How do you make baked potatoes on a charcoal grill?

[Kathy B]

My dad used to make baked potatoes on the grill, and they were my favorite part of the meal, but I don't know exactly how to do it myself. I know he wrapped them in foil and put them right down in the coals, but I need more detailed instructions.

Do you bake them FIRST, before you put any meat on to grill? Can you put them in the coals as soon as the coals are ready or would the coals be TOO hot at that point. How long do they take? I was thinking he left them on for an hour, but wouldn't the coals have burned down too much to cook the meat by then? Do you have to build the fire back up to cook the meat? Or do you have to cook the meat while the potatoes are cooking, and then just try to keep it warm until the potatoes are done?

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. TIA!

[sneezles]

We use to do them all the time when camping. No need to precook and they do take about an hour. In a camping firepit we would have them over to one side of the fire if we were grilling meat. You could do the same in a grill. Put them on once the coals are ready and depending on the size of the potatoes you may need to turn halfway through.

[sneezles]

I jsut asked DH and he says they're buried in the coals...sort of a foil Dutch oven. Wrap each in foil and then bury in coals checking after 45 minutes.

[Sarah45]

My DH makes the baked potatoes on the grill in our house and they are the best! He doesn't wrap them in foil, he just pierces them with a fork on each side, places them right on the grill rack on low heat and turns them every once in a while 40-60 minutes total cooking time. What makes them really good is that he brushes them with a little oil and sprinkles sea salt on the outside before grilling them. You need no condiments to eat those skins! :D

[PAMMELA]

Sarah, that is how I make my baked potatoes in the oven. I just wash, pierce with a fork, rub olive oil all over them, sprinkle with sea salt and put on a baking sheet. YUM, the skins are just so good that way, I like them a little crunchy.

[Sarah45]

Since DH has started making them this way (the grill gives them a bit of a smokiness too) baked potatoes have become one of my favorite foods - I used to be really *eh* about them.

[blazedog]

Baked potatoes should not be baked in foil - this creates a steamed rather than fluffy baked texture.

Unfortunately in the 1950's, tin foil wrapped potatoes became the rage - probably because it was easier for restaurants to prepare them in this manner.

The best way to prepare the perfect baked potato is to rub it with olive oil and sprinkle skin with salt and pepper. Regarding grilling, it really shouldn't be any different than grilling chicken which requires long cooking time on a grill with the cover closed. If you want to speed up the cooking process, you can nuke them for a few minutess before baking.

[sneezles]

Originally posted by blazedog
Baked potatoes should not be baked in foil - this creates a steamed rather than fluffy baked texture.

Unfortunately in the 1950's, tin foil wrapped potatoes became the rage - probably because it was easier for restaurants to prepare them in this manner.

The best way to prepare the perfect baked potato is to rub it with olive oil and sprinkle skin with salt and pepper. Regarding grilling, it really shouldn't be any different than grilling chicken which requires long cooking time on a grill with the cover closed. If you want to speed up the cooking process, you can nuke them for a few minutess before baking.

Well since the request was to immitate a method used by her father that did use foil and charcoal! :rolleyes:

[blazedog]

Hey my mom served canned fruit cocktail for dessert and made the ghastly chicken dish with Lipton onion soup, French dressing and apricot preserves for company in the 1950's but she evolved :D

[Kathy B]

Thanks for the replies. We will actually be making these on a campout with 16 Junior Girl Scouts and 5 or 6 adults. I think we will be "burying " them in the coals as opposed to cooking them on the grill rack, because there just won't be enough room for all the food on the rack. I know we will either have to have a very big fire or else use a couple of fire rings, but I think we will have two or three rings available as our group is a large one.

I don't know how foil wrapped differs from non-foil wrapped as I have never grilled whole potatoes, but I do remember that I LOVED the ones my dad made. I'll have to give the sea salt method a try sometime when we grill at home. Thanks to everyone for your help!

[sneezles]

You could do them in Dutch ovens but you'd need at least 3 huge ones to do that many potatoes. But if you had access to them then you could try the oil and salt method.
Growing up my mother always used bacon grease and salt!

[Kathy B]

Originally posted by sneezles
Growing up my mother always used bacon grease and salt!

Now THAT sounds delicious!!!! I'll bet the bacon grease would really give them a nice flavor.

[sneezles]

Originally posted by Kathy B
Now THAT sounds delicious!!!! I'll bet the bacon grease would really give them a nice flavor.

Being a child of the Depression and being the mother of 6, she was always re-using things. It was cheapeer to use the bacon grease than the oil. I did it for years but then we seldom had bacon so I stopped. Made them once for dinner and one guest kept saying that it was the best potato he'd ever had and wouldn't believe me that it was just bacon grease! :rolleyes: