bread in a pressure cooker

When I first came to Africa 18 years ago I knew that life here would entail baking my own bread at times. I have tried many recipes, but one disadvantage is that it requires using the oven, which in turn uses enormous amounts of gas, which here in Africa is expensive. So I tend to avoid baking bread instead of taking advantage of the opportunity. Many have suggested, "Why don't you get a bread maker?" The answer is simple. It requires electricity. 110 electricity to be exact, something that is not very easy to obtain here in a former French colony where everthing electric is 220, and even though our house is wired for solar and with 110 inverted power, my husband reminds me that appliances with heating elements are not welcome in our home. So I am limited to baking.

Recently on a trip to a remote village to visit another American family who are friends of ours, the wife introduced me to baking bread in a pressure cooker, since she had no oven. Funny, why hadn't I thought of that? I use my pressure cooker to can a lot, especially meat. But I had never thought about bread. So I tried it - it was really quite simple, and saved on gas. I simply put my dough to rise in a metal bowl that fit inside the pressure cooker, rested the bowl in water on several jar lids, and set it to pressure for about an hour. Out came some delicious, non-crumbly, soft bread. Not a bad idea for living non-electric. This could really come in handy for anyone who is camping even on the open fire. Imagine, baking bread on the open fire in the wilderness! It has lots of potential!