the metal to leave a light line. You want one that is small, such as for jewelry work. A small punch would work as well.

Now, I found a scrap piece of wood. I set my circle on top of the wood. Using the screwdriver I punched a hole carefully at the corner of each square on the grid I had traced. I then went and punched a hole in the center of each grid.

I then cut another piece of the metal 14" long and 1" wide. It can be as long as you wish. This is what sits at the bottom of the pan, and is spiraled, to hold the circle up.

 

 

Comments

Sun, 08/09/2009 - 12:21 — angus

Another construction idea

I tried to make something like this last week using a large tuna fish can. Remove the lid and punch/drill holes in the bottom, I tried it with a WarmDelights cake last night and it worked great! Definitely excited to use it next time I am on the trail.

Sun, 08/09/2009 - 20:23 — Sarah

Thanks!

Love the idea!

Mon, 07/27/2009 - 07:52 — cgajen09

Improv method for tasty cinnnamon rolls :D

I read this article and loved the idea and now i'm reading it again so i remember how to do it right. however i was campign last weekend, and i didnt have the nifty punched out circle or the coil or well anything close, so i imprivised cause i wanted cinnamon rolls!

i used the same basic idea as in this i poured about half an inch of water into the bottom of my pot, then took the plate from my mess kit, flipped it upside down, and dropped it in, lite the flame and i was done :D

you can see the basic idea here as we let all the steam escape for the sake or documenting the event :P

 

now the real reason i had to make these is cause they are my boyfriend's favorite food and when they were done he was just giggling like a little girl cause he thought they were so good. and cause he told me i wouldn't be able to make them from scratch on the trail. well he was wrong! ;)

and yes they were extremely tasty!

 

 

just a tip if you try this: like simple physics will explain because the metal plate expands as it warms up from the boiling water underneath it. when cleaning up i couldn't get it out right away. wait a few minutes then pour some cold water around the edges and it should pop out.

 

in case you're interested here is the recipe i used but its huge so im only going to use 2/3 of it next time i cook for just two.

  Prepare a basic Pizza Crust. Separately prepare streusel filing: 
  2 Tbsp Flour
  ½ cup Sugar (white or brown)
  ¼ cup Chopped Walnuts
  2 tsp Cinnamon
  2 Tbsp Butter or Oil
 
  Stretch dough into a long rectangle. Cover with streusel mix. Roll up and
  slice into 4 - 6 rolls. Arrange in pan and bake approximately 10 minutes or until desired done-ness
 
  pizza crust:
   2/3 cup Warm Water
   1 tsp Sugar
   2 cups Flour (approx.) 
   1 pkg Active dry Yeast
   2 Tbsp Oil
   ½ tsp Salt
   Blend ingredients, then mix in warm, not hot, water.
   Once blended, knead about 5 minutes (if the dough is sticky add more
   flour), then stretch into the pan. Rise 5 - 15 minutes.

optional icing:

mix powered sugar and water until desired consistency is reached.

 

ENJOY!

-Jen

Wed, 07/29/2009 - 05:37 — Sarah

Jen-

Thank you! Love the photos and details :-)

~Sarah