Alternative Cooking Comparison

My family loves homemade bread. It doesn't matter if it is a little over cooked or flat. They still prefer this over store bought bread. We even tried the more expensive breads. My family still loves fresh, steaming, buttery bread. Who wouldn't?

Well today I got ambitious. I was going to make all kids of breads, multiple recipes, and multiple sizes,and multiple purposes. As I was sitting there deciding on the recipes to use I began thinking about the utility bill that was coming due.

My mind tends to wonder sometimes.

Well, for some reason unknown to me, our city increased the utility bills dramatically. They tried to explain why such a large increase in rates was necessary but it comes down to the fact that I can't change it. All I can do is alter my lifestyle choices.

One such way I have decided to cut down on the amount of electricity is with the air conditioning. So running the oven all day baking bread goes against this new lifestyle change. What does a self reliant person choose to do? They have an alternative cooking comparison day!

I have been wondering for a while which alternative cooking style I would like the best. I decided today was the day to find out. If I didn't want to use my conventional oven then what are my options? I came up with four.

Sun Oven

Camp Chef Oven

BBQ Grill

Bread Machine

*I have used Dutch Ovens in the past but I didn't want to wait for coals etc. So this experiment does not include that option.

I began mixing my dough. The types of bread I chose to make today are all different. I didn't want to make 10 loaves of the same kind. I like variety. So I settled on:

White

Honey Wheat

Fresh Ground Whole Wheat

Italian

French

Potato

1/2 & 1/2 white/wheat

WARNING: My experiment is in no way scientific. If you are looking for a scientific experiment then read no further. I had fun changing up the recipes and switching up which cooking options I would use.

Here are the results.

The Bread Machine

bread machine

This machine has a setting for quick breads. I used this option first. I knew that when my family came home from all of their activities they would see hot, fresh bread and want some. As predicted my family ate the first loaf as soon as they saw it. So you will notice that in my pictures there is only one loaf from the bread maker.

The bread maker served it's purpose. It was quick, easy, and didn't up the temperature in the house very much.

The Sun Oven

Here in the southwest the amount of sun isn't a problem. If you live in Alaska you might have a problem.

I set up the Sun Oven to get hot and began mixing my dough. I let the loaf raise and stuck it in the oven. The sun did it's job. The bread cooked wonderfully. Cooked all the way through. I even got really busy at one point on and forgot about the loaf. The good thing I found out was that the bread did not burn! SAVED IT! It actually never got brown on top even though it was done all the way through. There may be a way to brown the top but I haven't figured that out yet.

Camp Chef Oven

I new the bread from this oven would be similar to the conventional style but there are differences. Two of the loaves in ended up with the back side being over cooked. Still edible... Just darker than the front. The heat didn't cook evenly. But as I said, still good bread.

I next cooked a French bread loaf and the golden brown top was so beautiful that I had to use self restraint to not eat it before taking pictures. This info told me that the taller the bread is the harder it is for the heat cook evenly.

BBQ Grill

It might be surprising to hear that I make bread in the BBQ. But It really isn't all that different unless you use briquettes. On a propane gas grill there is no difference in taste or smell (unless you haven't cleaned it from last weekend's Pork Ribs Cook-off)! When you use Briquettes your bread will have a smoke smell and flavor. I don't mind it but some people not like it. That is up to you.

Dutch Oven

I know I said I didn't use this one today but I thought someone might be interested in the process.

When cooking rolls in the Dutch oven you can cook them by placing one row of rolls in the bottom and cooking with coals on the top and bottom. They turn out looking just like the oven baked ones. However when I want to cook a loaf of bread in a loaf pan there are a couple things different. You need to raise the loaf pan off the bottom of the Dutch oven somehow in order to keep the bottom from burning while waiting for the top to brown.

There you have it. The differences between several types of alternative cooking styles. All were successful. All taste amazing. All work great depending one your circumstances.

If you are in a hurry and don't have time to pay attention then the bread machine works great.

If you don't have propane then obviously those options are out. If it a cloudy day solar won't work. (You shouldn't cook bread on a humid cloudy day anyway because your bread won't raise as well.)

To tell my favorite method of the day... HYBRID!

I took mini loaves of bread that cooked in the solar Sun Oven until almost done and still white on top. Then placed them in the Camp Chef oven for 5 minutes to brown the top. PERFECTION!

I like this method of today the best because the result was perfect and I used very little resources.

Thanks for learning with me!