dogbowl oven biscuit experiments 1 – 4

These were done back-to-back, allowing the oven to cool (and biscuits to be eaten) in between.

I wanted to use a commodity biscuit rather than DIY to reduce variables.  I wanted plain cheap biscuits but Walmart is out, so I got their Great Value Jumbo biscuits. The instructions say:

preheat to 350f,  bake 13-17mins, or

preheat to 325f, bake 19-25mins

Two would fit in the medium cooking bowl, if one of them were cut in half:

I set the oven on the Dragonfly:

The dragonfly has a “roarer” burner, which directs a flame blast into the backside of a spreader with 3 holes.  This diffuses the flame blast to a large degree, but it’s not a big even flame circle as one finds on coleman stoves or gas burners. Behold the majesty:

Usually not an issue with normal cookware but these dogbowls are very thin.  Let’s see what happened….

attempt one (C)

I had no idea what to expect.

• preheated on medium-high
• cooked biscuits on medium-low
• not done @ 15mins, increased to medium.  Noticed some condensation on the lid so cracked the lid with a twig.
• bottom burned at @20mins.  Flipped over.
• ended at 25mins.

The biscuits were cooked through but burned on the bottom. Scraped off scorched layer dad-style, and ate them.

At this point I decided the next step would be to tame the heat, either turn it down or distribute more evenly. I chose distribution and it ended in tears….

attempt two (D-)

I looked around to see what I might have.  I decided the sandy dirty at the site might even/tame the heat a bit.  I put about 3/8″ of dirt in the bottom pan and preheated:

There must have been some cedar fragments because it subtly of incense for a couple minutes while it burned off.  After that I sealed it up and tried again on MEDIUM.  Set the timer for 15mins and they were seriously burned by 10 minutes.

What the heck?  <– not my actual words

I soon realized that the sandy dirt was in direct contact with the bottom pan and slamming in the heat.  Ugh.

The char was too deep to scrape so I just ate the tops.

I’m gonna need a different spacer.  Good  news is the small twig spacer eliminated interior condensation.

attempt three B-

I looked in the bag of site litter I’d picked up and found an old aluminum can.  I crushed it flat(-ish), stacked the little grate on top….

….and tried again on medium-low.  At 15 minutes they were rising but not browned.  Still fine at 20mins. And at 25mins. Starting to think I should have used MEDIUM heat. Flipped them over and removed at 30mins.

These didn’t rise as high and were just barely cooked through.  I ate them all because of my Dedication To  Science.

I think the bottom spacing is correct.  Let’s adjust the heat.

attempt four (B-)

Last set of test biscuits from the can, so this is all for today.  On MEDIUM this time.

Cooked through, apprpriately risen,  and brown-to-lightly-scorched on bottom at 15mins, which is my preference.  Still pale on top so I flipped them for 5mins.

Thought I took a pic but on review I did not, and already ate them. 😦

I suspect slightly lower heat and 20mins would have gotten me into A- territory.  I think the BBQ temp probe is going to help me find the right temp.  Cooking indoors over propane without the wind and all would also likely be easier.