More Hearth Bread Baking on the Cobb Grill

I have done a few more hearth bread bakes on my little Cobb Grill using several different setups, recipes, and methods and I have finally figured out how to get a fairly nice loaf of bread off of this great little grill. 

Most of my baking has been done with the “5 Minutes a Day Artisan Bread Dough” which is simple and does make some terrific bread. 

I like to use a charcoal chimney for all my high temp cooking or baking with the larger charcoal basket. This charcoal basket comes with the Cobb BBQ Kit. I have 22 hardwood briquets in the charcoal chimney and it is ready to be poured into the Cobb.

My setup for this bake is as follows.

Used the larger charcoal basket with 22 briquets. I also use lump for some bakes.

Dome extension went on next.

Standard cooking grid on top of the extension. 

Roast rack on next.

8-1/2" hearth stone on top.

First loaf going on the grill.

I baked the bread to 206F internal and it came out great.

I know it's not very pretty but it sure came out nice other than that problem. The bread took about an hour and the temperature measured at the top of the dome was about 360-390F during the bake. Browned nicely and tasted great.

That is a perfect crust.

This is another and much nicer loaf cooling on the counter top.

Had a little piece of dough left so the wife made up some big breadsticks.

Makes a great snack.

Here is another loaf I found in my pictures but I don’t remember all the details on this loaf but other than the top, it looks pretty good. 

This is my latest hearth bake on the Cobb Grill.

I used about 19-20 all hardwood briquets for this bake in the larger charcoal basket.

About ready to be put on the Cobb.

The bake took a little longer than I expected but did come out quite well. I took it off of the Cobb with an internal temperature of 200F degrees.

Got the bottom of the loaf about perfect.

Structure not too bad but the top of the loaf could use some improvement as it is not very pretty.

I dearly love homemade bread.

Pizza, Bread, & Bruschetta

I rolled my little Green Mountain Davy Crockett pellet grill around to my cooking patio and set it up for high temp baking and fired it up and slowly brought the temp up to around 450 degrees measured at or on the hearth stone.




Had some of the 5 minute Artisan bread dough available so I decided to use it for this bake. 



I made up a boule with a little over a pound of this dough and let it rise for about 45 minutes. 



I let the cooker run on temp (450 degrees) for about 20 more minutes and got it ready for the bread by adding a water pan for the steam. I added a cup of water and placed the bread on the hearth and closed the door and this loaf was on it’s way. 



While the first loaf was baking, I got my pizza ready using the same dough.



I had my hearth stone to the far right side of the cooker and it baked a very nice boule of evenly browned bread which was not moved or rotated but just placed on the hearth and baked.



I moved the hearth stone to the far left side of the cooker to see if it would cook as even as the right side and loaded my pizza. 



Again, I got a nice evenly baked pizza without any moves or rotation of any kind. 



Both the bread and pizza looked pretty good coming off of this little tailgate pellet cooker. 



I sliced some bread for the wife and she got busy with some olive oil, tomato sauce, sliced tomatoes, garlic, butter, parmesan cheese, and made up some Bruschetta bread and I baked it as well. 



Cut the pizza up.



The Bruschetta bread out of the fire. 





As served.

I hate to keep ragging on this little cooker but I sure haven’t found much fault with it and It has become one of my favorite cookers. 

Large Tailgate Practice Cook

After being snowed out of my cooking patio for about 5 weeks, we finally received some warmer weather and it has melted the 2-3 foot drifts of snow on the patio. Time for a tailgate practice cook.

This cook was done on my GMG Davey Crockett pellet cooker and consisted of a total meal on one fire. Appetizer, main course meat, a couple of sides, dinner rolls, and a dessert. 



This is a big chunk of real country ribs cut from the loin...it was trimmed of some fat and then I applied a light coat of my favorite rub.



I then prepped my BBQ Pit Beans in a glass bread pan and covered them with brown sugar. The potatoes were covered with some peanut oil and then I sprinkled on some granulated garlic, sea salt, and fresh ground black pepper.

I also dipped and breaded about 2 dozen hot wing pieces for my appetizer. 



Rolled my little tailgater around to the cooking patio and fired it up. I set the temp at 170 degrees to get more smoke for the first part of the cook. Was a lousy cooking day with the temperature around freezing and winds and gusts to 25 miles per hour.



I got it all loaded up and I did have to use my raised grid for this cook. I have the beans under my country ribs so the drippings will add some extra flavor to my beans.

After about 90 minutes, I upped the temperature to 275 degrees to finish this part of the cook.



Potatoes came off first.



This picture was taken just before the first part of the cook came off of the cooker.



Meat sure smelled good!



My Pit Beans and hot wings.



While the first part of the cook was finishing up, I prepped my dinner rolls and dessert. The rolls were placed on a black iron griddle and I then made up my pineapple upside down muffin cakes.



I raised the temperature to 375 degrees and baked my rolls and dessert. 



The dessert.



And the rolls.



Now there are some real country ribs and cooked to perfection.



The plated meal...just wasn’t any room for a salad.



Another photo.



I added a dip of ice cream to my dessert.

That is one fine tailgate meal on one fine little tailgate cooker.

Tavern Stew / Sweet Yeast Rolls

I have used this old recipe for over 50 years and it is the best stew recipe I have ever tasted. This stew goes by several names but the most well known are 5 Hour Stew and Tavern Stew. It is easy to make and can be changed to suit about anyones taste.



It calls for beef stew meat and I always cut my own so I like to use a thick chuck roast for my meat.



A fellow can cut it up into the size he wants and in my case, about 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 “ squares. 



Then I get some celery, carrots, green bell pepper, onions, potatoes, and hot peppers all processed for my stew. You can leave out the peppers if you don't like the hotter stew. 



All of the above is placed into a large Dutch oven for the cook. 



I then add my spices and juice over the mixture and it is ready for the oven.



Put the lid on and place it into a 250 degree oven or smoker/cooker for about 5 hours.





Looking good coming out of the oven.





As served...

Ok, here is the basic recipe and the method of doing this stew.

2 lbs beef stew meat
4-6 carrots sliced or chopped
4-6 potatoes cut into quarters or smaller
1 cup sliced celery
1 green bell pepper diced
1 or 2 medium onions chopped

Combine all of the above in a Dutch oven and for the hotter version be sure to include the hot peppers.

The next step and be sure to follow these directions.

3 TBL tapioca
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 TBL sugar

Sprinkle these items over the top of the stew but DO NOT MIX.

Pour in 12 oz or if you like more juice use 24 oz of V8 vegetable juice over the mixture but again, DO NOT MIX.

Cover and bake in a 250 degree oven for 5 hours and again DO NOT MIX or even raise the lid on the Dutch oven until its done.

Now, here are some of the things I do different from the basic recipe.

I usually always make a double batch.
I usually add some extra meat in my stew
I usually use some hot peppers in my stew.
I like more celery and green bell pepper in mine so I add that.
I use the hot V8 juice and usually about 48 oz in my larger batches

I usually bake mine at about 275 degrees and for about 6 hours to get my larger amount done.

Anyway, make it with what you like but do be sure to follow the basic directions. 





These are Aunt Lenora's yeast rolls from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads. This is a multi-year winning Indiana State Fair recipe and are just about the best rolls a fellow can make.