damper

[simmo]

Just qurious as to weather anyone has ever gone to the trouble of taking SR flour salt and tried to make
Damper , as i have never made it for years i was in cubs when i made Damper last.
But if anyone does make damper i would like the recipe and how you cook it wrapping a dough in foil rings a bell.
anyway just a thought.
Cheers Simmo

[MartyGwynne]

Simmo,
not sure how it would go but it has to work better than having none.
Downside is that you carried all the ingredients in with you (including the water) so why not just carry some bread which is relatively hard and then just give it a light toast.
I do often carry a pack of 6 english muffins with me and toast them either on the trangia (or similar) pan or if you are able to have a small fire, place a rock/stone/bark close to coals with a fork or stick poked into the outer side of the muffin to prop it up and toast away.
Smear a bit of jam/honey/butter/marj/oil over it and eat after you have toasted both sides.
The muffins can last about 3-4 days and can stand a bit of a knocking around and squashing in the pack without much detriment. They are also very nice if you find then in the pack after 6 days and are looking for that something different to eat other than cold meusli powdered milk and cold water.

[simmo]

Thanks for that it was just a thought and i have done the samr with muffins .
Cheers Simmo

[Pteropus]

Hi Simmo
A bushman in western Queensland once told me the recipe for a good damper: three cups of flour, one stubbie of beer (four ex in Qld of course), a table spoon of salt and a table spoon of sugar. Mix through. Bake in hot coals till hard on the outside and fluffy on the inside....I have made it a few times in the field, (without salt, since I generally don’t cook with salt, as a rule) and it goes all right. I bake it in my camp oven... I would never bother to take the ingredients hiking though....
Cheers
Andrew

[simmo]

Hi Simmo
A bushman in western Queensland once told me the recipe for a good damper: three cups of flour, one stubbie of beer (four ex in Qld of course), a table spoon of salt and a table spoon of sugar. Mix through. Bake in hot coals till hard on the outside and fluffy on the inside....I have made it a few times in the field, (without salt, since I generally don’t cook with salt, as a rule) and it goes all right. I bake it in my camp oven... I would never bother to take the ingredients hiking though....
Cheers
Andrew

Thanks Andrew im sure i will try that recipe out when the wife and i do that other kinda camping Camper trailer one
But if it gets us out and about i don't mind .

[Son of a Beach]

That's similar to the beer damper recipe I use, only I don't add sugar, and I use a teaspoon of salt, instead of a tablespoon. It works nicely in the oven, or in foil in hot coals, or wrapped around a stick held near the fire.

I wouldn't try it bushwalking in Tasmania though, because we can't have fires in most bushwalking areas, and it would use most of a canister of gas to cook.

[Pteropus]

...That's similar to the beer damper recipe I use, only I don't add sugar, and I use a teaspoon of salt, instead of a tablespoon...

I may have mixed my table and teaspoons up, or perhaps the excessive salt goes back to the days when drovers needed to preserve their food? I’d say less salt the better though... I have seen fancy recipes that include bacon, grated cheese and onion too! Which makes it a bacon, cheese and onion bun I guess . I have never really considered it before but damper might be good one to make before going on a hike, for a breakfast option.

[Son of a Beach]

For breakfast, the recipe works well with cinnamon and raisins, then toast it.

Having it plain is good with soup - very crusty.

[gayet]

but damper might be good one to make before going on a hike, for a breakfast option

The main problem with damper is the lack of oil or fat to keep it moist. Dampers were intended to be cooked and eaten immediately, they don't last long. Cook one for the evening and toast the remnants the next morning is all you can really expect from them, without the addition of an oily liquid.

I used to make them frequently when car camping in years past and they were great when fresh out of the coals but hard tack the next day.

[sthughes]

I make damper a bit when bush walking. I just use foil smeared in oil or butter with a fold or two to allow some rise and put it in a fry pan on low heat and turn regularly (sometimes not regularly enough!). It's pretty easy really and doesn't weigh much. I like bread and it's nice to have something fresh and sort of similar to it after a few days on the track. I made a nice herb and cheese damper on our 6th night on the OT last month and it was great.

[corvus]

I make damper a bit when bush walking. I just use foil smeared in oil or butter with a fold or two to allow some rise and put it in a fry pan on low heat and turn regularly (sometimes not regularly enough!). It's pretty easy really and doesn't weigh much. I like bread and it's nice to have something fresh and sort of similar to it after a few days on the track. I made a nice herb and cheese damper on our 6th night on the OT last month and it was great.

AS a recipient of the excess damper sthughes made I can comment that it was really nice well made and I can be considered an "expert" being a retired Scout Leader who had to sample hundreds of "dampers" and "twists" (the one wrapped around sticks ) for many years ,so if you want a good recipe and method just ask him it is possible on a gas burner in a hike camp fry pan
corvus

[DonQx]

+1

works on a Trangia too, using any pot or lid as long as it is well greased

can be done without foil too, need to be more careful tho

[lyndoor]

We make cheese, spring onion & tomato damper in a Kovea gas stove.
Mix ingredients with SR flour, butter & water as you normally would. (Mix flour/butter prior & pop in ziplock bag) Put enough water (1/4 - 1/3) in the base of the pot, grab a sheet of foil & fashion a shelf inside with edges hanging outside. Place your ball of well flour coated damper on the shelf, dust top with extra flour & put lid on. If dough too heavy, place an extra lightly scrunched ball of foil underneath in the water for support. Add extra water if needed throughout cooking until risen. Eat straightaway or brown on a fry pan.
Great with a minestrone or a meal on it's own & variations, sweet (cinnamon/sugar/nutella/apricots/apples/sultanas/jam, etc) & savoury (chives/garlic/herbs/chilli/cheeses/grated zuchinni/carrot/salami/curry/vegemite, etc), are endless!