Baked Potatoes

[saimyoji]

Anyone make baked potatoes when camping? I'm thinking more along the lines of making them in a camp fire.....

[Snowleopard]

Not camping exactly, but I made them in a fire, wrapped in aluminum foil and they were fine. Try and place them in or next to the coals, not in the middle of a big fire.

[srestrepo]

yeah i do! they're awesome. i just wrap them in some tin foil and throw them on some coals near the fire. when theyr'e done i just sprinkle some salt and eat or if its cold enough i bring some butter or whatever and throw that in there too... or i'll bring some carrots and 2 potatoes and some chopped onions, some chopped tomatoes and 2 hamburg patties. you take everything and chop it up and toss it in the fire with some seasoning and some water... sorrry to drift. apparently i'm hungry.

[Toolshed]

mmmm...Wrapped in foil with oilive oil and salt/pepper. You're thinking A-OK!!!

[Wonder]

I would sometimes bring a couple little red ones in foil to cook if there was a fire going.....it was an awesome treat

[JERMM]

mmmm...Wrapped in foil with oilive oil and salt/pepper. You're thinking A-OK!!!

ditto


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[beakerman]

yeah i do! they're awesome. i just wrap them in some tin foil and throw them on some coals near the fire. when theyr'e done i just sprinkle some salt and eat or if its cold enough i bring some butter or whatever and throw that in there too... or i'll bring some carrots and 2 potatoes and some chopped onions, some chopped tomatoes and 2 hamburg patties. you take everything and chop it up and toss it in the fire with some seasoning and some water... sorrry to drift. apparently i'm hungry.


mmm silver turtles...a staple of the cub scout diet...that's good eatin right ther I don't care who you are....now I gotta go make some....I'm hungry

[Mrs Baggins]

Definitely wrap in foil. Watched a guy shove one down into the coals of the fire pit at Blue Mt shelter. Came out all black and covered in ashes. I love my baked potatoes to have crispy skins but not blackened skins and definitely not filthy. But I guess if you're hungry enough.........

If we're putting them on the grill at home we cut them in half, put in some pats of butter, slices of onion, salt and pepper, and wrap in foil. You could use olive oil just as well. Wrap them so that they aren't going to leak butter or oil while cooking or you'll get big flame ups and burn up the tater.

[The_Saint]

Anyone make baked potatoes when camping? I'm thinking more along the lines of making them in a camp fire.....


Not camping exactly, but I made them in a fire, wrapped in aluminum foil and they were fine. Try and place them in or next to the coals, not in the middle of a big fire.

Good Advice here.

[YoungMoose]

ive made them in a campfire. I put in onion powder with cheese salt and pepper. It was amazing.

[Tuckahoe]

Mrs Baggins, that is exactly what I use to do with potatoes back in my Civil War reenacting days.

After the fire had burned down to a great bead of coals we'd dig a little hole in the middle, deposit the potatoes and bury. Sure the skins would be a little chared, but that's all. We's then cut them in half and eat the meat out with a spoon. Worked even better with sweet potatoes. Oh and roasting ears (corn) on a bed of coals was always a treat as well.

[Mrs Baggins]

Mrs Baggins, that is exactly what I use to do with potatoes back in my Civil War reenacting days.

After the fire had burned down to a great bead of coals we'd dig a little hole in the middle, deposit the potatoes and bury. Sure the skins would be a little chared, but that's all. We's then cut them in half and eat the meat out with a spoon. Worked even better with sweet potatoes. Oh and roasting ears (corn) on a bed of coals was always a treat as well.

Just a matter of taste. And situation. In the Civil War I don't think there were too many rolls of Alcoa or Reynolds laying around, so shoving them into the fire would be the fitting thing to do. But if the foil is available, then by all means we'll use it. :D Trust me, if I were hungry enough and the potatoes were available but the foil was not I'd shove them into the coals, no problem.

[Tuckahoe]

but but... just think of all that weight you'd save by skipping the foil! :banana

[squeezebox]

What else have you cooked in foil placed in coals. chicken, stew, lasagna??
I've heard that covering something in mud will work instead of foil.
I've heard it works like this. Steal a chicken from a farmer. gut it. then cover it with mud leave the feathers on. put it in the coals, and the feathers will come off with the baked mud. nice and steamy.

[WalkingStick75]

I like half a spud with half of a sweet potato.

[JAK]

A hot potato is also a great pocket warmer while hiking in winter.
So is a hard boiled egg. You can eat them for lunch later.
That's what I did in going to school in Fredericton in the 1980s.
Some very cold mornings in Fredericton NB.

[Bronk]

I've cooked potatoes wrapped in foil many times...have to have a good bed of coals though...I general shovel or scrape with a stick a pile of coals out from the bottom of the fire pit and move them to a separate place to cook on...its just like cooking on a BBQ grill...some fresh ears of corn still in their husks laid directly on the coals is great too.

You can really cook just about anything available in the frozen food section of the grocery store that way if you wrap it in foil...I've made frozen pizza, pizza rolls, chicken strips, egg rolls, burritos...the possibilities are really endless.

I used to laugh because someone I used to know used to bring a bag of charcoal briquettes on camping trips...he somehow thought this was necessary, or somehow better than the coals from the fire...I always just brought a grill grate on canoe trips and when it was time to cook dinner I'd scrape some coals out of the fire and prop the grate up on a few rocks and cook on that as if it were a BBQ grill at home.

[Panzer1]

I've wrapped potatoes in aluminum foil and cooked them in a camp fire many times. Sometimes they come out good and sometimes they come out burnt. Mostly its just a pain-in-the-ass to cook that way, especially when your with other people who keep putting more wood on the fire causing it to be too hot. Even when everything works out right, you still have to wait about 45 minutes for it to cook that way. That's too long for me to wait to eat when I'm on the trail. If your car camping its not such a bad idea though.

Panzer

[Bronk]

I've wrapped potatoes in aluminum foil and cooked them in a camp fire many times. Sometimes they come out good and sometimes they come out burnt. Mostly its just a pain-in-the-ass to cook that way, especially when your with other people who keep putting more wood on the fire causing it to be too hot. Even when everything works out right, you still have to wait about 45 minutes for it to cook that way. That's too long for me to wait to eat when I'm on the trail. If your car camping its not such a bad idea though.

Panzer


That's why I always move some coals out of the fire pit and cook off to the side...that way you can keep the fire going while you're cooking...I always eat something right before I go to bed when its cold out to sort of stoke the fire before I go to sleep...a hot potato is a good way to do that...doesn't have to be the main course.

[tiptoe]

I cook potatoes in foil in my woodstove. It takes roughly an hour, depending on the fire/coals, and it's a good idea to turn them halfway through. In fact, I'm making some this evening...

[Toolshed]

If you can find some large maple leaves (Norway & Sugar work well) and soak them for a bit, you can wrap the potato in those as well and steam the potato, much the same as you would do for corn - soak in salty water, pull silk, shuck outer layer and bury in coals.

[Hikes in Rain]

Not much to add here, except yeah, been baking potatoes in coals for many, many years. Used to take them with us back in my single digit years, when we'd go sledding. By the time we were chilled and hungry, they'd be ready.

[Hikes with a stick]

You can also cook a steak right on the coals, no grill required. Just make sure no one peed on the campfire the night before...

The reason it works is because the meat is dense and cool, and starts to put out the coals underneath it. So it does not really burn. The technique is to put it on some glowing red coals, and when the down facing side gets done the coals will no longer stick to it. Flip it over to the other side, and wait until the coals no longer stick. Then just take a knife or something and lightly scrape both sides of the meat to get rid of any remaining ash.

[Hikes in Rain]

You can, indeed, and a fine steak it is! Even if you don't get all the ash off, well, then you don't need salt! Goes great with the coal-baked potatoes.

I love campfire cooking. Haven't done near enough of it lately. Might be time to build that firepit out back...

[Doctari]

I do from time to time. Sweet potatoes too.
HINTS:
Double the aluminum foil works best, even on things like chicken & etc. I have had 1 layer burn through before the tater was done.
I use 2 sticks like big chop sticks to turn the potato, & you do want to turn the potato.
I add Olive oil & / or Parkay & some salt before closing the foil.
You can also cook other foods this way. I like chicken breast: sprinkle about 1 teaspoon "Italian seasoning" on (be sure to get both sides) some garlic & a bit of salt, wrap in 2 x foil, & as stated above place on the hot coals near the edge of the fire. Last time I added a bit of Parkay before closing the foil, & that was GREAT!

[ChinMusic]

Anyone make baked potatoes when camping? I'm thinking more along the lines of making them in a camp fire.....
If you can nuke em while in town, all you have to do is warm em up once at camp.

I can't taste the difference and the risk of burning is tons less.

[fehchet]

In "Dick and Jane", Zeek had potatoes underneath bricks when he burned leaves in the Fall. He surprised every one.

[Farr Away]

If you can find some large maple leaves (Norway & Sugar work well) and soak them for a bit, you can wrap the potato in those as well and steam the potato, much the same as you would do for corn - soak in salty water, pull silk, shuck outer layer and bury in coals.

Can also wrap a piece of bacon around the corn before you pull the husk back up around it and then put it in the coals.

[JustaTouron]

When I was a scout, I would sometimes do my entire dinner meal wrapped in tin foil...potato (as described in this thread), steak and remove the core from an apple add cinnamon, sugar and butter for dessert. Easy clean up. The baked apple was by far the best part.

[Surplusman]

I remember years ago doing a Civil War impression and we would coat potatoes with about an inch of mud and them bake them for about an hour in the coals. When the mud dried, the Murphys were ready. Seemed to work well if you didn't mind the somewhat "earthy" taste to them. We didn't mind it at all.

[bikebum1975]

I cook potatoes in foil in my woodstove. It takes roughly an hour, depending on the fire/coals, and it's a good idea to turn them halfway through. In fact, I'm making some this evening...


I learned this trick from my Grandfather he also taught me to take fresh corn on the cob leave the husk on it coat it with some mud toss it on the coals and cook till tender works damn well gives a nice smokey flavor to it as well added bonus cooking it that way. I used to take hamburger patties and wrap them in foil toss them on the coals as well takes about maybe 4 or 5 minutes a side very tasty and juicy.

[prain4u]

What else have you cooked in foil placed in coals. chicken, stew, lasagna??

--A whole chicken (stuffed with veggies and surrounded with veggies) wrapped in foil.
--A steak wrapped in foil (with or without veggies).
--Corn on the cob--either husks removed and wrapped in foil or still in the husk (soaked in water first) and placed directly on the coals.
--I made kabobs out of veggies and stew meat skewered with sticks and wrapped in foil

--I have even suspended a whole chicken from a stick or a tripod and roasted over a fire. (I have done this several different ways).

[Spirit Walker]

Sweet potatoes cook faster than white potatoes - about 45 minutes IIRC. When I used to camp with a fire (many years ago) I frequently had baked sweet potato with cheese melted on top and zuccini and onions in a seperate aluminum sleeve. I've also brought hamburgers in foil to cook on a fire - sometimes with cheese or onion inside. If you freeze it the day before, it keeps well. Or half cook chicken at home, then cook about 20 minutes on the coals. Sometimes I miss having a fire - but for long distance hiking, they are usually more trouble than they're worth. And having hiked out west so much, where the damage from fire is so prevalent - risking causing that kind of damage just doesn't appeal.

[Wrangler88]

Me and a buddy went camping once and were planning on cooking out potatoes by wrapping them in foil and putting them in the coals. (I've done this before and they turned out great). Well he bought wax paper instead of foil.

So I came up with the idea of finishing off our beers, and I cut the top of the can most of the way off and then stuffed my potato down inside. (Had to trim one side a bit). Then I folded the lid back over and cooked in the same way I would have if we had foil. (I also left a tiny bit of beer in the can for flavor and I thought it might kind of steam it. I doubt it helped but it sure didn't hurt) They turned out delicious.

[thelowend]

you can pretty much do any dutch oven style meal if you have a good bed of coals and some foil. its just a less efficient poor mans version

[prain4u]

you can pretty much do any dutch oven style meal if you have a good bed of coals and some foil. its just a less efficient poor mans version

Aluminum foil is a heck of a lot lighter version of a Dutch oven too! :D

I actually hiked TWICE in the Rockies with a couple of cast iron Dutch ovens (shared among a group of us). :(

The cobblers, cakes, biscuits (etc.) that we baked in those cast iron Dutch ovens were among some of the best food that I have ever eaten while on a trail. We even cooked a beef roast! However, carrying a dang Dutch oven in the Rockies was a pain! (I just looked Dutch ovens up online--they weigh about 19-20 lbs a piece!) The Good News? Four to six of us took turns carrying it on different days--but it was still a pain! (Plus, the food was a lot heavier too!). My pack was often close to 65 lbs.

[Grinder]

This past weekend in North Florida, Gray Blazer hauled in what he called hamburgers and potatoes wrapped in foil (I have to add the the "Hamburgers" were more like mini meatloafs)

We had a roaring campfire and the potatoes were inserted at the edge. After 30 minutes the potatoes were turned over and the meat was thrown on the coals. The meat was turned after around 15 minutes. in one hour total they were done to a tee. (I think the meat started out frozen the night before and was carried in in a thermo bag)

What a feast!!!

I'm definitely planning on carrying fresh meat and potatoes for the first night out on this years section hike.

[Gray Blazer]

Put a little water inside the foil (along with the potato) and some butter, salt, etc.