Sun Oven Bread

When cooking with a sun oven, you will need black pans - the thinner the better. I've seen where people have spray painted their pans or glass canning jars. Very clever. I opted to purchase several Granite Ware pots. 

This $25 sun oven comes with 2 large oven bags. I have re-used them several times. You can also use oven bags - which I re-use. 

In the instructions, they say to put rocks or sticks under the pot (in the bag) to let the air flow underneath the pot. I thought about what I could use that wouldn't melt, and I thought about using metal sockets would be a great alternative then rocks or sticks *grin. Single woman with tools - what else am I going to do with them?  Just kidding - but they work great and when I am through with them I can put them away nicely in the case. I won't have to store rocks or try to save some I've found. (I know I am weird). 

I tried baking bread in a large roasting pan 2 times. The first time I didn't know how long it would take, so I kept checking it and checking it. When I opened it later in the day, the center had collapsed. I was disappointed, but chalked it off to how many times I disturbed the bread. 

I decided to try it one more time and not disturb it at all. I knew it would take at least 5 hours to cook in the sun. I refrained from checking it until I thought it would be done. 

When I opened the pan, this is what I saw:

The center had sunk again. Very sad. It browned and cooked, but sunk.

In speaking with one of my friends, she suggested not to let it rise at all. She said that the sun oven probably didn't get hot enough to kill the yeast and it kept rising. 

At this point, I know I can cook bread in the sun oven in an emergency. But, I don't think I will try it again until I have an emergency. I thought I would post my experience in trying to bake bread in my $25 sun oven in Idaho. 

I hope this helps you as I try to do different experiments with it. It is a learning process and so far I really love cooking with it. I love practicing so that when an emergency arises, I will be prepared and be able to continue to cook for my family without added stress.