making a bread oven for camping

[Ziggy]

I can’t eat factory made bread! As some of you know, I make  my own bread.
I am going camping in the Berg for 5 days the first week in Jan and the thought of  having to eat “factory” bread puts me into a severe depression!.
You can bake bread in a potjie – but, our group is about 25  people – and the potjie would not be able to make enough bread.
My wife thinks I am mad, but I have decided to make my own camping oven for baking enough  bread for our group. I took a walk around the house looking for the ideal oven components  and this is what I have come up with

• I have an old stainless steel pool filter. I will cut it at  the red line (see pic below)
• Then I will take the concave lid and put some handles on  either side
• Inside the drum I will weld a few cross bars – (or just get  some kind of removable steel rack) to rest the baking tray on
• I have a three legged stand for resting a braai grill on – I  will use that to stand the stove on
• Make the fire underneath, and put coals in the concave lid.
• When the oven is nice and hot – lift the concave lid with  the coals in it, put my bread dough inside – and then wait 40 minutes – and then  I will have bread

It should be able to make at least three loaves at a time –  and we can also use it to roast chickens
Any opinions? Will this work? Will I be able to maintain the  heat at about 225c?

[pieta]

My uncle in George has the same thing. He just turned the lid up side down and cutted a litle door in the side. Use the lid to make his fire for braai. He add a few coals from the top inside the filter threu the door with his bread pan or sweet petato, onions on mielies and close the door. While doing the meat on top the bread is backing in the oven. Works very nice but kept the filter as is. Use it around the house.

[dodger]

You probably will have to insulate the stainless shell. The cast iron / aluminium pots have some thickness so they retain heat more  than a thin stainless shell, for camping it might pay to get a few more cast pots

[Ziggy]

You probably will have to insulate the stainless shell. The cast iron / aluminium pots have some thickness so they retain heat more  than a thin stainless shell, for camping it might pay to get a few more cast pots

To solve that issue - I thought of:

• Digging a hole that fits the oven (at least 2/3 buried) and using the soil from the hole, build it up to cover the sides as insulation to keep the heat in
• Burrow out under the oven  - with a large hole in  front to feed the fire and a small hole at the back for ventilation of the fire - to keep a through flow of oxygen so that they fire does not die
• Add a layer of Umgeni sand inside the oven at the bottom which will heat up and retain an even temperature.
• Keep feeding the fire on the lid
• I have a thermometer that I will use (one of those candy thermometers). Drill a hole in the side of the oven and put the probe in there. That way I can monitor the temp.

I need to keep the oven at about 200 degrees for 50 minutes to bake the bread

[dodger]

You probably will have to insulate the stainless shell. The cast iron / aluminium pots have some thickness so they retain heat more  than a thin stainless shell, for camping it might pay to get a few more cast pots

To solve that issue - I thought of:

• Digging a hole that fits the oven (at least 2/3 buried) and using the soil from the hole, build it up to cover the sides as insulation to keep the heat in
• Burrow out under the oven  - with a large hole in  front to feed the fire and a small hole at the back for ventilation of the fire - to keep a through flow of oxygen so that they fire does not die
• Add a layer of Umgeni sand inside the oven at the bottom which will heat up and retain an even temperature.
• Keep feeding the fire on the lid
• I have a thermometer that I will use (one of those candy thermometers). Drill a hole in the side of the oven and put the probe in there. That way I can monitor the temp.

I need to keep the oven at about 200 degrees for 50 minutes to bake the bread

hopefully you are in a place that is not full of rocks and tree roots

[Ziggy]

You probably will have to insulate the stainless shell. The cast iron / aluminium pots have some thickness so they retain heat more  than a thin stainless shell, for camping it might pay to get a few more cast pots

To solve that issue - I thought of:

• Digging a hole that fits the oven (at least 2/3 buried) and using the soil from the hole, build it up to cover the sides as insulation to keep the heat in
• Burrow out under the oven  - with a large hole in  front to feed the fire and a small hole at the back for ventilation of the fire - to keep a through flow of oxygen so that they fire does not die
• Add a layer of Umgeni sand inside the oven at the bottom which will heat up and retain an even temperature.
• Keep feeding the fire on the lid
• I have a thermometer that I will use (one of those candy thermometers). Drill a hole in the side of the oven and put the probe in there. That way I can monitor the temp.

I need to keep the oven at about 200 degrees for 50 minutes to bake the bread

hopefully you are in a place that is not full of rocks and tree roots

25-30 of us have our annual camping trip in the same place every year (for the past 20 years) - no stones and roots

[AndriesH]

Brilliant - two credits here.
I have a cut 19kg gas bottle that I want to use for a konka - but there is also an old skottel that I can use for a lid.
Eish, konka, bread oven and skottel, all in 1 - absolutely fabulous.