When you think about grilling food over your fire pit in the summer, your mind probably jumps to red meat: steaks, burgers, sausages, and other summer staples are some of the most common things to cook if you have an grill grate for your fire pit. You might also have tried grilling up pizza or flatbread, which taste great when cooked over a fire pit in the summer. However, if you want to really expand the limits of your culinary repertoire--without having to put in too much time--consider making foil pack grilling part of your summer fire pit experience. Read on to learn more about foil pack grilling and how your fire pit can enhance your cooking and your eating experience.
Foil Pack Grilling: An Ideal Culinary Method for Summer
If you’ve never tried foil pack grilling, there’s no need to fret! Preparing a foil pack is pretty simple, and grilling it over your fire pit is even easier. Start by laying a large sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil, shiny side up, on your kitchen counter, and place all of your ingredients in the center (see below for summery ideas!). Then, pull the sides and the end of the foil over the ingredients and crimp the aluminum to create a seal (with just a small opening for steam to escape). From there, you can just place the foil pack on top of the grill grate on your fire pit and get ready for a delicious meal. And remember, when you’re using your grill grate to cook over your fire pit, you’ll get the best flavor if you use firewood for cooking for your fuel.
The simplicity of preparing foil packs is one of the things that makes it especially good for summer cooking. Foil packs take only minutes to put together, which means that you’ll be spending a minimal amount of time on food prep in the kitchen and more time outside by the fire pit. Not only will that give your more time with your family and friends, but you’ll also end up spending less time sweating over pots and pans in your hot, uncomfortable kitchen.
Great Foil Pack Grilling Options for Summer
As a cooking method, foil pack grilling tends to work best with vegetables, fish, and certain types of fruit. However, no matter what ingredients you choose, cooking it over the fire pit will make the flavor even better. Cooking firewood options like oak, cherry, and pecan can give your ingredients a unique flavor that you just won’t get if you cook your foil pack indoors or over the store-bought coals of your barbecue.
There are lots of different ingredient options for foil pack cooking, including many that take advantage of great summer foods. Just make sure you keep an eye on the amount of time you keep your foil packs on the grill. Naturally, the cooking time for any foil pack will depend on the ingredients, but you should also be aware that the estimates you find online may not translate directly to your fire pit. That’s because cooking firewood tends to burn hotter other sources of fuel, so it may end up taking less time than you expect to cook your meal.
Here are a few fun, summer-friendly foil pack ingredient combinations that you might want to try cooking over your fire pit in the next few months:
- Halibut with red, yellow, and green bell peppers. Halibut and other white-fleshed fish tend to lack a strong flavor, so grilling them up over cooking firewood can significantly improve your meal. Instead of having to spend hours poring over recipe books, trying to find and prepare a unique spice rub, you can rely on the smoke from your cooking wood to impart delicious flavor. Adding multi-colored bell peppers to the foil pack will give the meal a pop of color that will have your family’s mouths watering as soon as they unwrap the foil.
- Tofu with onions and jalapenos. Compared to most meats, the natural flavor of tofu is relatively bland. That makes it an ideal ingredient for foil pack grilling, since it will easily take up the sweet flavor imparted by cherry cooking wood or the more savory nuances of pecan cooking wood. Tofu also pairs well with the more strongly flavored vegetables from your garden, like onions and jalapenos, because they really spice it up!
- Potatoes with squash or zucchini. In summer, the availability of squash and zucchini is practically endless. Whether you’re growing it in the garden yourself or receiving it from friends who are trying to get rid of their oversupply, it may feel like you’re always under pressure, trying to figure out what to do with a bag of zucchini on your kitchen countertop. Again, relatively bland vegetables like zucchini are great for fire pit foil pack grilling because they will take up the flavor from the cooking firewood. Cooking them with potatoes can add heartiness while still making for a vegetarian-friendly meal.
- Salmon with lemon slices. Heart-healthy salmon is one of the most common ingredients in foil packs. Cooking your salmon in a foil pack over the fire pit can give you that coveted, smoked-salmon flavor--without actually having to take the time to smoke your fillets in advance. When you top the salmon with lemon slices, it can add a summery pop of flavor.
No matter what you decide to grill up over the fire pit this summer, you can get high-quality cooking wood from Cutting Edge Firewood. Head to our order page to order yours now! And don’t forget to tag us in your fireside photos on Instagram!
