It is often easy to take our access to resources for granted and we forget not all households look like how ours do.Often times the reason people are not able to engage with some of the recipes we share is because costly and extensive ingredient lists and often it's also about too many specialist bits of cooking tools like food processors, thermo mixers, sous vides and so on. Even something as seemingly ubiquitous as ovens isn't readily available in every household and with that in mind, here's a technical guide to baking on the stove. Do note that baking and steaming something on the stove are too very different things.
Equipment List
A stove or fire
A baking container
A pot large enough to hold your baking container, with lid and enough room for things to rise during the bake. Avoid plastic handles on the pot as they may melt if things get too hot.
A small pedestal to elevate the baking container off the bottom of the pot (this can be a few pebbles, a metallic cookie cutter, a small ramekin or enamel cup, use your imagination and something heat resistant)
Some table salt, enough to cover the bottom of the pot
Method
Potsi (1)
Obviously grab your recipe and prepare things as per instruction. Prepare your oven (large pot) by lining it with an even layer of table salt and placing your pedestal in the middle. Cover with lid and preheat on the stove at maximum heat until ready to use.
Piri (2)
Once your food is in the baking vessel and ready to cook, quickly open the lid and carefully place your vessel on top of the vessel and close the lid again. Reduce the heat to medium and bake for the recommended time
Tatu (3)
The salt and pedestal are essential steps to this process so do not omit them. The salt keeps the air dry and makes sure we don't let any steam accumulate in our oven and the pedestal makes sure there is no direct heat contact from the stove to the baking vessel. While this is a general stove-top baking guideline, please note some experimentation may be necessary from recipe to recipe and you may need to adjust your heat levels and cooking times.
