How to Cook While Camping With Foil Packs

Cooking while camping does not have to be as plain as hamburgers and hot dogs, many delicious recipes can be cooked over a campfire in foil packs and just as good or even better than cooked at home. After a long day hiking or swimming, a fantastic meal cooked on the campfire in foil packs is not only very satisfying, but easy to make, too. Here's how to fire up your taste buds and cook while camping with foil packs.

Things You'll Need

• Meat of your choice
• Veggies of your choice
• Aluminum foil
• Campfire with grate
• Butter
• Seasonings of your choice

Instructions

1. Prepare your foods before you leave for camping, if possible. Cut meats and vegetables and store them separately in Ziploc bags before leaving for camping, or cut them right at the campsite. Add a marinade to the meats if you like. Cut meats and vegetables into about one inch chunks. Some meats to use in foil packs on a campfire are beef, chicken, pork, scallops, firmer fleshed fish such as salmon or tuna, and even shrimp. Potatoes and corn do very well in foil packs cooked on a campfire, as well as most vegetables. The sky is the limit while camping.

2. At your campsite, prepare your fire and let it burn down until you can hold your hand over it for about 2 or 3 seconds before feeling "too hot." Lay out a piece of foil about 2 feet long, depending on serving size. Add your meats and vegetables, a big dollop of butter, and your spices. Bring along minced garlic, cajun seasoning, italian seasoning, old bay, rosemary, and dill. Use what you like. Fold foil over so the long ends meet above your food, and fold down several times, do the same with the sides until you have a pretty tight foil pack to cook over the campfire.

3. Place grate over fire, and foil pack on grate. Turn after about 10 minutes per side, cooking roughly 20-30 minutes, depending on the food inside. Seafood takes less time, so do it separately from vegetables. Potatoes will take a little longer to cook over a campfire, and cutting them into one inch chunks can hasten the process. Poke a little hole in the top of the foil pack towards the end to check to see if meat is done. Use tongs and / or oven mits and remove foil packs to plate. Enjoy!

Tips & Warnings

• This is a general guideline for cooking with foil packs while camping, you can mix and match meats and veggies.

• If you'd like to steam your food, add a little bit of ice to the bag. You can do this with crab legs, adding butter and old bay. Makes it perfectly in about 15 minutes or so!

• The foil pouch will be HOT when coming off the grill and campfire, and also steam will escape when opening pouch. Be careful with this! Let the steam escape for a min or so before attempting to open fully.

• If butter escapes, sometimes a fire will flare. Be careful to not puncture the package or have water nearby to extinguish campfire flare ups.