Baking with Steam

What you need

I’m always looking for different ways to cook in camp. I love to make baked goods, but lugging the Dutch oven along can be a pain. I saw an ad on Facebook for the Can Cooker, and it intrigued me, so I thought I would give it a try. This method can be used to bake on the stove (or fire) using moist heat/steam.

When you bake a cake in the oven (or Dutch oven), dry heat surrounds the cake. The water contained in the batter evaporates, creating steam that helps the cake rise before it sets and gets firmer. While steam does play a role in baking in dry heat, the results are much different when it acts as the main cooking method.

Covered cake pan on the rack

Steaming a cake on the stove relies on moist heat. Using a double boiler of sorts, you elevate the pan on a rack above steaming water inside large, lidded pot. Steam creates the heat that gently cooks the cake. Because the moist environment prevents the water in the batter from quickly evaporating, less water is lost in the cooking process, resulting in a moister cake. Since baking with steam is done at a lower temperature (212 degrees for steam vs. 350 degrees in a dry oven), the cake will not brown.

Even at a lower temperature, though, steam will cook the cake faster than dry heat since it transfers heat more efficiently than air. Steaming a cake will take between 20 and 25 minutes, while dry baking it at 350 degrees will take 30 to 40 minutes.

Closed up for baking -
the frying pan on the top is just
there for weight

This method works for cakes, quick breads and brownies. You could also use it for a main dish like meatloaf or steamed fish and vegetables - just increase the cooking time. What will you need:

• Stove with the ability to hold a pan of water at a low boil. If you are careful, you could do it on the fire, but maintaining the proper temperature might be tough.
• Set of nesting pans - the larger must have a tight fitting cover.
• A rack to raise the inner pan out of the water like a double boiler. In camp you could improvise - couple of small rocks would work fine.
• Cooking spray.
• Wax paper to line the bottom of the cake pan
• Aluminum foil to cover the inner pan

The finished corn bread in the pan

Here's how you do it:

1. Fire up your stove
2. Place the rack in the large pan and add enough water so that it is just below the rack. Cover, put the pan on the stove, and bring the water to a boil.
3. While waiting for the water to boil, mix up the batter for whatever it is that you want to bake. Spray the inside of the smaller pan with cooking spray and add the batter. (Lining the bottom with wax paper will help the cake release easier from the pan when cooked.) Cover the top tightly with aluminum foil to prevent water from condensing onto the food and making it soggy.
4. Once the water boils, reduce to a low boil and put the smaller pan on the rack inside the larger pan. Replace the cover and don’t remove for 20 to 25 minutes. You want just enough steam in the pan to cook the cake. 

The finished corn bread removed 

The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let it rest a few minutes before releasing the sides and removing from the pan. 

I'd definitely call this experiment a success. The key is to cover the inner pan with foil to prevent condensed water from dripping on to the cake and making it rubbery. These pictures are Jiffy Mix cornbread, which came out perfect - just add chili for a great dinner.