My big personal challenge was real pizza!
In December 2019, I stayed at a longtime GeekBuddy's house (while he kindly did some thorough inspections & repairs to Fawkes),
and planned to try making pizza while there, because it's generally much easier to experiment with complex things in an s&b. :)
The recipe I used was for a large crockpot, so instead of halving it, I made the full portion of dough, then refrigerated half (overnight) and "baked" two small pizzas over two days.
The first pizza used shorepower in the house, the 2nd used my solar system while driving to a nearby National Forest. :)
Dough right after mixing, kneading, and forming into a ball (Shiny due to a light layer of olive oil):
One hour later, after rising (it's actually about twice the size - I should have trimmed both pics to the same scale (see Bread pages for good examples)):
In the crockpot, with a layer of tomato paste (also an experiment, since it's easy to find in very small cans):
With meat & mozzarella:
I also added a Bay leaf at the urging of my Friend (who has lots of cool spices/etc), but forgot to take a picture. See below for 2nd pizza.
After 1 3/4 hours it was smelling delicious, so I checked it (that was the time the recipe recommended for "high" temp, though mine only has a single "low" temp (I was expecting total time to be 3-4 hours)):
It looked "done", so I spooned out a piece of the crust, and inspected closely:
It also looked & tasted reasonably "done", but I decided to let it go to 3 hours.
At 3 hours total:
It was definitely done & ready to eat! :)
Next challenge was getting it out!
I quickly realized I should have used parchment paper instead of cooking spray:
It was a little messy, but tasted great. :)
Closeup of crust:
When tapped, the crust had a solid feel. :)
Next day, the dough had a bit of a layer of differentness (there's probably a name for it), so I just very briefly hand kneeded it some to mix it. That's what the different colored bits are.
Dough in crockpot, using parchment paper:
This time meat & veggies:
More meat, mozzarella, and a (fresh) Bay leaf:
4 hours later (on floor of my van):
Note that the aroma was awesome throughout my drive! :)
Closeup, ready to eat:
Closeup showing crust:
Closeup showing both crust & toppings:
This time the crust was smoother, perhaps from the extra time, probably mostly from lots more moisture from the veggies.
Both versions were good. :)
The crust did have a slight/mildly bitter taste due to being made with 100% whole wheat flour.
Next time I will probably try using pseudo fruit juice from a single-serving orange dices cup, to "cut" the bitterness of the whole wheat flour. I may also try regular flour, if I can find a grocery store with bulk bins so I can buy just enough for this one use.