One of the tastiest items to make on a solar cooker is homemade bread. Unlike a traditional electric bread maker, you are making it with the sun, which is how bread has been cooked since the beginning of human civilization.
Karey, an avid GoSun user in Australia, has perfected sourdough baguettes after numerous attempts. Here is an editted summary of her baguette journey.
Baguette Recipe, Attempt #1
I thought I'd have another go at baking regular bread, after my success with sweet bread. I'm using half the quantity sourdough baguettes from Chad Robertson's Tartine Bread. This baguette recipe has been tweaked for home baker. It has yeast polish as well as sourdough leaven to give it a boost.
After proofing in the fridge overnight, 1/3 of this made one full-length baguette in the GoSun Grill. It tastes good and has a crunchy crust, but slashes didn't spread much from oven spring. I had trouble getting temperature over #4 today. The remainder of the dough is in the fridge, so I'm going to try some modifications on baking tomorrow.
Baguette Recipe, Attempt #2
Here's my second go at sourdough baguettes from Chad Robertson's Tartine Bread. After proofing in the fridge overnight and yesterday, I used the 2nd 1/3 of 1/2 quantity to make one full-length baguette in the GoSun Grill.
Here are the modifications from yesterday: I slashed deeper and rested in trug 15-30 minutes before putting in Grill. I put on bottom Grill trays this time, moving loaf closer to top of the oven. I couldn't find my H2O spray bottle, so I splashed a bit of water in the oven slider and top of the loaf. Great oven bounce and nice browning. Oven hotter today, between #4-5 most of bake, but got to #5-6 after rotating loaf for the last 15-25 minutes. I'm happy with this loaf.
Yesterday's effort had less bounce and browning
Baguette Recipe, Attempt #3
Here is my tried and true recipe and technique for making baguettes in the GoSun Grill. This is my third go at sourdough baguettes from Chad Robertson's Tartine Bread. After proofing in the fridge overnight I again used the 3rd 1/3 of 1/2 quantity to make one full-length baguette.
The downside of baguettes as compared with sourdough Turkish bread is its only good when its just been baked. The bonus is I can make enough for three days and keep the dough in the fridge to make one loaf each day for 3 days.
Baguette Recipe, Bake #4
Today I tried a different experiment in the GoSun Grill. This is Bake #4: I baked three sourdough baguettes in a series and will freeze two for later, to see if baguettes taste as good after thawing as Turkish bread does. From left to right, 1st, 2nd and 3rd bake. The first loaf overcooked because I foolishly set the timer to rising time for a second loaf instead of shorter time for the baking first loaf.
The oven got hotter (#6 - 7 instead of #4 - 5) and held temperature better cooking loaves in series. It was nearly 3 by the time I took 3rd loaf out and the sun was starting to lose its power.
Great job, Karey! What great recipes have you come up with?