Delicious Campfire-Cooked Damper Bread!
Intro: Delicious Campfire-Cooked Damper Bread!
Hi everyone! Today I'm going to show you how to make damper! Damper is an easy-to-make, delicious bread that is wrapped around a stick and cooked over a campfire. When it's cooked, you can fill it with either something sweet or something savoury. It's great for when you're out tramping, or even just for a snack when you're at home. I hope you enjoy this instructable! If you have any questions I'm happy to answer them :)
STEP 1: Gather Your Materials
For the Damper Bread You Will Need:
- Two cups of self-raising flour. If you don't have self-raising flour, it's super-easy to make your own... just add one and a half teaspoons of baking powder for every cup of flour. So, for this recipe, you would need three teaspoons of baking powder.
- Half a teaspoon of salt
- One teaspoon of sugar
- Two tablespoons (or 40 grams) of soft butter. Margarine will also work.
- One cup of milk
- Grated cheese. This is for the filling, so you can do as much or as little as you like.
- Jam. Again, this is for the filling, so adjust according to taste. I like boysenberry jam, but you can use whatever you have in the pantry - even apricot goes!
STEP 2: Mix the Dry Ingredients
Mix together your self-raising flour, sugar, and salt.
STEP 3: Rub in Butter
Rub in the butter with your fingers. The mixture should represent very, very fine breadcrumbs.
STEP 4: Add the Milk
Add the cup of milk, a quarter of a cup at a time. The dough should be slightly, but not overly, sticky. You might not need the entire cup of milk, or you might need a little bit more... just see how you go.
STEP 5: Prepare Dough for Cooking
Turn the dough out onto a floured board and divide into approx eight balls. You can do less than eight if you want bigger pieces of damper, and vice versa. Roll each of the balls into a long, thin, 'sausage' shape.
STEP 6: Choose Your Stick
Now it's time to choose the stick you want to cook your damper on. Here are a few tips:
Choose a fairly long stick, so you can cook the bread a comfortable distance from the fire.
Try to find a stick that is still green. Green wood is basically wood that has recently been broken off/ fallen off a tree, so it still has a lot of moisture left in it. The wood directly under the bark may also be green rather than brown.
Make sure your stick is clean! You don't want dirt in your damper. You can even peel the bark off the stick at one end using a pocket-knife. This will reveal the nice, clean wood underneath.
Pre-cook your stick! Some woods are poisonous so it's a good idea to 'pre-cook' the end of your chosen stick, just in case. I skipped this step with my stick because I knew I had chosen safe wood.
STEP 7: Wrap the Dough Around the Stick
Wrap your sausage of dough around the end of your stick, gradually working your way upwards in a spiral pattern. When the dough is all on the stick, give it a quick squeeze with your hand just to help it all stick together. Your damper is now ready to cook! You can do this on an indoor fireplace if you like (if you have one) but the experience just isn't the same. I, personally, also think food tastes a lot better when cooked and eaten outside!
STEP 8: Building the Campfire!
The next two steps are about building and lighting your outdoor fire safely. If you've done this before or already know what you're doing, skip to step 10. Otherwise, read on!
Arrange several medium-sized rocks in a circle. In the centre of this circle, place several balls of scrunched-up newspaper. Put lots of small, dry twigs in a teepee shape around the newspaper, and bigger dry sticks around the twigs. Make sure you have some dry wood nearby ready to put on your fire when it gets going.
STEP 9: Lighting Your Fire
Take a match and light your newspaper in several different spots - maybe in four different places. This way, it is certain to catch in at least one spot. Make sure someone responsible with matches does this step. When the flames get a bit bigger, blow on them gently till the twigs catch. Once your fire has really got going, add more wood from your stockpile. Now it's time to cook your damper!
STEP 10: Cooking the Damper
Hold the damper over the flames until cooked through. Turn it often or it is likely to burn on one side. When it is cooked, slide it off the stick. It should come off quite easily, but watch out - it's very hot!
STEP 11: Filling the Damper
Lastly, fill your damper! You can eat it plain if you like, but it's so much nicer with something inside. You can fill the hole in your bread with butter and jam, grated cheese, or whatever takes your fancy. It couldn't be easier to fill - just poke your filling down the hole as far as it will go on both sides. Your damper is ready to eat! If you enjoyed this instructable, please vote for me :) Have a great day!!
20 Comments
cfkkirby 7 years ago
ABout how long does it take to cook? 15 Minutes or 1 hr?
MarcelS9 7 years ago
I take them off the stick to quickly check the inside with a finger. If they still feel doughy I put them back on for a few minutes.
NZ craft girl 7 years ago
It depends on how hot your fire is but mine actually only took about 5 mins! It's really quick and easy.
MarcelS9 7 years ago
Veeery nice - except that you probably don't have a floured board around to cut'n roll the dough when you're out in the woods.
NZ craft girl 7 years ago
Lol, that's true! Maybe you could make the dough at home ;)
MarcelS9 7 years ago
wold630 7 years ago
I've always wanted to try this! Looks so good...and fun!!
Tsagiglalal 7 years ago
-We made these at Girl Scout camp when I went back in the 1960's. They were called "dough boys". I liked them with butter and a little brown sugar as part of breakfast.
live2camp2 7 years ago
We used to do these with our Girl Scouts, but used ready made biscuit dough, closed at one end and filled them with vanilla pudding, and chocolate frosting outside. Campfire Eclairs!!
NZ craft girl 7 years ago
Yum, that sounds AMAZING!!
Mr_Bablae 7 years ago
Anathoth jam is the best jam.
NZ craft girl 7 years ago
Agreed!!
Lorddrake 7 years ago
NZ craft girl 7 years ago
Yes, they're so much fun and really yummy too! Filling them with a sausage is a fantastic idea - I'll have to try that!! :)
randallbs 7 years ago
I'm going to try this on our next camping trip. I'm going to shove a hotdog in it. My son will love it!
NZ craft girl 7 years ago
Awesome! If you do I'd love to see photos :)
naomiandtom 7 years ago
Do you think it would work to wrap the dough over the end of the stick so that one end of the dough tube is closed? If so, then you could stuff it without worry of the filling running out the other end.
NZ craft girl 7 years ago
That's a brilliant idea! I think it would definitely work - you'd just have to start winding the dough around a little further up the stick.
sdoolan 7 years ago
NZ craft girl 7 years ago
That's so awesome!! I'm really glad you all enjoyed yourselves :)