I've been using the silicon cups and everything turns out great. BUT, the clean up is a pain. No, the muffins or whatever isn't sticking, but little bits of dough gets caught in the pleats inside the cup. At home cleaning isn't a big deal, but in the woods it's more troublesome. I was asking about paper, if they worked then I could burn the cups when done with baking.

Sarah- I'll give the foil version a try, thanks

If you let the muffins cool a bit longer the dough generally doesn't get caught. I usually let mine cool for 5 to 10 minutes and have never had an issue.

Laurie- your suggestion to let cool a little longer helped a lot, thanks. Still dough remains in the pleats, but much, much easier to clean up.

I think I'll try a drop of olive oil and wipe inside the cup next time to see if that makes it even cleaner.

I don't know whether or not it will work on silicone baking cups, but I've found that lightly coating the interior of a baking pan reduces the amount of stuff that sticks to it a lot.

After using the sil-cups on a few weekend trips, I decided the clean up was still more than I wanted to deal with, yes I like things simple. So, I started to think about an easier and more UL solution. Parchment paper, tried it, liked it, perfect solution for me, a solo hiker, I don't bake for groups, but on occasion maybe a hiking buddy. Jim Bailey are you listening... :-P

By cutting the paper and lining my mug I get one big muffin, no clean up, lighter than the sil-cups, easier to pack, I'm able to use the same pieces of parchment for two-three rounds of baking and parchment paper makes great fire starter. I did a test this morning using an esbit tab, worked out great.

Using my Trail Designs Caldera Tri-Ti ULC cone, 2-Ti stakes, the grate from the wood burner portion of the Tri-Ti was used as my riser inside the mug, GramCracker stove with Esbit tab and my Mountain Laurel Designs 850ml Ti mug.




Muffin mix is premixed at home and packed in a ziploc bag with all the ingredients, in camp I add water to the bag and knead, line the mug with parchment paper (precut at home to fit mug,) add batter to mug and place over flame for 12-13 min.




mmmmmmm, tasty muffins, scones, biscuits...next best thing to the yummy muffin, there's no clean up, simply let the parchment air dry from the moisture created by the steam, brush off any crumbs, fold and store for the next round or use as fire starter.

Edited by JMathes on 11/30/2010 06:40:55 MST.

Just noticed your post JJ - great idea!

Parchment paper is great and I use it quite a bit. Beware though... some brands are not very useful. I wrote a blog post about it a while back. My friend had bought a brand called Multi-Bake when he was visiting the US on a shopping trip. Here's the story...

parchment paper — a brand to avoid

edited to format link

Edited by Laurie_Ann on 11/30/2010 06:42:01 MST.

I've no doubt this is a silly question, but you do add water to the cooking pot, correct? How much water is in there (or how much below the top of the screen insert)? And is there a reason you double line the cookpot with the parchment paper?

Thanks much,

Doug

Douglas- not silly at all, yes I add water to the mug, about 1/2-inch so it's just slightly below the grate/screen insert

parchment paper- I use two pieces rather than one, one wraps around the wall of the mug and the second piece covers the bottom. It's just easier to use two pieces with a narrow mug.

- this thread warms my heart.

Mike C! are those paper cups?

Thanks much for the info. I'm going to have to try this on my next trip!

When I use parchment paper I usually grab the Reynolds brand. Works great.

Sarah is right, Reynolds works great. I'm currently using Publix store brand, so far it's working for me.

MYOG foil "pan" that floats on the simmering water.



Another Variation.

Edited by greg23 on 12/01/2010 11:30:40 MST.

JJ....I love Publix! Whenever I am in Florida I go shopping ;-)

Well, paper cups! Now why didn't I think of that? Much easier than parchment. Great idea Mike C! They could be doubled to make them a little sturdier.

I can see using paper cups as long as you're using a pot and have room for more than one cup. In my case I use a mug with room for only one cup. Also, I would think packing paper cups might be a bit of a hassle in preventing them from getting crushed, not that odd shaped muffins taste any different.

For my style of backpacking I'll stick with parchment, it packs flat and I can bake one large muffin (equals two or close to it) rather than one small one with the same amount of fuel, and I already know I can use the same pieces of parchment for two or three bakings and no pleats for crumbs to stick in.

It all comes down to personal choice and what works best for each.

do any of you have a recipe for a brownie mix that ONLY needs water?

My brownie recipe uses 1/3 cup of butter and a teeny bit of water (a few tablespoons). Butter helps keep the calories up. I can post it if you'd like to attempt making it without the butter.