Review: Bok Se Bosvark Oondjie

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Recently I received the most thoughtful gift from my eldest brother. Its dubbed the “Bosvark Oondjie”. A convenient way of making food and baking delicious bread on open coals for a braai amongst family and friends. Certainly a conversation starter!

But since I am a plant-based eater and haven’t consumed meat in 7-years, my brother requested for them to make me a “Bosvark” without the piggy aesthetic. Which I am quite grateful for. Even though the piggy looks adorable, the plain one works much better for me.

It Arrived through fast and friendly delivery through The Courier Guy neatly and safely packaged. It also came with a handy recipe guide for some delicious looking bread recipes. A Tip from my brother was to make sure I used a glass bread pan to ensure I have proper visibility on how the bread is baking from the top to the bottom. This tip really saved me lots of Mishaps already, I am sure of it! After the excitement of having a new ‘toy’ to play with, I had to find my oven space in the garden. It ended up right next to my braai stand. (Naturally.)

After making a nice and quick-fire to get some coals burning for the oven (and a few beers) I was ready to go. However, I was quite skeptical over this little oven actually working. So instead of me spending all that time to make the dough, I opted to cheat a little bit.

I ended up getting some ready-to-go bread dough from my local Spar. I know. WHAT WAS I THINKING right? Laziness… I was lazy okay!

The dough quickly became a mixture of a bread/buns setup and after rising in the sun for a little bit they were oven-ready and my excitement started all over again.

Inside the oven, about 30 minutes in… I realised, oops. It really isn’t baking the way I wish it would. but ah well. What’s done is done.

It was quite tricky moving the coals around and establishing a decent temperature. Keeping a birds-eye view on the bread to make sure it bakes exactly where it needs too. My first attempt came out quite good which was quite unexpected for me.

The Bread dough from spar did not do the actual oven-baked bread justice. Yes, it was baked through, It had a crispy crust and a soft fluffy inside. However, this oven impressed me so much that I realised I really need to experiment a lot more and also through better quality artisan-style bread should be baked in it to fully embrace the delicious potential it has.

With my little Vegan stew and rice made on an open fire (my first ever rice on an open fire btw) my baked potato and something good to drink, my Bread certainly still stood out as a winner.

Two days later

After realising that my first attempt was definitely just a learning curve the ITCH was back in full force to try again. I really needed to do better according to my own standards!

But this time, some more effort was needed from my side.

After a quick visit to my local grocery shop, I found #EurekaMills Potbrood easy home mix for R31.95 – Affordable, enticing and a 1KG. So off I went to make some more bread!

Since I am an oddball in general, I opted to include quite a bit of Vanilla Essence. My own secret ingredient to the existing recipe, simply because I could… (FYI – this was a good idea)

After doing some proper mixing, some time in the sun was needed.

However, I overestimated my bread dough in each pan and it far exceeded capacity even before the baking process began and had to opt to scrape quite a bit off to ensure it can fit in the oven with ease.

Roughly 50Minutes later, the first bread of my second attempt was ready to come out and boy oh boy did it look appetizing.

After another 30 minutes, the second bread of my second attempt was ready as well. This one outperformed all of them.

TIME TO EAT!

The bread was perfect, slicing so nicely. The Vanillas essence gave it quite the aroma when slicing and the softness of the bread made buttering it up so comforting. Yes, I am saying bread can be comforting!

Oh and wait I also discovered something else, a few mielies in foil on top of the oven is quite a convenient and fast way of cooking them.

Plus, remember the leftover dough I took if off the rising bread to ensure it can fit in the oven comfortably? Well, I used to make another quick little bread on the open coals directly. It came out looking hideous, but super tasty as well. Never waste any food!

I think I am going to start gaining a lot of weight now. No regrets though. This little “Bosvark Oondjie” is a winner. From novice to expert. It is super easy to use. Endless possibilities to create fantastic meals in it and easy to pack away when not in use. A Highly recommended asset to anyone’s arsenal with a passion for cooking, baking or for those ready in a heartbeat if you just say the word BRAAI. Easy to use. Easy to Clean. Easy conversation starter and definitely a winner in our load-shedding country for those late-night meals around the first place.