Baking is a form of art, one that requires the same level of expertise. Not every artist has all the conventional tools to turn his artistic vision into a work of reality. A true artist isn’t bound by the limitation of resources or lack thereof, to delve into artistic work. They make do and use whatever medium or tool they can get their hands on to answer their artistic callings.
Baking is no different from that. So what if you don’t have a heavy duty oven in your kitchen. As long as you know the most basic, underlying mechanism of baking, you can do it with pretty much everything available to you in the kitchen.
If you are a baking enthusiast or love to start baking and do not have a traditional oven in your kitchen, lo and behold! It’s time to start experimenting with different baking methods without an oven.
Get ready for your hands to get messy, your clothes to be covered in flour, and for some real fun.
Baking in a Large PotThe simple, easiest, and convenient method of baking without an oven is doing it in a large pot. All you need is a large pot with a glass lid or a stainless steel pot. All the steps remain the same up to the point when you have to preheat an oven.
- Flame the stove and place the pot on the stove.
- Put the dough in the baking pan, small enough to fit in the pot.
- Place a standing rack of steel in the pot. Make sure it offers a flat surface for the pot to hold steady.
- Place the baking pan on top of a standing rack. Make sure the height of the pan is lower than the top edge of the pot so as to allow heat all over the pan.
- Cover the pot with a lid and secure it with a cloth to contain the heat inside.
As the name suggests, a toaster is meant for toasting bread. But this is not the only function that this electronic appliance offers. A typical toaster offers three functions: Bake, Broil, and Toast. So, if you don’t have a traditional oven in your home, don’t worry. Your toaster has got you covered. The basic functionality of a toaster is similar to a conventional oven with most of the heat coming from the bottom of the toaster. Follow these steps to bake in a toaster.
- A toaster preheats quickly so set it on just before you are about to place the dough or batter inside.
- A toaster also bakes faster so keep a check on your baking project 10 minutes earlier than the time required to bake in a conventional oven.
- Open the toaster door and rotate the baking pan to allow heat from all sides.
Similar to baking in a toaster, a microwave can also be used to bake a cake or make muffins. Most microwaves come with convection function. All you have to do is follow these steps:
- Start your microwave by pressing the echo/stop button.
- Select the convection function and let the microwave go on to preheating mode.
- Place the baking rack or pan inside the microwave.
- Set the temperature.
- Hit start.
Tandoors are those hollow spaces in the ground that are used to make Naans in Pakistan. While it’s impossible to buy that tandoor off the market, you can make a DIY tandoor to bake a cake at home without an oven.Once your tandoor is ready, follow these steps to start your baking project in a tandoor.
- Preheat your tandoor oven by lighting up the wood inside. The first time a tandoor is used, its temperature is raised incrementally to condition the inside walls of the oven.
- Once the oven tandoor is properly heated, carefully place the baking pan inside the tandoor.
- Close the lid of the tandoor securely to let the heat trapped inside.
- Check the status of the baking project once or twice to avoid burning.
- Carefully remove the baking pan and let it cool off.
