Free grills

Fairly recently, I've taken to roasting meat and potatoes on very short backpacking trips. My definite preference is to lay the meat directly on clear, oak coals, and bury the potatoes in fire without foil wrapping.

A couple of my more fastidious friends object to this caveman cooking style.. So I've just obtained an acceptably small and light backpacking grill, at no cost, from a busted toaster oven. They can carry the thing.

I don't cook over fires very often, but that's a great idea.

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John, that is a good idea but I may have to order the purcel grill

you are fortunate to have nice hardwoods, i also enjoy fire cooking unfortunatly my choises are usually spruce or pine ocaisonally birch which is nice but not often enough have you ever tried corn on cob just soak corn in water for awhile and it can be set beside coals (leave husk on) it does up nicely i usually leave butter but a bit of salt is nice

yer makin' me hungry quit it! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Actually it works best if put in/under the coals! Of course you will want the fire burned down completely for this. I used to do this at at the beach all the time, but since I left Huntington Beach to live here in the Central valley of CA,I have not done it. The beach sand seems to have a positive affect on the flavor.

Actually soaking in water isn't necessary.

the corn we recieve up here is often a little long in the tooth i find it helps the husk from burning

If it is fresh picked you don't need the water, but like you said, the longer it is off the stock, the dryer it will be. In this case a little extra water would be helpful.

Knowing more than a person should about corn, I'll give you a tip. Corn goes to starch right after it's picked off the stalk, the sooner you cook it the sweeter it'll be. Barring being able to toss it from field to pot like I have been able to; you can keep corn fresh. Keep it cold, bottom of fridge until you want to use it asap of course. Once you decide how you'll cook the corn put it into a pot of cold water, or cooler, with the silks removed still in husk. If carried off in your pack just drain them well and cook first night out. Just keep turning it over the fire for about 15 minutes. med high heat about 3-4" above coals not flames should do it. not really for backpacking IME.

My favorite backpacking grill meets my requirements of being lightweight and multipurpose.

I always pack a length of stainless steel aircraft safety wire which obviously has many uses for repair but is also useful as a grill. For this purpose, find a suitable forked stick and wind the wire around it. When done cooking, I unwind the wire while wiping it off with a paper towel. It ends up clean and ready for use in repairs or as another grill.

I leave the silk on when I put it on the grill. When the husks are toasty and the corn is done, the silk comes off very easy.

I'd be worried about the steel wire losing it's strength properties over time due to it's frequent heat exposure. Am I off on this <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> or does anyone else like FinallyME see this problem? it's the reason i carry a dedicated grill surface.

Oh, and laeaving the silks on yer' corn while cooking 'em works eh <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> Hard to de-silk it after it's off the grill hot, I mean you do use butter on your's dont' ya <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />