What would you eat if you were stranded with out power? It could occur it does occur. A natural catastrophe, a breakdown in the delivery program as the Northeast experienced recently, or a terrorist strike in opposition to the infrastructure could depart you with out power. Do not despair. You probably have a source of heat-a camp stove, a barbeque grill, a fireplace, or a place to build a fire to cook with. (Never use a grill or camp stove in an enclosed space.) In most cases, you can find a way to eat your daily bread–even with out an oven.

Fry it. Those indulgent raised, glazed donuts are fried. You can do the exact same with any dough. Serve them hot with a little butter and syrup or honey and you will have a deal with that the kids will clamor for-even with out an emergency. Simply mix the bread as instructed and let the dough rise. Instead of forming loaves, roll or pat the dough on a counter till it is about 1/2-inch thick. Slice the dough into wedges, separate the pieces, and let them rise again till twice as thick. Warmth a pan of oil till hot and slip the dough pieces two or three at a time into the hot oil. When 1 side is browned, turn the dough more than. If the oil is hot sufficient, the dough should absorb little oil. When done, drain the fried bread on paper towels.

Boil it. Bagels are boiled. Really, they are boiled and then baked. You can form your dough into a bagel , let it rise, and then gently slip it into a large pan of rapidly boiling water. As soon as the bread is firm, remove it with a slotted spoon, let dry, and then fry each side in a lightly greased skillet to produce a crust and complete the cooking. The advantage in this method is that you can use much less oil (and oil might be restricted in an emergency) than deep frying.

Bake it. That’s correct-even with out an oven you can bake bread. It’s easy to do on most outside grills. (Be prepared. Usually have additional propane or charcoal on hand but never use an outside grill indoors.) Baking demands heat from both above and below. If your grill doesn’t have a cover, use a bucket or tub to capture the heat and immediate it down onto the bread. (You want as much heat coming from above as below.) If the bread is too near to the heat-as it most likely is-stick something under the bread pan to raise it-a couple empty tuna cans, an old brick-almost anything will function as long as it doesn’t insulate the bread from the heat.

You can use a Dutch oven to bake bread. Line the Dutch oven with aluminum foil and place the dough on the foil or lay the bread pan in the Dutch oven. Stack hot coals on the lid.

You can bake bread more than an open fire with two pans. Two pie tins will function for biscuits. To form a makeshift oven, put a large heavy pan on warm coals, a lid or baking sheet more than the leading, and stack on hot coals. Remember, you are attempting to get as much heat from above as below. (The tendency is to have too much heat at the bottom.)

A good place to practice these techniques is on your subsequent camping trip. You can become a actual pro at generating unconventional bread whilst experiencing the deal with of refreshing bread whilst camping. We assure that refreshing bread more than an open fire will make you the envy of the campground.

With a little imagination, you can bake almost any bread with out an oven. If you want to try frying bread, most white or wheat bread recipes are nearly foolproof. Even with out the emergency, it will not go to waste.

We can hope that catastrophe never strikes but it is good to know that those bread fixin’s in the pantry can be used in an emergency.

See the Emergency Bread printable version and photo

This is an excerpt from The Ready Pantry’s Emergency and Outdoor Bread Manual which is accessible totally free for download.

© 2004, The Prepared Pantry