Foil-Wrapped Herb Roast Chicken
Stuffed with garlic and rosemary at home, buried in coals on night one.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 16 oz
- cal / oz
- 39
- protein
- 52 g
- serves
- 4
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 90 min
- total time
- 110 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Foil packet
- Pre-mix at home
- Day one only
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Whole roasting chicken | 1, about 4 lb | frozen solid the night before you leave |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh lemongrass | 2 stalks | split lengthwise into slivers |
| Fresh rosemary | 3 sprigs | roughly chopped |
| Garlic | 4-5 cloves | chopped |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Coarse salt | 2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1 tsp | ground coarse |
Method
- At home, pack the cavity with the lemongrass slivers, rosemary, and garlic.
- Rub the whole bird with oil, then coat it heavily with salt and pepper. Be heavier-handed than feels right; a lot of it stays on the foil.
- Wrap in two or three layers of heavy-duty foil, seams folded up. Chill a full day so the salt works into the meat, then freeze it hard.
- In camp, burn a fire down to a deep bed of coals. No flames. You want steady heat, not a blaze.
- Set the foil bundle on the coals and rake a few over the top. Cook 60 to 90 minutes by size, turning once at the halfway point.
- Open a corner and check the thigh joint. Juices run clear and the leg pulls loose when it is done. Wrap and return it to the coals if not.
A whole chicken is heavy and perishable, which makes it a bad trail food and a very good first-night one. Freeze it solid at home and it acts as its own ice, thawing slowly inside the pack while you walk. Salt it a day early so the seasoning has time to move past the skin; a bird salted at the trailhead is only seasoned on the outside.
The foil is the whole cooking vessel. Two or three layers keep the ashes out and trap steam, so the bird effectively roasts and braises at once instead of scorching against the coals. Cook it on a settled bed, not on flames, and turn it once so neither side sits in the hottest spot the entire time. Nothing to wash afterward but a spoon.
Packing
The frozen bird goes in the top of the pack wrapped in a spare shirt or a jacket. It thaws over the day's walk and is ready by dinner. This is a night-one meal only, no second day.
Variations
- Swap lemongrass for a halved lemon and a handful of thyme if lemongrass is hard to find.
- Bury quartered onions and small potatoes in the foil around the bird. They cook in the drippings.
- On a grill grate over the same coals, spatchcock the bird and cut the time to about 40 minutes.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/herb-stuffed-chicken