What is the best way to bake potatoes in embers?

Question

I have fond (and by now possibly largely inaccurate) memories of eating potatoes that had been wrapped in tin foil and baked outside in the embers of a fire.

I'd quite like to reproduce the experience for my kids, but preferably without my "tada!" being destroyed by a charred lump of organic matter, or a raw potato.

I expect it's mostly guesswork (and borderline 'cooking'), but do you have any tips or tricks for getting this right (or nearly so) first time?

Answer

It's actually pretty straight forward and fairly easy to do.

1. Build a fire. You are building a cooking fire, not a warm hands and look pretty fire. I use a log cabin style fire for this.
2. Wait for it to burn down so there are plenty of white coals. You don't want lots of "fire". Fire is pretty to look at, but more unpredictable to cook in then hot white coals.
3. While the fire is burning down, wash and prep your potatoes to bake as you would normally.
4. Wrap them tightly in tin foil.
5. Once the fire is burned down to hot, white coals, toss the potatoes directly onto the coals.
6. Wait until cooked (roughly 40 minutes for an average sized potato, on an average fire, adjust accordingly).
7. If you have a shovel or something, put some coals on to the actual potato as well, so you're completely surrounding it. It'll speed it up. If you don't have anything handy to handle coals, make sure you flip them half way.
8. Remove carefully and enjoy.

The moisture of a potato, will allow it to cook without burning. Just make sure you wrap them with no exposed areas, in order to trap the steam.

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Baking potatoes in embers

Question

I have fond (and by now possibly largely inaccurate) memories of eating potatoes that had been wrapped in tin foil and baked outside in the embers of a fire.

I'd quite like to reproduce the experience for my kids, but preferably without my "tada!" being destroyed by a charred lump of organic matter, or a raw potato.

I expect it's mostly guesswork (and borderline 'cooking'), but do you have any tips or tricks for getting this right (or nearly so) first time?

Answer

It's actually pretty straight forward and fairly easy to do.

1. Build a fire. You are building a cooking fire, not a warm hands and look pretty fire. I use a log cabin style fire for this.
2. Wait for it to burn down so there are plenty of white coals. You don't want lots of "fire". Fire is pretty to look at, but more unpredictable to cook in then hot white coals.
3. While the fire is burning down, wash and prep your potatoes to bake as you would normally.
4. Wrap them tightly in tin foil.
5. Once the fire is burned down to hot, white coals, toss the potatoes directly onto the coals.
6. Wait until cooked (roughly 40 minutes for an average sized potato, on an average fire, adjust accordingly).
7. If you have a shovel or something, put some coals on to the actual potato as well, so you're completely surrounding it. It'll speed it up. If you don't have anything handy to handle coals, make sure you flip them half way.
8. Remove carefully and enjoy.

The moisture of a potato, will allow it to cook without burning. Just make sure you wrap them with no exposed areas, in order to trap the steam.

Check more discussion of this question.

How do I cook chicken and asparagus over an open fire?

Question

I have some chicken breasts and some asparagus that I want to cook tomorrow whilst we're out camping for midsummer.

The fire will have a grate over it probably.

Is it better to wrap the food in foil to prevent it being touched by open flame? How can I make sure the chicken doesn't get too burned on the outside whilst being cooked on the inside?

Answer

You have two delicious choices. Both require a bed of coals, so I'll start with that.

You'll need to build a fire with the logs stacked 'log cabin' style, and let the fire burn down to coals. You want a deep red coal, just starting to darken on top. The coals should look something like this.

You can bake, or bbq the chicken and asparagus. Both are delicious methods.

To bake, wrap the chicken, asparagus and a starch like potato gratin style in layers of tinfoil. Use the starch around the outside, you'll sacrifice a layer of it as some of it sticks/burns to the tinfoil. Put the most delicate item in the middle, in this case the asparagus, and the chicken around the asparagus. Add a generous amount of butter, salt and pepper and bake for about an hour buried in the coals. Corn or green beans are also very good, and can be sacrificed a little around the outside to preserve your meat and vegetables.

I would layer it this way.

 1.Coals
 2. Tinfoil
     2. Potatoes 
     2. Generous dollop of butter
     3. Salt & Pepper 
     4. Green Beans 
     5. Asparagus
     6. Chicken 
     7. Potatoes
 3. Tinfoil
 4. Coals

Now, BBQ. You'll do it very much like a charcoal BBQ. Keep the grate close to the coals, you can generally test the heat by holding your hand above the grate, you should only be able to keep your hand there for a second or two at most.

Grill the chicken like you would on a bbq, and roast the asparagus on a cooler part of the grill. I'd marinate both before putting them on the grill. I'd also try to get an aromatic wood like hickory or mesquite, pine will impart a resinous taste.

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