For their reputation as a “strong” vegetable, onions contain a great deal of sugar. Cooking and caramelizing onion releases that sugar and makes strong onions suddenly, deliciously sweet.
Now think of adding a hint of smokiness to that sweet. Sounds pretty good doesn’t it.
Onion bombs are a favorite camping recipe at 50 Campfires, and the Kelly Craig Gourmet Smoked Wraps offer a great new way to cook them. These bombs are stoked!
If you want to do some prep work before you leave your home, pre-mix the burger ingredients and keep it in an airtight container. You can even freeze the mixture and just let it thaw in the cooler until you are ready to use. Doing some work beforehand will allow you to relax a bit more at the site. Plus you won’t have to mess with raw meat at the picnic table.
You will need at least two to three large onions to form the bomb casings. Remove the outer onion paper skin carefully, and chop the onion in half from stem to bottom as evenly as you can. Separate each onion layer into matching pairs from the outside to the inside. Take the pre-mixed burger ingredients and form into balls of meat.
- 2-3 large onions
- 1 ½ lbs. ground beef
- ½ lb. bulk sausage
- 2 eggs
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- ⅓ cup ketchup
- 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 cup breadcrumbs or crushed saltine crackers
- ½ cup water, beef broth, or beer (more if need so meat mixture is moist but firm when forming meatballs
- ¼ cup parsley and/or chives, chopped
- salt to taste
- fresh ground black pepper to taste
- You will need at least two to three large onions to form the bomb casings. Remove the outer onion paper skin carefully, and chop the onion in half from stem to bottom as evenly as you can. Separate each onion layer into matching pairs from the outside to the inside.
- Mix beef, sausage, eggs, garlic, ketchup, Worcestershire, bread crumbs, liquid, parsley, salt and pepper together with clean hands. Mix thoroughly, but do not over work the meat.
- Form meatballs sized to fit between the two onion shells.
- Place meatballs on onion halves, then cover with the matching halves. Push together gently so the meat holds onion shells in place
- Select Gourmet Smoked Wraps (apple and oak are great with this recipe.)
- Soak cotton twines in water.
- Spray both sides of a Gourmet Smoked Wrap generously with water (or beer.)
- Place two onion bombs, end to end, on the wrap, parallel with the grain of the wood.
- Roll the wrap around the onions and use saturated pieces of twine to tie. It works best, in this case, to tie the wrap with two twines … one about an inch from each end.
- Keep outside of wraps damp by spraying with water occasionally.
- Either heat grill to 450 degrees and cook for about 15 minutes, or cook in Dutch oven with a little water in the bottom heated to same temperature for about 15 minutes. You could also wrap each wrap in an aluminum foil packet and cook individually in campfire coals for about 20 minutes moving and turning frequently.
- Check one bomb to ensure meat has come up to at least 160 degrees in temperature.
- Serve with potatoes, salad, and crusty bread.
PRO TIP: Because of their natural sugars, onions are a great vegetable to include in grilling and campfire cooking. Introduce them to the smoke of Kelly Craig’s Gourmet Smoked Wraps and you’ve got a winning taste treat. The original onion bombs recipe on 50 Campfires is one of our most popular. A couple of tweaks and the addition of the Gourmet Smoked Wraps, and now they are even better. BUY NOW!
