If you’re out in the bush surviving, your food options are pretty limited – you already know that! And eating a warm meal will be even more challenging… You’ll mostly rely on MREs, protein bars… maybe some berries if you’re lucky.
But what you want something nutritious that will remind you of how things were before SHTF? Well, you can’t – hah – but you can get pretty close by making this really easy bread. I mean, this is the most basic recipe you can make (read fry) in the bush.
All you need is some flour, which is easy to carry because it doesn’t weight that much, water (arguably harder to get post-collapse), and a stick you can find right where you are (which I’m assuming it#’s in the woods!)
Getting The Stick
It is important to make use of a cooking stick from a non-toxic plant. Pick a fresh green stick if you can. Next, strip bark from the cooking end (the bark can make the bread taste a little bitter).
If you don’t have a knife handy, try to peel the bark off with another abrasive object such as a rock or another branch. Finally, hold the green stripped end over your fire long enough to warm and sterilize it.
The sterilization step is important because bacteria tends to reside just inside a branch’s bark. However, there is no need to burn the stick or set it on fire. Heating it, so it is warm to the touch, should be enough.
Prepping the Ingredients
Prepping the dough is easy. Place the flour in a pot, then add the water:
Then start mixing it with your bare hands. I’m assuming you’re in a survival situation, and that you’re making this with little or no equipment:
Next, start rolling the dough in-between the palms of your hands like so:
… until you make about this thin:
Next, start attaching it to the warm stick. Wrapping and/or twisting the dough around the stick and pressing the dough onto the stick is the most effective:
Once the dough is securely fastened to the cooking stick, hold it close enough to the fire so that it is not uncomfortable for you, but close enough that it can cook:
As with marshmallows and other campfire foods, the key to a fantastic loaf of “fire-roasted” bannock bread is consistent turning and heat. Pretty soon it will look like this:
Keep in mind that since this cooking method involves more direct contact with fire and smoke it may taste very different from a pan-fried bread.
My name is Teresa Fikes. I am a Homesteader, survivalist, prepper, historian, and writer plus much more all in one package deal. I was raised on a small family farm were I was taught at an early age to survive off the land without the help of modern conveniences. I am a writer by profession and a Homesteader by Blood, Sweat, and Tears.