As far as I’m concerned, the easiest forms of firepit cooking is Campfire Foil Cooking. Inexpensive, portable and easy, simply wrapping food in foil and letting the firepit do the work is a guaranteed way to bring a smile to the faces of your fellow campers. Cooking in foil is also a favorite when I’m not camping and just enjoying the use of our home firepit. This technique has been a lifeline many times when casual afternoon drinks with our neighbours around the firepit has stretched on in to the evening and everyone is getting peckish! It’s just a matter of seeing what’s in the pantry, wrapping it in foil and waiting a little while to let the firepit do its’ magic.
Cooking in foil means that the aluminium foil sheilds the food from the direct heat of the fire, allowing it to stew in its’ own juices and turn tender and delicious. Unlike grilling, where the food is in direct contact with the hotplate and/or flames, cooking in foil protects the food from as much charring, while still getting that smoky campfire flavor in there.
Here, I’d like to share my tips on the best foods to cook in foil on your campfire.
Tips on Campfire Foil Cooking.
- For a better cooking experience, use the heavy duty aluminum foil if you can,which is thicker to tear or burn. You can always just wrap your food twice or thrice in regular foil, this will work too.
- Place your food to steam or stew, such as any combination of vegetables, meat, and poultry, at the center of a large piece of aluminum foil. If you want to flavor the food, add some seasonings or herbs. You can add some aromatic herbs like thyme and bay along with onions and garlic in your food, these will diffuse the food with fragrant aromas when the juices steam inside. You can check out some of my favorite flavour combinations below…
- The aluminum foil can also hold a bit of liquid. You can drizzle with olive oil, but what I’ve always been doing is putting a pat or two of butter, or a splash of wine or stock, in that way you can make your food smell and taste better.
- Use salt and pepper to season your food.
- Wrap up the sides to create a bowl with all your ingredients, seasonings and herbs in the foil. To make sure that the liquid doesn’t drip out, you can pinch or fold the foil together at the top. This ensures the liquids remain in the packet and the steam infuse most of the flavor.
- Keep it close enough to the heat and when the food is ready, you will hear the hissing sound of the steam and will bubble inside within few minutes.
IMPORTANT: The best place to cook food wrapped in foil is in the hot coals, NOT directly in the flames. For this reason, cooking in foil is ideal when your fire has been cranking away for an hour or more so you have some really good hot coals to work with. - Cooking time will depend on the type of food you are preparing, the amount of heat of your fire and the size of your package in the Campfire Foil Cooking. Cooking is generally pretty quick because of the way the boiling liquid in the package steams the food inside. You can check whether your food is done with a fork by opening the pack if it needs more time to cook, wrap it back and continue cooking. Generally, when you cook harder vegetables such as carrots and potatoes, it will take your a bit more time to make them soft.
The best Foil-Wrapped Camping Recipes (and how to pimp them up!)
- Salmon (or any fish you like) with;
(a) Butter, lemon, parsley, salt and pepper
(b) Butter, onion, salt and lemon pepper
(c) Butter, chilli, garlic and lemon
(d) Olive oil, potatoes and capers - Potatoes (leave the skins on) with:
(a) Butter, salt and pepper – serve with sour cream
(b) Chopped potatoes, garlic powder, oregano, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Add cheese, chilli flakes and parsley once the potato is soft and cook a little longer.
(c) Chopped potatoes, bacon. Add cheese once the potato is cooked. - Sweet Potatoes
(a) Butter and cinnamon
(b) Chopped sweet potato, salt and olive oil. Serve with sour cream and sweet chilli sauce
(c) Olive oil, tomato paste, kidney beans and chilli. Serve with sour cream and spring onion. - Apples
(a) Butter, cinnamon
(b) Butter, brown sugar, raisins (or any dried fruit) and walnuts - Chicken
(a) Olive oil, salt and pepper. Once chicken is partially cooked, add asparagus and cherry tomatoes
(b) Olive oil, salt and pepper, potatoes, onion and bell peppers
(c) Olive oil, salt and pepper. Once chicken is partially cooked, add baby spinach feta and even bacon if you like!
Honestly, the options are endless and there is nothing like the anticipation of opening that little packet of goodness when you hear the sizzling to see what delicious treat you have created!
Placing the foil near the fire will also cook well or placing on a grill will also do.
Foils placed on the Grill for cooking
Foils Placed Beside The Fire
Ingredients
- 4 salmon fillets
- 8 slices of lemon
- 4 tbsp. mustard
- 4 sprigs of dill,
- 4 sprigs of tarragon
- 4 tbsp. butter
- 2 garlic cloves( minced)
- 1 shallot (sliced)
- olive oil
- sea salt
- fresh cracked
- black pepper,
- tin foil
Instructions
- Use sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper to season the salmon fillets. On the surfaces of each salmon fillets, spread 1 tbsp. of mustard.
- On each salmon fillets, you need to layer 2 lemon slices, a sprig of tarragon and dill, a few slices of shallot, 1 tbsp. of butter, and some garlic. Use a big gulp of olive oil to splash the tops of the fillets.
- Use tin foil to wrap salmon fillets individually.
- Put the wrapped salmon with tin foil on fire directly.
- Cook until the fish is cooked, that may take about 6-8 minutes.
- Top it with some blue cheese and herbs.
Notes
Slicing of the salmon has to be precise to avoid choking on the bones. When the foil is burnt at high temperatures may be toxic. Avoid burning them too much.