Beer Bread in a Pot
Four dry ingredients, one can of beer, and a lid. No yeast, no rising, no oven.
- calories
- 290
- weight
- 3.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 83
- protein
- 6 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 50 min
- total time
- 55 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| All-purpose flour | 3 cups | |
|---|---|---|
| Baking powder | 1 tbsp | check the date, it dies in the pack |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Beer | 1 can, 12 oz | anything works; darker beer reads maltier |
| Butter | 3 tbsp | melted, half in and half on top |
Method
- Build a bed of coals well ahead of time. You want steady low heat, not flames.
- Dump the dry premix into the dutch oven's liner or a bag. Pour in the whole can of beer and stir until there is no dry flour left. The dough will be shaggy and sticky. Do not knead it.
- Grease the oven with a little of the butter, drop the dough in, and pour the rest over the top.
- Lid on. Set the oven on a thin layer of coals and put roughly twice as many on the lid, so most of the heat comes from above.
- Bake about 45 to 50 minutes. Rotate the oven a quarter turn every ten minutes and the lid the opposite way, or one side burns.
- Done when a stick pushed into the center comes out clean. Let it sit five minutes before cutting or it tears.
The beer is doing two jobs at once. Its carbonation gives the dough lift alongside the baking powder, and the yeast leftovers give it the sour edge that quick breads usually lack. That is why there is no kneading and no rise time: nothing here needs to ferment, so the dough goes from bag to coals in about five minutes.
Premixing the dry ingredients at home is the whole trick to making this campable. Measuring flour by cup at a picnic table in the wind goes badly. Heat management is the other half — most of the coals belong on the lid, because heat from below scorches the bottom crust long before the middle sets.
Packing
Flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt go into one bag at home, shaken to combine. Butter travels fine unrefrigerated for a couple of days; ghee travels longer. The beer is the heaviest thing you are carrying, which is why this stays a car and boat recipe.
Variations
- Stir a handful of shredded hard cheese and a spoon of dried onion into the dry mix.
- A cast iron skillet with a foil lid works if you have no dutch oven. Watch it closer.
- Non-alcoholic beer or plain seltzer bakes the same way. The carbonation is what matters.
https://www.huntingpa.com/threads/cooking-with-beer.1087