How on earth can I bake bread without an oven? You may wonder.
When the Covid pandemic hit the world, it was the time most of us turned to doing our own thing in the kitchen. One of my favorite food is Bread. Without my daily bread, I feel as though something is missing.
With the lockdowns it was difficult to get groceries and especially bread as bakeries had closed down. Power cuts were frequent making it almost impossible to bake in an oven.
I turned to making my own bread with ingredients always available in my pantry and in the fridge. Without the oven, I make milk bread in my rice cooker or in a non-stick pan on the stove.
This is what I use to make Soft Milk Bread with a crunchy crust on the top which is optional.
If you are like me and love that crunchiness; especially with a generous dollop of butter, grated cheese a spicy chicken curry (which I love), or home-made pineapple or strawberry jam, it is simply heavenly. I also love dipping the bread in yogurt mixed with olive oil with just a pinch of salt and a dash of pepper, sliced green chillies and red onions mixed with boiled and crumbled tuna!.
The best part is taking pride in baking your own bread that you will never again want to buy bread from your local bakery.
I will let you in on a little secret ingredient that I add for that extra soft spongy milk bread. So read on.
The Dry Ingredients
- 500 gms Flour (You can choose whole-wheat/ all-purpose or bread flour)
- 7 gms Instant yeast
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Sugar
The Liquid Ingredients
- ½ cup Full cream or Low fat milk
- 02 Medium size eggs
- ½ Cup Olive oil
- ½ Cup luke warm water
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Secret Ingredient
2 Tablespoons Plain yogurt or Curd
Additional Ingredients
- A teaspoon of butter to brush the Pan or the Rice cooker pan
- A little oil to brush the top of the Milk Bread Dough to give it that lovely golden look
Optional: Egg wash
The Method
Into a bowl add the warm water with the yeast and stir until it is completely dissolved.
Next add the salt and sugar. Add the flour, eggs, milk, butter and curd. Mix this with a wooden spoon until the dough does not stick onto the spoon. Sprinkle a little flour on the countertop or board and knead the dough till it is consistent.
Next lightly brush the pan with butter or oil. Form a ball with the dough and leave it for about 10-15 minutes in a warm place covered with either a kitchen towel or cling wrap.
The dough should be soft like molding clay and should not stick onto your fingers. If it does simply sprinkle a little flour and knead.
The dough by now should have doubled in size. If you wish to, let it rest for a further 10 minutes.
Punch the dough and if it bounces back then it means that the dough has risen. With instant yeast anyway the dough rises quickly as it acts real fast. Leave it covered for a further 25 minutes.
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Now gently take the ball of dough with a spatula neatening the sides and place it in the Rice Cooker or in a non-stick pan if you are using a stove. Bruch some milk and egg wash on the dough to give it that golden color.
I usually keep the rice cooker on for about 5 minutes and then switch it to “Warm” and leave it overnight. The heat is sufficient to beautifully cook the Milk Bread giving me beautiful fluffy bread for breakfast.
If you are using a stove then remember to have the heat at the lowest possible or the bread could burn. It is best to first put a grill or a pan cover on the stove and then place the non-stick pan on top of it. This way the direct heat will be blocked and an even distribution of heat will help to cook the bread.
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You can check it better if you have a glass top cover for the pan so you know when to take it off the stove.
By now, there will be that lovely aroma of home baked Milk bread wafting through the house. Take it off the stove or Rice cooker and place on a rack to cool.
Once the bread has cooled it is now ready to eat. You can either slice it or break it and have it for breakfast or dinner with a nice thick chicken and mushroom soup.
In cool climates you can leave the bread out on a paper towel in a wicker or cane basket, but in extreme heat conditions it is better to store it in the lower part of the fridge.
Related: How To Make Pine Bark Bread
Since eggs are an ingredient in the Milk Bread, due to extreme heat in some places the bread can develop mold so it’s best to refrigerate in the lowest part of the refrigerator. You can either steam it or heat it and you will have your Milk Bread as fresh as ever.
It is not difficult once you get the hang of it and you will never want store bought bread. This is great for the family to have their own Milk bread made at home without an oven. You can make this even with a wood stove but it should be made in a cast iron pan and on the coals or else it would burn. I’ve almost stopped using my regular stove completely because I have finally learned how to cook without almost anything (including bacon and vegetables – yes, you heard that right) without it, without smoke, no hassle at all. Here’s my method.
Making Milk Bread on a wood fire will be very quick due to the extreme heat.
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As an alternative you could put a few coals into a cast iron pan and then put the Milk Bread dough into a smaller pan, cover it and let the Milk Bread rise and bake to perfection.
Overall, you do not need an oven to bake bread and you can easily cook it in 3 different ways that are given in this article. The ingredients are generally always available in a pantry and you do not have a high energy bill since you won’t need an oven to bake this bread.
You can see my grandbaby Blake enjoying his bread 🙂
Happy Soft Milk Breading!
The article was originally published on Self-Sufficient Projects
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Rice cooker? So you have electricity? Why not just use a bread machine? I’ve used one for 50+ years to make all our bread. I’ve also lived off the grid 6-9 months/year for 22 years. A pressure cooker is a great way to make bread, too. No electricity needed.
This bread recipe is good because it has a lot of fancy ingredients that would not be availalbe in shtf. Powdered milk. So, ok, it’s a fun idea, but not all that practical.
I just pay 5 dollars a loaf at Fred Meyers…Buy 2 loafs , put one in the freezer…i eat it up in about 2 weeks. Makes me long for my mom’s moldy blackberry jam….i just remembered that she did buy hard tack at the neighborhood store . I think she was preparing me for the Cuban missile crisis. To which i would like to say….If Iran gets nuclear weapons their current radical government is all in on blowing up the U.S.A. What they did to Israel on October 7th is what they what to do to the U.S.A. and the West…Geeper Creepers…how many crossed the boarder in he last 4 years….you wonder why I’m on this site….that’s just one reason …Peace
In the recipe you said to “add butter” but the ingredients listed butter only for brushing the pan. Is this a mistake?
Could I ou do this recipe with cups instead grams. Thank you
In a SHTF there may not be electric power. Myself, I want to be able to bake and cook without the grid.
Two cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 heaping tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp grease
1/3 cup oil
3/4-1 cup milk or water
Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly
Add the grease and work it in by hand. I use 1 tbsp ghee and 1 tbsp bacon dripping. Crisco works fine
add 3/4 cup milk. I use goat milk
Knead it until it’s not sticky and begins to bounce back when pushed
Bacon grease a cast iron skillet
Mask the dough out to about 1/2 inch thick or a bit thicker. Poke holes in it with a fork. Turn over and poke holes in it. Turn back over and place in the skillet. Cover the skillet with a dutch oven lid. Bake 25 minutes and 350. At 25 minutes flip the bread. Cover and put back in the oven for 5-7 minutes to brown both sides. Remove from skillet. Rub butter on the top and let cool. It may rise to 3 inches. If it is flat that’s okay. It was made to carry in a waxcloth in your saddle bag. It is good at any time.
You have made the State bread on Texas called Pan de Campo. Good stuff with black strap molasses or honey. I don’t buy bread anymore. I make this once a week and eat with breakfast or with any meat dish.
Pan de Campo is best made over a fire in cast iron. You don’t need electricity. Just fire. You can use water instead of milk. I have not tried this..yet..with powdered milk but I will soon.
If you decide to prepare this, make certain your soul is prepared as well.
Remember the Alamo
Remember North Carolina
Chaplain Dan…Hi from the great pacific northwest. I like your Pan de Cammpo recipe.There’s so many regulations in my county i would probably get a 20,000.00 fine if i tryed making a small fire to cook it . Anyways i was wondering if a person could throw in a handful of edible weeds into your recipe for extra nutrition and still have the consistency of bread ? I purchased some hobo pie irons last year but still have not used them yet..i guess I’m waiting for shtf…thanks
Howdy,
About adding “weeds” or oats..cheese? It’s your bread. I always make it by the recipe the first time or two. Then I add something else. So far I have added 1/2 cup oats. I did this twice. Now I just make it and use goats milk. I have used heavy whipping cream, half n half and just water. It’s very versatile. Try it out now and make it your recipe. If you do? Put the recipe on here whenever. I will see it. When my Rosemary, oregano and thyme is ready to use I will add them in.
Note to Hillbilly.
Camp Chief has a really great propane powered two
burner cook top with an oven that will take a large
bread pan.The price is in the 300-400 dollar range.
To me the appeal is being able to cook and bake at
same time.
Depending on your climate the Sun Oven will bake and
cook just not at the same time.The price tag is close to
that of the Camp Chief.
The Ember Oven works on the Rocket Stove principle
burning small pieces of wood to reach a maximum temp
of 350 degrees.Outdoor use only though.
There is only the wife and I to cook/bake for so we plan to
help out friends and neighbors that have flour or maybe a
nice venison roast.
Hope this answers your off grid concerns.
There are times when I use the old smokey to build a fire. I sometimes I use a tripod. Sometimes I use a trivet to keep sparks from setting the dry yard on fire. Too much fire I put the lid on and smother it.
The Pan de Campo is near fool proof.
Chuck, thank you for your post. Yes, I too want to be able to cook and bake, and do it without the need for the grid.
Great Comments :
lots of good stuff , tid bits to gleen from
as a boy scout we used campfire with outside rocks to make the oven , then removed debrees from the area of cooking, the heat from rocks will bake slowly
the ingredients are simple
Flour , Water , what ever you can find to give the taste you want
as in survival mode , use anything which will create flour
plants, roots, nuts, etc , acorns as the indians did
mash from different wild plant roots will create a batter
Salt , sugar, are optional but , if you study the past from the REAL immigrants , it was anything you could get
or buy or trade
again lack of planning creats koas and dispair , so think , plan , prepare carefully
NOT like the supermarket
but LIKE the outdoors
must be frugal and think about your future and survival
YOU can live on very little if you had to .
best wishes
I will be raptured and not be here when this happens as I Read, Study , Plan the bible says so .
I checked out the main article again and may try the rice cooker and milk bread approach if i can get out of the Mad Max mind set for a while. Plus thanks for the encouragement on the Pan de Cammpo….I’ll see….
WELL MY RICE COOKER runs on unicorn farts, so, if the power goes out, we are all set.
Butter question, just substitute unobtanium for any ingredient. the metric conversion, do some homework, convert it WITH THE HELP of the internet – duck duck go , NOT g OO gle
the two big O’s are their binoculars spying on yO u
They sell frozen bread dough real cheap, HAVE some, big power outage – use it for helping refrigeration keep things cold, then use it as bread dough ( stick two in crisper drawer, when they thaw, bake one and bake the other 1- 2 days later) STAY OUT of you fresh and frozen as much as possible ! preserve the low temp !