Camp Kitchen: How to make damper

Nothing is as quintessentially Australian as a campfire baked loaf of damper. This month, learn how to cook this one-time bush staple either as the drover’s ‘classic’ damper or, for extra spice, a ‘savoury’ damper.

Savoury Damper

Ingredients

• 1kg flour
• 100g butter
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• Approx. 200ml milk
• 200g mushrooms
• ¼ red, ¼ green and ¼ yellow capsicum
• 1 large onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• ½ cup cheese
• 150g bacon pieces

Cookware needed

• Campfire 9 Quart Camp Oven

Method

1. Prepare the campfire or charcoal for cooking.
2. Dice onion, garlic, mushrooms, capsicum and bacon, and add to a medium bowl. Add cheese then put to the side.
3. Rub butter and flour together until smooth, add pinch of salt and mix well.
4. Add 1 egg to your mix and stir through with a wooden spoon.
5. Mix and add milk gradually until flour becomes a dough.
6. Tip flour mix on to a bread board and knead for 3min.
7. Without making it too thin, flatten out dough mix into a rectangle shape. Sprinkle bowl of veggies into the centre (lengthways) of dough then roll to close.
8. Using kitchen scissors (or a sharp knife), snip 8 incisions into the long side of the dough to make ‘pull-apart’ tabs.
9. Place into camp oven and rest for 10mins.
10. Bake until golden brown.

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Classic Damper

Ingredients

• 1kg flour
• 100g butter
• Pinch of salt
• 1 large egg
• Approx. 200ml milk

Equipment Needed

• Campfire 9 or 12 Quart Camp Oven

Method

1. Preheat camp oven.
2. Using a large mixing bowl, rub butter and flour together until smooth. Add pinch of salt and mix well.
3. Crack 1 egg into the flour mix and stir through using wooden spoon.
4. Gradually add milk until flour mix turns into dough.
5. Tip out on to a bread board and knead for 3min. form into a round/oval shape and place into camp oven. Rest for 10mins.
6. Place a lid on the camp oven and bake over coals until golden brown.

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