Reuben Pie Iron Sandwich
Corned beef, swiss, and kraut pressed shut in a pie iron and buried in coals.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 69
- protein
- 28 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 8 min
- total time
- 13 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
- Lunch
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| White sandwich bread | 2 slices | soft slices seal better than crusty bread |
|---|---|---|
| Butter or margarine | 2 tsp | margarine keeps longer in a warm cooler |
| Deli sliced corned beef | 3 oz | deli sliced, not canned; canned goes to paste |
| Swiss cheese slices | 2 slices | |
| Sauerkraut | 1/4 cup | squeeze it dry first |
| Thousand island dressing | 1 tbsp | packets from a deli counter travel best |
Method
- Burn the fire down to a bed of coals. Flames will scorch the bread before the middle warms up.
- Butter one side of each bread slice. Butter goes against the iron, not against the filling.
- Lay one slice butter side down in the pie iron. Add a cheese slice, then the corned beef, then the drained kraut, then the dressing, then the second cheese slice.
- Top with the other bread slice, butter side up. Close the iron and latch it.
- Set it in the coals for about three minutes, then flip. Check it. Add a minute or two per side until the bread is browned and the cheese has run.
- Open it away from your lap. The filling comes out hotter than the bread suggests.
A pie iron is a small sealed press, which is why a Reuben works in one. The two cheese slices go on the outside of the filling, top and bottom, so they melt against the bread and glue the sandwich shut. Kraut in the middle would otherwise steam the bread into mush.
Drain the sauerkraut hard before it goes in. Wet kraut is the single reason these come out soggy. Deli sliced corned beef matters too: the canned kind breaks down under heat and turns the middle to paste. This one needs a cooler, so it is a car camping meal, not a pack meal.
Packing
Bread rides in a hard container or it arrives flat. Meat, cheese, and kraut stay in the cooler. Dressing goes in a small squeeze bottle or single-serve packets.
Variations
- Rye bread instead of white if it is sturdy enough to seal at the edges.
- Swap the corned beef for pastrami or sliced turkey for a Rachel.
- No dressing on hand: mustard and a little mayo from packets gets close.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/rueben-mountain-pies