Baking On The Grill - Saving On Utilities

I decided to try and bake on the grill instead of in the oven to keep the house cool. There is a bit of a learning curve to this technique. The grill bakes a lot faster and hotter than a traditional oven, especially on the bottom. 

This is a great way to save on your summer electric bills too. We do not have an electric bill, nor do we have air conditioning in our off-grid home. We don't not need it at this altitude. However, we really like the house to stay in the 60's for our comfort. Turning on the oven during the summer months makes it too warm inside the house. It is 62.9 degrees as I am writing this post. As the day progresses it will probably get up to 73-74 degrees. This is about the time it starts cooling off outside, so we open the windows to let the cool breeze in. 

It is still in the low thirties at night. This will change as the summer heats up. It can be a battle to keep the house at an optimal temperature. We use all the weapons in our arsenal like our Sun Oven, grill or our electric pressure cooker to cook our meals and aid us in our efforts to keep the house cool and our propane bills at a minimum. 

First, I needed to raise the baking surface off the grates to keep from the bottom of the foods from burning. I placed a cast iron pan on top of the grill grate before lighting the grill. This cast iron skillet needed to be burned off and re-seasoned, so it was a win win situation. 

Don't let the thermometer fool you. It is a lot hotter towards the grates than what the thermometer reads. 

I baked this pizza in 12 minutes on a medium high heat. In the oven, it is 20-25 minutes in a pre-heated 500-degree oven. It takes at least 25-30 minutes to pre-heat the oven to this temperature. The grill was on for 5 minutes before I put the pizza in to bake.

It was really good...

I baked this French bread in 15 minutes at a higher temperature and I burned the bottoms slightly. 

This was my first attempt at baking on the grill and my first attempt at making French bread. This is when I learned that I should bake with less burners lit than I initially thought and at a lower temperature.

The French bread turned out delicious. It is a keeper. I will be sharing the recipe in a future post. I like to try out most recipes and techniques before sharing them on the blog.

I definitely recommend using the grill for baking outside in the summer months. During the winter months, baking inside is beneficial to heating a home and it creates a cozy atmosphere. The smell of bread baking is divine. 

Mrs. Smith