Cooking Articles Article:
How to Bake: Bread on the Grill
One of the slickest tricks we know is baking bread on the grill. Once you get to know your grill, it's easy-like baking your favorite recipe in the oven.
We can think of all kinds of reasons to use the grill. You can enjoy fresh baked bread while camping, or at the cabin, or at the next family reunion. Sometimes, it's just nice to get out of the kitchen, enjoy the spring air, and bake outside. (Watch the neighbors turn their noses upwind when the smell of fresh baked bread wafts over the fence.) And in the summertime, you don't have to heat up the kitchen to bake. Finally, if there is ever an extended emergency when the power is off, you may have the only fresh bread in town.
You can bake nearly anything with a covered grill. (If your grill doesn't have a cover, improvise with a large inverted pot.) The heat rises and circulates in the covered area just as it does in your oven. The heat source can be charcoal, gas, or even wood. We prefer gas because it is easier to control and does not impart a smoked taste to the bread. Since it is hottest near the flames, elevate the bread even if you have to improvise. In our grill, there is a secondary shelf for baking potatoes and such.
For this demonstration, we used Old-Fashioned White Bread mixes though any mix or recipe will do. We mixed according to package directions. After it had risen, we formed one batch into oval country loaves, one into hamburger buns, and another into dinner rolls.
The trick to grilling bread perfectly is controlling temperature and time. If your grill comes equipped with a thermometer, you've got it made (though outside temperatures and winds may impact how well your grill retains heat). If you have a thermometer, just heat to the temperature designated on the package or in the recipe. If not, guess. After a few loaves you'll have it perfect and we bet that the first batch off the grill will be just fine.
Rolls and buns will probably bake in 15 to 20 minutes and loaves will take 20 to 30 minutes depending on size and temperature. An occasional peek to see how your bread is doing as it nears completion is okay.
We made twelve giant-sized hamburger buns, just the ticket for that quarter-pounder. Form the buns as you would dinner rolls then press them flat several times until they look like those in the picture to the left. (The dusting that you can see on the pan is cornmeal.) Cover and let rise.
Just before baking, we washed the buns with an egg white wash (one egg white plus one tablespoon of water). We then sprinkled them with sesame seeds. On our grill, we baked them with the heat turned about two-thirds open for about 18 minutes.
For the dinner rolls, we used a 8 1/2 x 15-inch pan and made 20 rolls scaled at 2.5 ounces each.
We made two country style loaves from one mix. If you look closely you'll see that we forgot to slash the tops to release the steam and consequently ended up with a split on the side of the loaf. Don't do as we did-score two or three quarter-inch deep slashes on the top of the loaf just as you begin baking.
Here are a few more hints to help you along the way:
- Bake the bread before the burgers. The bread can cool while you cook the rest of the food. Burning grease in the bottom of the grill makes the temperature harder to control and the soot can stain the bread.
- If you are letting your bread rise outside where the temperature may be less than indoors or where breezes may swirl around the bread, consider using a large food-grade plastic bag as a greenhouse. Simply slip the bread dough--pan and all--inside the bag, inflate it slightly, and close it. If the day is cool, set the bag and the bread in a sunny warm place to capture a little solar energy.
- Grills tend to not circulate the hot air as well as ovens. To keep the bottom of the bread from burning, place one pan beneath the other and a wire rack between the pans to create space for insulation.
- If your bread is baking faster on one side than the other, turn the pan 180 degrees part way through the baking time.
- The tendency is to burn the bottom of the bread. Place the bread as far away from the flames as you can even if it means elevating the bread.
We hope that you have fun baking bread outside this summer. We do know that you will be the envy of the neighborhood, campground, or RV park.
For more articles like this visit The Bakers' Library.
© 2004 The Prepared Pantry
Related Perfect Cooking News and Articles From ezinearticles.com
A kitchen would just not be a kitchen without a cutting board. In fact, the cutting board has become a main tool of our kitchen as it provides us a safe place for food preparation and cutting.
In previous articles, Throovest traced the history and the making of the outside barbeque, going back to the original Portuguese design which provides for foolproof outside cooking. This time he divulges the secret of cooking the perfect lamb chop on this most accommodating of cooking devices. Once you've sampled barbequed lamb chops like these, you may never settle for any other method.
A popular variety of shellfish, mussels have always been a favourite seafood dish. But like in the preparation of any scrumptious dish, the selection of good ingredients is always the secret to happy dining.
Cooker Hoods are great little helpers in kitchen. These little devices do not come as standard in most kitchens, but having then around or having been to a kitchen which has one can help concentrate the mind to how great they are. These devices help to to get rid of smells...
Although breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day, lunch also assumes equal importance as it provides energy for activities done in the remaining part of day. It plays an important role in our overall health factor. Hence, it is important that you have a healthy lunch. The two important aspects of a healthy lunch would be the ingredients used to prepare the lunch and healthy cooking method to complement it.
A waterless cookware set will change the way that you cook, how you enjoy foods, and will let you cook foods healthier than ever before. Waterless cookware pots and pans are designed to cook with very little water. This allows the nutrients in the food to remain along with lots more flavor.
When I was a child, we always cooked with charcoal. When I was really little, gas grills weren't even invented yet.
In this modern era, there are many kinds food that you may find in the restaurant. If you want to be healthy it is better for you to find healthy food. Japanese food is also become one of the most popular food which contain a lot of healthy materials. Sometimes, Japanese food may cost very expensive. If it is happen, it will be great for you to find Japanese cooking and you can cook your own food. There are many web pages which will gives you the right information about Japanese recipe. If you are interested with this food, you just need to cook it by yourself.
As we know, learning about other country culture is important for us to understand about other people. Cooking is also one important thing in culture. Learning about how some people from other country are preparing their traditional food is sure able to help us to understand a little bit of their culture. One of the countries that are very famous with the food is china. We all know that besides famous with traditional medicine, Chinese cooking is also very famous in the world. They are not only considering the taste of their food but also the ingredients that they use are good for our health.
You might not need to be a professional culinary artist to learn that you will need a little bit of help to really make killer dishes in your home. More often than not, these are convenience items and items that will keep you and the kitchen safe. Such is the case with a cutting board.
