Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Woodstove Cooking: Firebox Baked Potatoes

I just had a wonderful, quiet week at my float cabin on Powell Lake in Coastal BC. It may sound like an expensive thing to do, but actually, it's a very economical way to live. Because the cabin is off-the-grid, there are few ongoing costs. But we have a few enhancements to make our life more comfortable. One of those is our wood stove.

Our stove kept me comfortably warm each day. The light from it's perpetual flame brightened the dark nights. An added benefit was cooking one of my favourite comfort foods - baked potatoes. It's simple, but oh, so satisfying.

All of my home grown potatoes are gone, so I bought a few Russets. Wash, dry and rub the skin with a little margarine. That's all except for double wrapping it in aluminum foil, carefully sealing the edges so that none of the margarine leaks out onto the stove.
I placed the foil wrapped potato on the shelf at the front of the fire box. Turn it once and in half an hour it's ready to eat.

I love my baked potato loaded. I planned ahead and had the toppings ready to go. Yum - just the right thing to warm up my tummy on a cold winter night in front of the fire.

Want to check out some of the other things I've cooked on or in my wood stove? Take a look at these:

Pouch Potatoes
Wood Stove Sourdough Wheat Bread
Baking Powder Biscuits
Dutch Oven Rustic Apple Pie
Dutch Oven Apple Crisp
Easy Chili
Dutch Oven Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Cabin Carrot Cake
Cornbread
Do you do any wood stove or stovetop baking? I'd love to hear your recipes. - Margy

6 comments:

  1. I will not rest until I have a baked potatoe now! Mouthwatering and ingeniously prepared. (I loved seeing your bread too.) I cannot believe how many things you've baked on/in it.
    Your post gave me a "flavor" of what living on the lake is like.
    In the office trailer where we go for soaring, they have a wood stove with a window in the front. Really warms up the place as you said, with heat and light. (Last weekend was so balmy that no heat was needed.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love baked potatos cooked on an open fire now I am hungry.
    Now I can tell you the DNA tests are back. My oldest son found his father he had never seen. It was 56 years ago that I saw him.I was 16 he was a sailor In San Diego. They are both very happy they found each other.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous8:56 AM

    Hi Are you baked tatties put in the fire?
    Do you let it die down to just embers?
    great blog - keeping me entertained whilst at work!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Anonymous - I wrap the potatoes in foil and set them on the ledge of the stove just inside the glass door. It is easy to reach in and turn them around to bake better on both sides. I also push the fire towards the back of the firebox so only the heat gets near the tatties. - Margy

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for replying Margy. Our stove doesn't have a ledge inside but I think it would work ok by pushing the fire to one side.
    Something to look forward to in the winter.
    I'll cary on reading your blog - there lots of great stuff here. Thanks - Keith.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Keith - Nice to know your name. If you look around in my woodstove cooking posts you will find one about baking bread inside the fire box. I got the idea from wood fired pizza. My only problem was protecting the bread from burning on the top so I used a aluminum foil shield and turned the bread several times. The fire went too far down once so I had to stoke it back up. found the small branches of a hard wood worked best to hold the coals and heat. Glad you are enjoying my blog. If you have any other questions just let me know. - Margy

    ReplyDelete

We welcome your comments and questions. - Wayne and Margy