Camp-style Baked Potatoes

We never wrote down the recipe, we didn’t need to, it's etched into our minds with the sounds of hot coals popping under tinfoil shells. 
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Our camping trip started off with disaster. Tiny hands had contaminated all our food, the cooler laid open, its contents strewn across the forest floor. Paw prints marked every surface, a musty odor mixed with the smells of all our now contaminated leftovers hung heavy in the air. We’d been raided by raccoons. My dad shuffled us into the car and we drove into town to get new supplies. There was only one grocery store for miles, a dingy, cramped store that seemed to sell just about everything. An hour later we returned to our site with a sack of potatoes, what we found to be the best budget friendly meal option.

The first night we made them they were far from perfect. Calling them “baked potatoes” would have been offensive to the food. The skin went thick and rubbery, the insides crumbly and dry in your mouth. They were overwhelmingly smoky, leaving an ashy, bitter taste that no amount of butter could save.

Recipe

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Ingredients:
  • Russet Potato(es): One potato per person
  • ¼ teaspoon of Kosher salt and black pepper per potato
  • Butter or olive oil (½ teaspoon)​

Toppings: (Optional)
*topping quantities vary to your liking*
  • Bacon or ground beef (Cook beforehand)
  • Diced green onion
  • Diced red onion
  • Grated cheese (of your choice)
  • Sour cream
  • Butter
  • Other finely diced vegetables or other toppings of your choosing 
  • Additional seasoning to your liking (salt, pepper or chili powder are common)

Equipment:
  • Firepit
  • Wood and something to start the fire, like a (match, lighter, etc.)
  • Metal tongs
  • Tinfoil
  • Dish towel/sponge 


Recipe:
*This recipe is executed with a campfire/fire pit*

  1. Build your fire and let it burn out until what’s left is a thick layer of red coals. Do not cook the potatoes in active flames.
  2. Scrub your potatoes with a wet dish towel/sponge until free of all dirt and pat them dry with a towel. Using a fork, poke 5-6 times around the entire potato, this allows steam to escape. 
  3. Rub each potato with ½ a teaspoon of either olive oil or softened butter. Coat each potato with ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt and black pepper.
  4. Wrap each potato with two layers of tinfoil. The size of the tinfoil sheets will vary depending on the size of the potato, use enough tinfoil to completely cover the potato. A larger potato will require more tinfoil to be covered with two layers.
  5. Gently nest your potato(es) in the coals while avoiding placing them on any remaining large pieces of unburned wood. Place some coals over your potatoes using metal tongs.
  6. Cook for around 45 to 60 minutes. Rotate the potatoes using the metal tongs every 15 minutes to ensure they cook evenly. 
  7. Once the potatoes have been cooking for 45 minutes, take them out of the fire with the metal tongs and poke them with a knife. If the knife cuts easily through the potato, they are done cooking. If not, leave them to cook longer and check on them every 10 minutes.
  8. Once your potatoes are cooked, take them out and let them cool off for a few minutes so the tinfoil loses its heat. Then, unwrap your potatoes, cut them in half and dress them with the topping of your choice.

Topping:
  1. Cut your potatoes in half to make space for your toppings
  2. Add butter, cheese, sour cream or all three
  3. Add seasoning of your choice ( salt, pepper or chili power are common)
  4. Top with diced vegetables and/or meat
 We didn’t have time to make another batch, they would have taken another hour of daylight we didn’t have. As the sun dipped below the tree line we choked them down anyways, washing each bite down with a sip of lukewarm water, a silent agreement that tomorrow’s attempt would be better. 
That night, when all was settled, we huddled around the fire and laughed until our stomachs ached. Telling stories that could never compare to the new one we’d made, realizing some of the best memories come when plans go awry. 
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Every camping trip we make the baked potatoes, ones far better than our first night, but every so often we mess them up. We’ve learned to make extras so we don’t need to choke them down, just like we’ve learned that some coolers have locks for a reason.