Winter just does not feel like winter without an ample supply of baked goods. My husband is a cobbler and pie lover, and I a muffin, cake, and cookie gal. Together, we have spent many a winter eve enjoying a fresh blackberry cobbler with whipped cream, or woke to a delicious blueberry muffin. But this winter, baking has been a bit more challenging because we do not have an oven.
Thankfully, we have learned how to bake without an oven.
Baking when you don’t have a readily available oven sitting in your kitchen takes a bit more time, planning, and creativity, but we have grown our skills to include several methods of baking without an oven. Among our favorites are Dutch ovens, and what I will call Stovetop Bakes. In this post, I share our experience with Woodstove Bakes.
Baking in Dutch Ovens
Being more of a backpacking family than a camping family, we had never really explored the world of Dutch oven baking. Typically, Dutch oven users suggest using charcoal briquets, and it is a more refined way of controlling temperature for your baking, but our family prefers to use wood over charcoal briquets. It’s a lot cheaper, and we never run out of wood!
First, we build a great big campfire in our backyard…
Then, we pile hot coals on top of the Dutch Oven, and underneath. You’ll want to put about 2/3 of the coals on top, and 1/3 on the bottom. A great Dutch oven pot will have a lip on the lid to hold the coals in place, and legs to allow you to place coals in a circle underneath the pot. This is a good model to check out.
Because it is harder to control the temperature using wood, we keep a close eye on the baking until it’s done. So far, we’ve enjoyed buttermilk biscuits, and blueberry and apple cobbler!
Here are some other Dutch Oven recipes that I’m excited to try:
Zucchini Bread, from Learning and Yearning
Dutch Oven recipe round up from MomPrepares
Dutch Oven Lemon Roasted Chicken from Montana Solar Creations
How to Bake on your Stovetop
An easier, quicker method of baking a delicious fruit dessert, or a savory pot pie-like meal, is cooking a stovetop “slump”. A slump is technically a stewed fruit dessert, in which a biscuit topping is put on top of the fruit filling.
We first discovered the slump in the cookbook Rustic Fruit Desserts. Since our first experiments a few weeks ago, we’ve come to love the ease with which we can “bake” such a satisfying and warm meal or dessert. Rather than baking in the oven, you cook a slump on a stove top with the lid on, and the topping steam-cooks. You’ll want to use a heavy weight pot such as these Dutch ovens from Le Creuset.
Above is pictured a savory slump – a chicken pot pie, really – but cooked on the stovetop. So GOOD!
And this is a blueberry apple slump. Aside from the fact that the topping does not get browned, you’d never know it was not baked. Can you see in this photo how the topping sort of “slumps” down. Hence the name?
Next time you find yourself without an oven, try one of these creative ways to bake!
Building an Outdoor Pizza Oven
Catherine says
Can you please give the instructions for baking the slump on the wood stove? I’d so appreciate the help!! Please feel free to send an e-mail to me as well if you’re o.k. with that so I’ll know you replied??
Teri Page says
Hi Catherine,
The slump is basically a cobbler baked in a cast iron dutch oven style pan (we have a Le Creuset that has enamel coating) on the woodstove surface. I don’t really have instructions or a recipe, but you essentially set the dutch oven on the woodstove with the lid on. Sorry I can’t offer more details, i’s been many years since I wrote that post and we have an oven these days so it’s been a long time since I’ve made a stovetop slump. Our process was based on experimentation!! Good luck!
Abigail says
Very cool! We don’t have a cast iron dutch oven like this yet, but we keep our eyes open at thrift and antique stores for an affordable one. However, my husband built a mud oven in our backyard about a year and a half ago, and it is absolutely wonderful to cook in! Not to mention the pizzas and breads that come out that thing. 🙂 (Here’s a link to it: http://www.theyrenotourgoats.com/homestead/making-our-cob-oven/)
Teri Page says
The mud oven looks great! We had an amazing brick bread oven at our former homestead, and I really miss it. The cob oven is definitely high on our to-do list!
Abigail says
You should totally do it! It’s so worth it! 🙂
Jess says
I like to use a box oven for baking. It does need briquettes to keep a constant even temperature but when baking breads, cakes and things that is what you need and if you only use it for a limited amount of items then a bag of briquettes lasts a long time. I learned this in Girl Scouts and never forgot it!
Teri Page says
I have since learned about the briquette option and it seems like a great idea for winter months. Thank you for sharing your experience with the method!
Margo says
This post is so timely and inspirational. Up to now, our hand-built cabin has been plugged into the grid for electricity, so I have had the luxury of using a toaster oven to bake whatever and whenever I have wanted to. My husband and I just finally purchased our first solar panels though, and since we are choosing to go with a battery bank, off-grid system, I will be eliminating big electricity vacuums like the toaster oven and finding alternative methods for baking. I have been searching around for ideas about dutch oven baking and didn’t find much so far–until your post! I’ve been following your blog for a little while but this is my first time posting. I enjoy seeing what you and your family are doing and thanks for the information!
Teri Page says
Thanks so much for writing, Margo! I bet it is really exciting to have your solar panels ready to set up! Have you heard of solar ovens? They are great options for sunny days. I use mine all the time in summer to bake; it is a Sun Oven brand.
Margo says
Yes we have heard of them, and we are interested in trying solar ovens but since we live in the often-grey sky Pacific Northwest, we really could only use them for parts of the summer. Did your family use yours when you lived in Oregon? Actually, my husband was thinking of building his own out of an old mini-fridge (already insulated) and some mirrors for reflection and glass for a cover. Could be a really useful project OR an ugly piece of yard art, we’ll find out. 😉 We have seen the Sun Ovens on display at the Mother Earth News fair, they seem to be a great option if you get a reasonable amount of sunlight!
Teri Page says
Well, you bring up a good point – you would not be able to use a Sun Oven for 2/3 of the year in the Pacific Northwest. But, you would definitely get great use out of it from July – September, and sporadically in May, June, and October. We ourselves did not own a Sun Oven in Oregon, but we lived at a community that did, and they used them in the summer months. Making it yourself sounds like a fun option, and there are lots of posts with instructions online.
meredith says
That’s so cool! I baked a layer cake in a dutch oven while camping once, it was so tricky and I was so proud of myself! I never would have thought of baking on the stove top, way to be creative!! 🙂
Teri Page says
It is really an amazing way of getting a baked experience with very little work!
Raia says
Ooh. I’m excited to try this! Thanks!
Teri Page says
Let me know how it goes!
mike says
I could have guessed that Brian loved pies, but I had no idea he can also mend shoes! Learn something new everyday I suppose.
Teri Page says
Oh yes, it’s our next cottage industry, Mike! Did I punctuate incorrectly, or something?