So I tried to make a muffin.


crimescene450

crimescene450

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It was bannana, walnut, and charcoal flavored. :54:


I've never done this before so I figured i'd try. Afterall, i've seen people on this site do it; just mix the stuff, put it in your pot, and bury it in some coals....


The stuff I used:


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Cooking. For most of the time there weren't any flames, just coals.


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and here it is:



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I think I over cooked it. lol

There was an inch of space around the entire thing, and the bottom was so burned that when I finished the inside (which was good) I had a charcoal muffin bowl left behind.




So for the people who have done this before a bit better than I did, any tips?

Any special way to know when it might be done?

It was only my first time so i'll definately take it out earlier next time.




edit mods: Im not sure if this would be consider along the lines of bannock. If so, then you can merge it with the bannock pics thread if necessary.
 
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The knee high flames were only temporary. lol.

I pushed some of the wood away from the pot once I came to the realization that it might be too hot.
 
I won't make them while camping - legend has it that they attract moose....and then your problems are just beginning.
 
Not bad bud. If you have a small bowl or something that will fit inside of that one, you can put the mix in that, and put it up on a couple stones or twigs. Then It acts exactly like an oven and doesn't burn, cooks evenly.

Also, if you want to use only one pot. Try putting 1/4 inch or more of flour in the bottom of the dish before you put the batter/dough in. The flour dries out and turns brown, but your bread or muffins etc won't burn.

Just some stuff that has worked for me.
 
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Failure is merely a practice run for success. And it really wasn't a failure if the inside was ok!

I'd say to try one of Matt's suggestions, mix some more batter and try again!
 
justin_baker said:
I boiled water in it for 2 hours, and soaked it in bleach and soap. Didn't do anything. It's mostly out now but still.... ridiculous...
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Experience is a hard teacher. Sounds like you're getting there.

My first campfire cooking experience was even worse. My pancake batter burned on the bottom of my tin can skillet so badly that when I tried to dig it out, the handle bent and I burned my knuckles. I ended up throwing the whole thing away; got a real skillet and have had better results ever since! That was nearly 50 years ago, and I still love to cook in the fire.
 
Theres two problems I see here. 1. Your waaay to close to the heat. Think of your oven in the house.. your heat source is actually more than a foot away on the bottom. 350* is actually further away from those coals than you think. Do you have an adjustable grate you can use to bring your pot up higher?
2. Those mixes are loaded with sugar.. and flavor syrups. They like to burn. :) As one mentioned above.. grease/flour your pot before putting your dough in. When I look at your 'muffin' I see more of a sugar burn than I do flour burn.

I havent tried it...but I'm wondering if you could put in a coffee filter (paper kind) down in and then put your dough inside that.. its a barrier that might help from a direct contact burn. Peel the paper off when its cooled down. :)

Do try again.. just bring your pot further away from the heat. Let bake at a lower temp for longer time. Get a coating between dough and pot . and I'm thinking you'll have a great 'muffin' to chow down on. And if you have a pot you can put some small coals on.. I'd put some of those on top twards the end of cooking time to brown up the top. If not.. it still will be baked.

As far as blueberries... I have at least two baking pans and my pie iron that have been stained by those buggers. I've tried quite a few ways to get it out.. havent succeeded yet.

Marsh.
 
I don't know if it will work well, so correct me if I'm wrong, but would it be good to wrap your muffin in tin foil for easy cleanup when you are first starting out?
 
I was reading about a Skillet Baking method and the suggestion was to put oil in the pan and sprinkling corn meal as a protective layer - Packit Gourmet
 
justin_baker said:
I don't know if it will work well, so correct me if I'm wrong, but would it be good to wrap your muffin in tin foil for easy cleanup when you are first starting out?
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That would work. Actually, if you do that. Make it a little smaller diamiter and height than the pot. The sit it up on the small stones inside the pot. It'll come out perfect :dblthumb:

Spork: When I used to work in the bakery, we'd oil the bottom of the cake pans and dust them with flour. It works well. You can also oil the bottom of the pan and put a piece of waxed paper down. That works really well too. The only thing is it still gets direct heat from the coals, and cooks much faster than the rest of the cake/muffin/whatever.
 
Good on you for trying it out. Hang in there and keep experimenting and learning and you'll be doing as well as Spork and others on here in no time.
Just some ideas that may help: Try using some short 1/4" bolts or nuts to raise a smaller pan off the bottom of your cook pot. Also use parchment paper or just heavily grease the pan, to keep the muffin from sticking. I don't like aluminum foil as it tends to come apart when I try to get the muffin out. Rolls of parchment paper are available in the baking section of grocery store, usually same place as wax paper and foil.
Try setting your pot on stones about 3-4 inches above the coals, and get the coal bed well away from the main fire. I make a "keyhole" fire ring with a long slot for raking the coals into for cooking. An alternative is to dig a trench narrower than the pot and put the coals in it, with the pot resting on the to of it.
Hope that helps.
 
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