I will be bicycle camping in northern Australia for 6 weeks starting
about July 6th, and will be camping along the way and will be using a
campfire and/ a small one-burner stove....... I intend to use a small
"oven" made from a 4-liter can that will have some large nails stuck
through it for a "rack". I see it used in one of the "one-burner stove"
cook books on either the stove or on the low coals of a campfire. One of
the things I will make is "damper" or "bannock" as it is called in North
America.

As variety is the spice of life, I did some thinking about the pioneers
going across the USA and read about the sourdough bread used by such
cross-America treckers. Now the idea of bringing sourdough starter is
filling my mind with possibilities of making "bread" or pancake type of
comsumables. I will need lots of carbs as I will use up to 4000 cal per
day when bicycling longer distances. This sourdough type of bread will
be eaten snacking along the way during the day - after breakfast and
into the mid/late afternoon prior to stopping for the day at a camp.

Once a day (at late afternoon meal time) I would like to make some bread
(??) for the following day. The oven would be used - or a frying pan for
a change in taste/texture/appearance. Now for questions..

1. How do I make a starter that will stand the "heat" as it will be
down to about 17C at night and up to about 34C in the day. None of the
recipes for starter use such high recipes. A fellow has an organization
in Oregon that sends a dry sample by mail - what is the e-mail address,
and is that stuff useable - in the heat?

2. What should I store the starter in? A tupperware "box" sounds like
the thing to use.

3. Is this sourdough idea feasible (from anyone's personal experience"
or should I use the damper/bannock approach?

In the outback there will not be many places of dwelling and the ones
that are there are far apart (up to 400 km apart) and the towns are less
than 1000 people in "size".

Ken
Canada

"Ken Pisichko" > wrote in message
...
<snip>
> Once a day (at late afternoon meal time) I would like to make some bread
> (??) for the following day. The oven would be used - or a frying pan for
> a change in taste/texture/appearance. Now for questions..
>
> 1. How do I make a starter that will stand the "heat" as it will be
> down to about 17C at night and up to about 34C in the day. None of the
> recipes for starter use such high recipes. A fellow has an organization
> in Oregon that sends a dry sample by mail - what is the e-mail address,
> and is that stuff useable - in the heat?

i do a fair amount of bread baking while camping. i keep my starter stored
in my ice chest, although it sounds like ice may be a hard thing to find
where you are going. at home i store my starter at room temp, as i use it
every day. in my experience if you keep the starter at 2 parts flour to 1
part water and leave it at room temp, there are no problems. if you bake
every day, the starter should be ok. if you don't bake for a day you will
probably need to refresh.

>
> 2. What should I store the starter in? A tupperware "box" sounds like
> the thing to use.

in your case i would suggest a ziplock type plastic storage bag, as the heat
will expand the starter during the day, and a tupperware would probably pop
the lid.

> 3. Is this sourdough idea feasible (from anyone's personal experience"
> or should I use the damper/bannock approach?

i bake my "camp bread" in a cast iron dutch oven. i usually put it in the
bbq for about 1 hr. using a skillet over a fire will work great for
flatbread. to make a dough, add a little oil to the starter with salt,
water and flour. the pan must be very hot if you want a "pita bread" pocket
style. if the pan is the right temp, the flat bread will puff up like a
baloon. the nice thing about this bread is that it is very portable.

> In the outback there will not be many places of dwelling and the ones
> that are there are far apart (up to 400 km apart) and the towns are less
> than 1000 people in "size".
>
> Ken
> Canada
>

Ken Pisichko wrote:
> I will be bicycle camping in northern Australia for 6 weeks
..........
> Ken
> Canada

HI Ken,

Don't let me discourage you from making sourdough please don't deny
yourself great bread.
But just in case you find it too much of a faff on the road think about
making tortillas. They're so easy it's untrue. Flour, water, salt and
oil if you like. Mix together to make a dough, rest for 30 mins, pinch
of golf ball size pieces and flatten them out as thin as you dare. Then
just bake them on a hot, dry surface. They might make a more easy bush
tucker for those days you're feeling a bit like a break.

As far as the temps go. I'd just go for it. I've got a heat mat that I
use sometimes. It's meant for reptiles so it gets quite warm. My bread
is quite happy on it. You might not get fantastic sourdough but out in
the bush I think anything is going to taste good. Okay, I wouldn't eat
a witcheti grub some home made sourdough sounds great to me. You could
easily make your own starter from some Organic flour, if poss, mix with
water, refresh in 24 hours then every 12 hours 'til it's active.You
don't need to maintaine more than half a cupful, tops.

Easyier than falling of a log. : -)

TG