Expedition Bannock


You’re a long way from home and much of your food is dehydrated, the bread was used up several days ago so what do you do? Simple - you bake a bannock! Although fun to do its also an extremely good way to balance out your diet, especially on an extended trip.



You’ll need a Dutch Oven, a round non-stick cake tin that fits inside (with a push-through base), and a steady source of heat - an established fire that is been allowed to settle down, or the likes of an MSR (preferably adjustable) so long as you take precautions I’ll describe later. You make the mix up before you go inside a seal-strip poly bag. For a single bannock the standard mix is:

Half cup plain flour;
Half cup whole wheat flour
1 Tsp baking powder;
Half Tsp salt
3 TBsp powdered milk

To this you can add chili powder, garlic & chive, cajun, cinnamon, dill, onion, cheese etc. I once mixed in a lot of mozzarella at the last moment and then thought I had a disaster on my hands - but it turned out fine! Include raisins and you end up with a moist fruity loaf.

Here's how. Add just enough water to the poly bag, pouring in a little at a time and kneading the bag in your hands to make the mixture fairly stiff but not runny. The test is that a spoon dipped into it and pulled away again will only just leave a protruding peak behind in the mix. Then put the mix into the baking tin, put that into the Dutch Oven, add the lid and put the whole lot on the embers of the fire. Leave it be, checking occasionally. Don’t delay in putting the mix to heat after adding the water. If you do the bannock won’t rise and you’ll end up with something a little sad! Depending on the heat it will then take 30-50 minutes to bake so keep an eye on it.

If you’re using a fairly fierce source of heat the trick is to prop the cake tin up on 3 small stones inside the oven - this allows for better air circulation and lessens the chance of a burnt offering. Turn the flame down as low as you can.If the worst happens and your creation is a little singed, address the offending material with a sharp knife and nobody will be any the wiser!

Once baked, its best stored inside another seal-strip poly bag. We’ve been in the habit of baking a bannock with our evening meal at camp & bagging it up for lunch the next day. If you’re taking turns as cook you’ll find yourself competing for best bannock-baker soon enough!