Camp Sourdough Discard Skillet Bread
Discard, flour, salt, and a lid full of coals. Bread at a campsite without a proving basket.
- calories
- 330
- weight
- 3.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 94
- protein
- 7 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- 60 ml cold
- 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
- Vegan
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Sourdough discard | 1 cup | unfed, straight from the jar in the cooler |
|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 1 1/2 cups | bread flour if you have it, but plain works |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Baking soda | 1/2 tsp | the lift you get without waiting on a rise |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | one in the dough, one in the pot |
| Cold water | up to 1/4 cup | only if the dough will not come together |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down. You want coals, not flame.
- Stir the discard, 1 tbsp of the oil, salt, and baking soda together in the Dutch oven or a bowl. Work the flour in a half cup at a time until it stops sticking to your hands. Add water only if it stays crumbly.
- Oil the bottom of the Dutch oven with the remaining tablespoon. Press the dough flat into it, about an inch thick, and cut a cross in the top.
- Set the pot on a bed of coals with more coals on the lid. Roughly a third underneath, two thirds on top, or the bottom scorches.
- Bake 25 to 30 minutes. Rotate the pot and the lid a quarter turn every ten minutes so hot spots move around.
- It is done when the crust sounds hollow under a knuckle. Pull it out of the pot right away or the residual heat keeps cooking the base.
A starter is a fermentation project, not a hobby that fits a backpack, so this is the car-camping and boat-galley version: you keep the jar in the cooler and bake with the discard rather than trying to time a rise around a campsite. Discard has flavor and acid but almost no lift left in it, which is why the baking soda is here. The soda reacts with the sourness immediately and gives you a loaf in half an hour instead of overnight.
Coal placement is the whole game. Most of the heat belongs on the lid, because the pot bottom sits directly on the fire and will burn the crust while the middle is still wet. Rotating the pot and the lid in opposite directions evens out whichever side of the fire is running hotter. No scale, no proofing basket, no thermometer — a cup of discard against a cup and a half of flour is close enough.
Packing
Measure the flour, salt, and baking soda into one bag at home. The discard rides in a screw-top jar in the cooler, lid loose or it will build pressure and push out.
Variations
- Press rosemary and coarse salt into the top before it goes on the coals.
- Skip the baking soda and let the dough sit four hours in a warm spot if you have the day to spare.
- Divide the dough into four pucks and fry them in a skillet instead if you have no lid to bank coals on.
https://svsabado.com/sourdough-on-a-boat-cultivating-a-starter-our-favorite-recipes