Lesson 2 - Baking Powder Biscuits

This week I learned about making breads in a Dutch oven. My instructor, Dave, intended for us to cook a corn bread in the Dutch oven with charcoal as our source of heat. But the wind wouldn't allow the charcoals to stay lit. So, we placed the corn bread inside of the Dutch oven which we then placed inside of the kitchen oven. I learned (and then later forgot) that you have to preheat the kitchen oven to the recipe's cooking temperature and then place the Dutch oven (with the lid off) inside and let it heat to temperature. (This basically preheats the Dutch oven as well).

FYI: Dave told me that you don't want too much heat focused on the bottom of the Dutch oven when you are baking bread because the bread will burn. You want more heat coming from the top - so we would have put the majority of charcoals on top of the Dutch oven lid had the charcoals worked. Interestingly enough, I also learned to keep the lid off of the Dutch oven while baking the bread inside of a kitchen oven. Kind of seemed like opposite approaches depending on your baking method. So, when baking bread, if your are using the charcoal with a Dutch oven, make sure you place more charcoal on the lid of the Dutch oven and less charcoal below the Dutch oven. Otherwise the bottom of the bread will burn. But, if you are baking with a Dutch oven and you are using a kitchen oven as the source of heat, keep the Dutch oven lid off; or else the the trapping of the heat from the top will be the reason that the bottom of the bread burns. Weird! Now, all of these "rules" applied because because I was cooking bread. Other foods apparently have different "heat application" rules when using a Dutch oven. Try keeping that straight in your schemata of cooking knowledge! I just figured that, when cooking, heat was heat. (Some personal schema tuning for me in the area of cooking, I think so!)

Anyway, tonight I tried a simple baking powder biscuit recipe for my Dutch oven bread cooking experience. Well, it was pouring outside, so I too used the kitchen oven as my source of heat for cooking in my Dutch oven. I have never done this before, but it aligned perfectly with lesson. (Opportunity for positive transfer.)

Because I have cooked plenty in the past (I actually grew up with homemade bread as a weekly dietary staple), I was able to make the mixture for the baking powder biscuits quite quickly without any complications. The rolling out of the dough and cutting it into circles to make biscuits was no problem for me either. (I frequently make homemade rolls as well...so pretty easy to transfer the cooking skills in this situation.) So, I thought this would be a pretty seamless night, but there were a few hiccups.

Thankfully, my husband (who I convinced to take these cooking lessons with me) was around to remind me about preheating the Dutch oven - I totally forgot about that part. I had the kitchen oven preheated of course, but not the Dutch oven. So this added 30 unexpected minutes to my cooking. Why 30 minutes? Well apparently the cast iron of the Dutch oven takes longer to preheat. (Note, 30 minutes may have been a little too long, though.) When the preheating was done and I took the Dutch oven out of the kitchen oven to place the biscuits in it; it was more than piping hot. I could feel the heat of the cast iron radiating through the hot pad holder within seconds. WOW! My prior knowledge told me that a hot pad holder would protect me from a burn, not true in this situation. (Another schema tuning experience.) Now I had to figure out how to get the parchment paper into the Dutch oven along with the biscuits without getting a serious burn. I tried everything I could think of  to get the parchment paper to lay in the bottom of the Dutch oven, but it just kept popping out. My husband finally suggested trimming the paper down a little (I had it way too big), placing the biscuits on the paper. and then dropping it into the Dutch oven. It worked! I did have to use a wooden spoon to rearrange the parchment paper and biscuits once they were finally inside of the HOT Dutch oven.

I cooked the biscuits for 12 minutes and they looked pretty good. I thought they were done, but my husband suggested another few minutes of cooking time. They actually got a little browner than I like by adding these few minutes, but they still turned out well and tasted delicious. (Recipes and Pictures Below)

Learning Theory Connections:
I felt so much more confident this week at the beginning of my cooking because of my prior knowledge and schemata of cooking. I knew that, when baking, combine all of the dry ingredients and sift them until they look "fluffy." I also knew to add the liquids last. Rolling out the dough wasn't a problem either -- it's just like rolling out my dough for homemade rolls. My procedural knowledge of making bread and rolls allowed me to positively and horizontally transfer knowledge and skills to the point that I practically functioned with automaticity. So with a quick read through of the recipe, I was set to go. (I did have to recheck the type of ingredients and the specific measurements a few times -- working memory overload). Because of this experience, I did have to add to my schema of preheating ovens before cooking - I now know that a Dutch oven is just like any other oven, so it must be preheated...and it must preheat longer than normal due to the cast iron. It also gets hotter than any aluminum pan that has been placed in the preheated kitchen oven. (Schema Accretion) Finally, I can definitely see Vygotsky's social learning theory at work here. I didn't want to take these lessons alone. I wanted someone there to learn "with" me, because two heads are better than one, right? So...I convinced my husband to take the Dutch oven cooking lessons with me.

Recipe: Baking Powder Biscuits:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup milk
Sift dry ingredients. Add shortening and mix until it looks like a coarse meal. Then add milk and mix into a firm ball. Turn on a lightly floured surface and roll dough about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into circles and place onto parchment paper in Dutch oven. Cook for 12-15 minutes at 450 degrees. (Or, if using briquettes, cook until golden brown).

Mix Until Coarse

Mix Into a Firm Ball

Cut Into Circles

Preheat the Dutch oven

Try Not to Get Burned When Placing Biscuits into Preheated Dutch Oven!

Should Have Stopped Here! They Were Golden Brown!

Probably a Minute or Two of Too Much Cooking Time. But Still Delicious!

Lesson 1- Pre-Seasoning - What's That All About?   

Ok, so I attended my first Dutch oven cooking lesson. We discussed different types of Dutch ovens. My instructor believes the best Dutch ovens to be those made by Lodge and Camp Chef. I learned that while most Dutch ovens are cast iron, there are aluminum Dutch ovens as well. The advantage of the cast iron is that it can handle higher temperatures and has more even heating. The advantage to the aluminum is that it is less likely to rust, it's lighter in weight; and therefore, more convenient to transport. 

We also discussed proper care and storage of a Dutch oven. Apparently, you only wash your Dutch oven with soapy water before its initial use. This is done to remove factory coatings applied to protect the Dutch oven from rusting during transportation from the factory to a store. After your first initial washing with soapy water, you have to do an initial seasoning. This involves heating the Dutch oven to at least 350 degrees, applying a vegetable based oil (or non-flavored Crisco), cooling it down, and repeating this process several times (2 to 3 times). This fills the pores of the cast iron with oil which prevents rusting and assists in future flavorings of food. When done correctly, the cast iron Dutch oven takes on a "shine." The only time you repeat an initial seasoning is if you absolutely have to clean the Dutch oven with soapy water due to extreme burning of food or because of neglecting the proper maintenance and storage of the Dutch oven (usually resulting in rust). However, it is recommendable to periodically re-season the Dutch oven if it has not been used in awhile. In this case, you follow the steps for an initial seasoning, but you will most likely only need to heat the Dutch oven and apply oil to it one time. 

Because our Dutch oven had been through an initial seasoning (done by my husband), I began my first learning experience today with a re-seasoning of the Dutch oven. I  began with cleaning the Dutch oven with simply warm water and a scouring pad. Something I wasn't used to is that the Dutch oven had a "film" to it and my previous knowledge told me to get rid of that -- which is not necessary! Anyway, I dried the Dutch oven with a paper towel. Then, I set up a Camp Chef propane stove in my driveway so that I could begin burning away the old oil in the Dutch oven. This was new experience in and of itself. I had no idea where to begin.I had never set a propane stove up before, and I had to have my husband teach me how to hook up a propane tank and light the burner. Oh, a little bit of advice - you can burn the old oil away using a home oven, but be prepared to have a smokey house and a need to temporarily disable your smoke alarms. 

Once the Camp Chef stove was lit, I let the old oil burn out of the Dutch oven for about 10 minutes (leave the lid on for this). I then removed the Dutch oven from the burner and let it cool for about 5 minutes. At this point, I poured a table spoon of cooking oil on the inside and spread it around using a cloth. I also spread oil around the outside and the lid. Then, I replaced it on the burner and allowed it to heat for about 15 minutes. When I lifted the lid, the inside of the pot had the "shiny" look I was watching for; so I pulled the Dutch oven off of the heat. I let it cool in an elevated position on some bricks. (My husband taught me to never lay the Dutch oven on the cement while it's cooling - it leads to rusting.) Finally, I placed a couple of paper towels inside of the Dutch oven and replaced the lid. I also learned to never secure the lid tight during storage as it causes condensation and rusting to occur. I then set the Dutch oven aside for next week's lesson. (See pictures of my experience below.)

Learning Theory Applications:  

As  Martinez points out on page 29 of the text, there is a cognitive concept coined by Bandura - self-efficacy - that I believe came into play with my learning experience today. When it came time to set up the Camp Chef stove, I realized I didn't know where to begin. I literally didn't know how to go from the collapsed version of the stove (used for storage purposes) to the upright version for cooking. Nor, did I know how to connect the propane tank or control the valve of the propane tank. I recognized my own cognitive limitations (self-efficacy) in this situation and requested that my husband give me verbal step-by-step instructions to perform these steps.   
 

I also saw the application of the limitations of short term memory (CIP model) in my learning experience tonight. The instructor had given me directions to seasoning the Dutch oven. He had divided his directions into 14 written steps. Well, that's more than 7 pieces of information at a time and you guessed it - I had to stop and reconsult the directions after every step. (Working memory overload) Finally, my husband, (who could see my frustration mounting) just started walking me through the steps without consulting the directions I had been given. Why was my husband able to do this? He has seasoned Dutch ovens several times over the years and, as a young boy, he used to watch his grandfather season Dutch ovens all the time. He had the long term memory to pull from and didn't need to focus as hard as I was on the steps to seasoning a Dutch oven. 

Today's Pictures 

Cleaning with Warm Water and Scouring 

Pad

Setting up Camp Chef Stove

Hooking up Propane Tank

Pouring Cooking Oil

Finished Shine