Baking on the Grill

It is humbling to find inspiration to write my blog in the movie, "Julie and Julia," a movie about a writer and her blog.

To Beatrice, some notes on my recent experiments in baking on the grill

The first try was Saturday, August 8th.

On Saturday, we were going to cook on the grill anyway, so I quickly threw together some bread dough made from half bread flour and half whole wheat flour. I gave the dough one rise in the bowl and one rise in the baking pans. I put the loaves on the grill when the temperature was around 250-275F, closed the lid, and tried to use fuel and venting to increase the temperature to 375F. I think the temperature never went above 350F.

The resulting loaves of bread were edible, and about 7/8's of this baking was eaten. The bread didn't brown inside the pans, only on top. The bread tasted quite yeasty, I assume from spending much time in the grill below 300F. I don't know at exactly what temperature yeast dies, but it appears to be at around 300F.

The second try, on August 16th, I again chose to bake on the grill at a time when the grill going to be used anyway. This meant that, as the grill was preheating for baking, it could be used to make burgers, so there would be less wasted fuel.

This time, I took Brad's suggestion and made rolls. Rolls are smaller, take less time to bake, and have more surface area exposed. Therefore, rolls should brown more easily and use less fuel.

I put a cookie sheet, one without any coatings, on the grill, to help with browning. The dough this time was 1/4 whole wheat flour, 3/4 bread flour, and I used kefir (plain yogurt drink) instead of milk. Again, I let the dough rise once in the bowl and once after shaping. I weighed the rolls as I shaped them to make sure they would bake evenly, and I placed them on another cookie sheet. After about 15-30 minutes of rising, I put the rolls on the grill, one cookie sheet on top of the other, and closed the lid. This time, the grill stayed above 300F during baking, sometime rising as high as 400F. After 15-20 minutes, the rolls were done.

I thought the rolls tasted extremely mild. Eleanor said they tasted like kefir, and didn't like them. There are some strong advantages to making loaves of bread. A loaf of bread can be used for lots of things. The rolls were quick to prepare, though, and I liked how they turned out. We have eaten almost all of them.

For both experiments, I used a recipe that was quick to prepare, that I had used several times. It would be interesting to see how baking would work on a gas grill. I understand that heating would be much more even, but that the bottoms of the loaves might burn. There is some kind of raised, aluminum sheet available that is supposed to keep burns to a minimum, by allowing air to circulate between the food and the grill surface. Another option would be to turn off the gas directly under the food.

The point of baking on the grill is to keep the house cool while still having homemade bread. the grill-baked bread is inferior to oven-baked, but it is still good to eat.

I Wish I Hadn't Missed the Sock Summit

Here's a picture of my last project, completed just in time to give the socks as a gift to my daughter, Eleanor.

I just watched a video at the Oregonian newspaper's Web site, in which a crowd of 935 broke the world record for the number of people in one location, knitting. The previous record was 256. This record-breaking event occurred at the Sock Summit, in Portland, OR, earlier this month. I couldn't go, but I was amazed at the speed at which classes for the summit filled. The server broke down on the first day, in the first few hours of the registration period. So I've known, ever since two days after that, when I tried to register, that I would not be attending the summit. Next time, for sure.

Meanwhile, Afghans for Afghans is asking for baby blankets for their fall campaign. No smaller than 30 inches by 40 inches, and no longer or wider than 45 inches. No fringe, no light colors. Wool only. I may knit a blanket for this. It's just a matter of finding the right amount of wool in my stash. My hoardings are heavier on the acrylics, because I don't use them often, but I do have some wool, including some leftovers.

I'm still working on my socks for myself. I'm using a beautiful, variegated green yarn in washable wool. I also decided to extend this yarn, with some leftover light green yarn from an earlier project.

Mountains Beyond Mountains

Mountains Beyond Mountains, by Tracy Kidder, is my most recent read. It is about Paul Farmer, a doctor who treats individual patients in Haiti, and also plans ways to combat tuberculosis on a grand scale. This book made me think that it is essential for all people to have access to good medical care, in order to fight outbreaks of TB, AIDS, and other diseases. The book also shows the relationships between clean water, good nutrition and good medicine. Get your copy of this book today, or borrow mine.

Review of Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea, by Mortenson and Relin, was a fast read. I loved reading about building schools for boys and girls in Pakistan. I loved hearing about mountain climbers. I loved hearing about a good excuse to move to Montana.

This book made me understand the importance of health care, oddly enough. There was a certainty about how people in remote areas need extra help, and those who can help lose their humanity when they say, " No."

I want to keep track of ikat.org to see how the various projects progress.

No more liberals, no more conservatives

I reject the practice of labeling people as Conservatives or Liberals. After refreshing my memory about a man who shot people in their church last summer and left a manifesto calling on more people  to do the same, I've decided that it is wrong to allow ourselves to be divided into different camps. While it's obvious among friends that people all have different views, for some reason on a grander scale we forget that the world is not composed of two enemy camps. We're all people, and, clearly, we should all talk to each other more often.

Recipe: Beautiful Oatmeal Bread

Revised 12:25p.m., 5/26/9, Note.

Note:  Add author of Crust and Crumb. I would like to reduce the size of these loaves, but the size should not drop as low as 1 1/2 pounds. I have to add less liquid to my next batch.

This recipe is based on working with the White Sandwich Bread recipe in Crust and Crumb, and with the Home-style White Bread with Poppy Seeds in Baking Bread: Old and New Traditions, by Beth Hensperger. The loaves are 2 pounds apiece, with good color, soft squishy crumb, and a delicious smell. This bread makes good pbj's, and great toast. 

Beautiful Oatmeal Bread

makes 4 loaves

Ingredients

2 scant tablespoons instant yeast

2 pinches sugar

1 cup warm water (105-115F)

Your choice:

either 3 cups warm milk (105-115F)

or

3 cups warm water and

3/4 cup nonfat powdered milk

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into about 16 pieces

5 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal, cooked in 2 1/2 cups of water, cooled to room temperature

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

8-9 cups unbleached bread flour

3-4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Method

Clean off the kneading surface beforehand so it is clean and dry by the end of step 2.

1. Sprinkle yeast and sugar over the cup of warm water and let this yeast mixture sit for 10 minutes.

2. In a very large bowl and using a wooden spoon, combine the warm milk, butter, salt oatmeal, whole wheat flour and yeast mixture. Add the rest of the flour, one cup at a time, stirring to wet all flour with each addition.

3. When the dough is too thick to be stirred, sprinkle 1 or 2 cups of flour onto the kneading surface. Turn the dough out onto the floured surface. Before kneading, pour vegetable oil into the mixing bowl.

4. With hands dipped in flour, knead the dough for 5 minutes, sprinkling a tablespoon or two of flour on the surface below the dough when it sticks, and sprinkling a tablespoon or two of flour onto the top of the dough when it sticks.

5. With the end of kneading, form the dough into a large ball and dip it into the mixing bowl, oiling the bottom. Flip the dough over so that the top and bottom are both greased. Cover the bowl with a damp dish towel.  Let rise 1 hour.

6. Knead dough for 5 minutes, let rise 1 more hour.

7. Grease the bottoms and sides of 4 loaf pans. Shape the dough. To make 4 sandwich loaves:

Divide the dough into 4 parts. Use a scale to ensure all parts are the same weight, for even baking.

With each piece of dough, which will weigh 1 1/2 to 2 pounds, turn it out onto the kneading surface, and, using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a 8 x 15 inch rectangle. The important thing is for the width to be the same as the length of the loaf pan, and for there to be no large air bubbles in the dough. Roll the dough up into a tube that is 8 inches long. Place the dough into a greased loaf pan. Repeat with the other pieces of dough.

8. Let the loaves rise under the damp towel for 45 minutes to 1 hour. During the final 20 minutes of rising, Preheat the oven to 375F. If you have an oven stone, use it with the oven rack set in the bottom position in the oven.

9. Bake the bread on the lowest rack of the oven for 45 minutes.

10. When removing the loaves from the oven, remove them from the pans immediately and let the loaves cool on a wire rack.

Mothering

I tell you. I never meant to write a Mother's Day piece, but I have to write about what I just read in the Washington Post's Book section. 

A new book is coming out that I must read, Ayelet Waldman's Bad Mother. 

One of the strangest things about being a mother, for me, is discovering that my mistakes, which I learn from, are not as detrimental to my children as I had supposed. I seem not to be able to make any progress without making mistakes. Meanwhile, I try to set an example for my kids, to show them how to do things, to show them how to live a good life, and I make mistakes doing these things. It's funny. Maybe the finest thing I do for my girls is to show them how to make mistakes, and to learn from them. At least, I hope that is what is happening.

All this is on spec, of course. I won't know how well they turn out until my children grow up.