Bread Making on board

[SV Toucan]

Cooking brown bread in empty large soup cans is a no knead, delicious, bread that goes well with baked beans and ham or sausages. Ask any Canadian from the maritimes. Same goes for biscuits. Bon voyage, bon appetit.

[369thegoose]

Originally Posted by sailnautilus

After years living on board, I can vote for a bread maker. CRITICAL though, it must have an express cycle that mixes, rises and bakes the dough in one hour. Uses very little electricity, minimal clean up, and no use of propane. The bread is not artisanal, but very good for a one hour effort.

Irish soda bread bbc.com

No yeast, v quick might be helpful

[Jimmyhenry]

Big vote for the bread maker. We use it to get the dough ready. And then bake in the gas oven. Uses negligible power and does it perfectly every time.
Pete

[KarenSJ]

I have used a large plastic covered bowl for mixing and kneading, transferring the dough briefly to a plastic cutting board when I need to clean/grease the bowl. The cover helps expedite the first rising process. Bowl fits in compartment under oven for storage when not in use. I find no-knead recipes to be too messy.

Karen Jacobson

[Mike OReilly]

I like no-knead bread, but I don't think they're really any easier, or less effort, than standard knead breads. Honestly... it's not that hard to knead dough for a few minutes. And cleanup tends to be easier b/c the dough isn't as sticky.

I like a variety of breads; no-knead, full-knead, partial-knead... whatever. And as far as mess goes, I just do it all in a large bowl or small bin. My boat bin is a silicon collapsible thing which folds down to a very small space. It has a multiple of uses on board, including making bread.

[gwyn]

Got some pre-mixed flour/yeast, from Walmart, I think. (some years ago)

Put in the right amount of beer.

Baked it and went on watch.

Crew ate the lot without me.

Do not make the same mistake, you cannot trust people after they smell fresh bread.

[Kit_L]

I use a combination of the Jim Lahey "no knead" method, and Ken Forkish's alternative, more complex/time consuming methods to make a 25% rye/75% white flour bread. I assemble and proof the ingredients in a Cambro 12 quart polycarbonate pot; the second proof is done in this too, so very tidy.

The secret to the no knead approach is a long bulk fermentation: 18–24 hours; the second proof is ~6. Easy to do if you plan ahead.

I have not made aboard yet—the cooking requires a hot oven (450° for 30', then ~15' with dutch oven lid off to brown top), and I would need the generator running for that as well as an oven hot enough! But this will come one day.

My current approach is to make a 600g loaf at home, cut in quarters when cool, and freeze three—these get taken out to the boat. This bread freezes extremely well, and keeps well, too.

[Discovery 3]

Originally Posted by dannc

Google for no kneed bread. Pretty danged easy. Instead of physically working the bread, the dough is made a bit wetter and time is used to "kneed" the bread. No "need" for a bread machine or making a mess on the counter. I just mixed everything in a big bowl, covered with plastic wrap and led the bread sit over night.

Easy.

Later,
Dan

Yes definitely a great idea,I make my dough just tacky to the touch,rise it twice and use it also for pizza for the kids.

[Giro]

I’ve been making all types of yeast breads for decades. I have developed a method for kneeling the dough very well by using one hand to kneed with and using a stainless steel bowl that is large enough to contain the mixture of ingredients neatly. On a boat, underway, it would be appropriate to keep the bowl on one’s lap. One can use any flat surface, including a table (dinette or navigation) to form the loaves and place on the baking pan. If you are interested in baguettes, you will only be limited by the width of your oven.

[Mal Christine]

We purchased some plastic sheeting from Bunnings (a hardware store in Australia). There are several thicknesses available from 0.5mm, 0.75mm and 1.0mm thick. It is on a roll and you simply purchase the length you require. We use this as a table protector and another piece which covers our fridge and freezer hatches. Once you have finished kneading, mixing, etc, you simply lift it off, clean and dry it. We leave this plastic sheet on the bench most of the time. It stops food scraps falling into the fridge and freezer hatch gaps.

[JanetGroene]

this might work for you. Get a flat wood cutting aboard at least 12 x 18 inches that can be stowed under a seat cushion. It can be used atop any flat surface and holds the flour well. You can also take it on deck to keep the mess out of the galley because a lot of flour flies around. I have also used such a board for temporary counter space. Open a galley drawer, place the board over it and close the drawer to lock the board in place. Ideal extra workspace for, say, making a lot of sandwiches.

[Bluezulu]

Hi guys,

I've lived onboard about 12 years now. I bake a loaf once a week. My system is to mix the dough up in a large bowl using fresh yeast. No mess this way as kneeding isn't required. I bake in the so called Dutch oven shown in the photo. This gives an excellent bake for bread and cakes on minimum gas. I bake a loaf for an hour. Our kitchen shops here in Gran Canaria supply these ovens.
Happy baking.

[Macblaze]

Originally Posted by Kit_L

I have not made aboard yet—the cooking requires a hot oven (450° for 30', then ~15' with dutch oven lid off to brown top), and I would need the generator running for that as well as an oven hot enough! But this will come one day.

You shoulfd go ahead and try it anyway. I think you will find the dutch oven (I use cast iron) will get hot enough.

[CarinaPDX]

As I posted earlier I use a bowl to mix and a homemade wooden breadboard to knead; I recommend that anyone starting to bake bread should try the traditional approach first before investing in a breadmaker. Also, you will learn that mixing up a few ingredients is simply not that difficult or time-consuming, so when you can no longer find overpriced bread mixes you will still be able to bake bread. I learned to bake bread at home before I went cruising and used a Kitchenaid mixer for mixing and kneading the bread (requires a dough hook). It did take a little more effort to do that by hand but nothing that was bothersome.

I highly recommend that anyone starting out baking, at least in the U.S. and much of the Caribbean, take the time to track down Bob's Red Mill flour (I found it as far away as Trinidad). I left with about 50# of white bread-making flour, whole wheat flour, and rye flour from Bob's, all stone ground. They contract with farmers to grow high-gluten wheat just for them; even dough with high amounts of whole wheat flour will rise well. Also, take a trip to costco or similar and buy a large bottle of yeast for a few dollars - it is equivalent to a large, and expensive, quantity of yeast packets. Store yeast refrigerated if possible. While at home I kept a modest amount in a jar in the fridge for regular use, topped up from the original stored in the freezer. It lasted for years and was a hell of a lot cheaper than those yeast packets. My oven aboard Carina is small so I would mix enough for two loaves, put one in the oven after the first rising then punch down the second loaf and bake it after the second rising and the first loaf was done. Purists may not like a single rise for the first loaf but it works fine.

Greg

[Kit_L]

Macblaze wrote:

You shoulfd go ahead and try it anyway. I think you will find the dutch oven (I use cast iron) will get hot enough.

I was not clear in what I wrote—I don't actually have an oven on board yet! The main reason is that we are using only solar power presently; the generator will be serviced soon, then I will be posting about what's the best on-board electric oven.

I do use a Dutch oven inside an electric one at home. Thanks!