One of the more interesting ideas I encountered this summer was the concept of using a crock-pot instead of an oven for baking. Most of the time we use a crock-pot to start a meal in the morning before work so that dinner is ready when we get home, or just because the day is busy and time for meal prep later is minimal. Of course, a lot of time in the summer we don’t want to heat up the kitchen, so that’s the primary driver behind choosing to use a crock-pot.
However, with rising energy costs, some might be interested in saving money by slow cooking their baked goods instead of firing up the oven, while others just want to be good citizens and reduce the load on the overtaxed power grid (which probably wouldn’t be quite so overtaxed under better management and the use of fossil fuels, but I digress). And then, in an era where replacing a broken oven could take weeks or months, having a safe alternative for indoor baking is always a good idea.
And apparently, the concept of using a crock-pot for baking nothing new. There are loads of references for it online. However, it’s always important to give these ideas a try before things fall apart. One reason is because there is a slight difference between crock-pots and slow cookers.
It’s important to keep in mind that while many people use the terms crock-pot and slow cooker synonymously, the two are, in fact, different creatures and this may affect the outcome of your recipes. A proper crock-pot has a removable ceramic crock that is nice and thick and helps distribute the heat to more evenly cook (or bake) your food. The outer unit of the crock-pot has heating elements up the sides to more evenly cook and it also cooks food more slowly.
A slow cooker, on the other hand, may have a removable crock. The primary difference, however, lies in where the heating element is, and in a slow cooker, the heat is on the bottom only. A slow cooker is better suited for soups and stews—anything with a lot of liquid. Meats and casseroles are a bit more likely to burn when prepared in a slow cooker because of the heat concentration at the bottom and the need for the food to be stirred frequently to prevent burning.
For this first venture into baking bread in a crock-pot, I
used my go-to recipe for whole wheat sandwich bread and placed the dough in my
regular loaf pans. Two went into the
oven for normal baking and the third went into the crock-pot. I baked it in my crock-pot for about four
hours, but it never reached the 200°F temperature that indicates the bread is
fully baked. The highest it would go was
190°F. After sitting at 190°F for over an
hour, I decided it was done and pulled it out.
And I’m guessing that because I was using a crock-pot that just doesn’t
get as hot as a slow cooker, the bread wasn’t going to get any hotter. Anyway, it was done and we ate it, but the texture wasn't all that great.
If you have a medium-sized crock-pot, the standard sandwich
loaf pan isn’t going to fit inside.
Instead, you’ll form a round loaf and place it on a square of parchment
paper to rise. As it is rising, plug in the crock-pot and set it to “high” to
pre-heat the crock with the lid on. When
the dough has nearly doubled in volume, carefully transfer it to the preheated
crock-pot and place it inside. Replace the
lid and let bake for 2-3 hours, until the top is kind of rubbery-looking. Because the bread is steaming as much as
baking from the sides, it’s just not going to achieve that nice golden crust we
all love. After it has baked 2-3 hours,
remove the bread and flip it over so it can finish baking the bottom of the
loaf, and let it bake an additional 30-60 minutes. I used the no-knead recipe listed below and baked in the crock-pot as described here. Becky and Aaron didn't really like it, nor did I for that matter. But we all agreed, if the oven were dead and we couldn't use a sun oven outside (like today, which is cloudy and rainy), baking in a crock-pot would work in a pinch.
Helpful hints: During baking, as moisture accumulates on the lid, shake it off into the sink or wipe it off with a towel. This will let your bread or other goods cook more by baking and less by steaming.
Keep in mind that your results will differ from bread baked in the oven. Bread baked in a crock-pot doesn’t get that initial burst of high heat to spring up into high loaves that we are accustomed to. Crock-pot bread will be a bit flatter and won’t develop a crust and brown like loaves in the oven. The crust will be softer and lighter in color. If desired, you can counteract this by placing the loaf under the broiler in the oven for a few minutes, but watch carefully to make sure you don’t burn it.
I have an electric frying pan from the 70's. Still works great. The manual for it says you can bake in it. I haven't needed to or tried it but I imagine it could work just like your crockpot method. I'm surprised you don't have a camp oven where you can use it on your grill or stove or even use charcoal bricks to heat it and bake with it. Its a handy thing to have. I've had to use it here at home before and when we went camping at the beach
ReplyDeleteWe do have a camp oven, but I don't like it very much. And it is in with all the camping gear. I just wanted to test out the idea of using a crock-pot to bake bread in an emergency. My favorite alternative methods for baking bread are the sun oven and using a Dutch oven and charcoal briquets, neither of which would work well on cloudy or rainy/snowy days, like I have had all week here. It's good to have a lot of options.
DeleteIf your mildly handy you can create a steam vent in your crock pot lid and use a stainless-steel nut and bolt to keep closed when you're not baking bread.
ReplyDeleteThat a crock pot can be easily run on a 100-watt solar panel with a sealed lead acid battery and small inverter. I've done it car camping.
A crock pot also easily reaches the temperatures needed for water pasteurization using a WAPI for indication.
WAPI's are well worth having, worth reading about water pasteurization vs boiling.
Mildly handy would not describe me. But my husband or son could do it easily. I hadn't thought of using the solar to run a crockpot. Good idea.
DeleteI don't know that I would want a WAPI. I would have to remember where it is. I think it would be easier to remember the water temperature needed for pasteurization and making sure that is reached.
Jennifer a WAPI is the indicator that the water at the coldest point was pasteurized if used properly.
DeleteProven technology even an illiterate bush man can use successfully :-)
Hi Jennifer. One of those small "do it all" toaster ovens uses low wattage (1400). I use it to bake my bread. It seems to work faster than a traditional oven. Very little preheat. It seems to cook faster than the time called for in the recipe. It can work on a small generator. I think that the cleaning program caused my big oven to fail too (A few years ago at Thanksgiving) Had to buy a new element. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. I'm grateful for your blog! Thank you.
DeleteHi Lucina, I picked up a toaster oven at the thrift store about a year ago in case we ever needed one. The microwave died a couple of weeks before Aaron was laid off, and I told him I'd rather have the counter space than another microwave. He decided to humor me for a while, figuring to replace the microwave in a month or so. And then he got laid off and had to accept that he wasn't getting another microwave until he started working again. ;) Being able to reheat food in the toaster oven instead of heating up the big oven was a blessing. Now without a regular oven it's been an even greater blessing. I hadn't given a thought to being able to run it on a generator for emergencies. Another good idea to have one!
DeleteIn the '70's my mom received a Rival crock pot. I found the instructions on line. It had several bread and cake recipes. To keep the moisture down, the manual recommended using 6-8 paper towels also to just prop the lid up slightly, I would just use a long utensil for this. Maybe that could help with moisture build-up. Thanks for all the info over the years, still come back to read daily!!! Ann
ReplyDelete