Camp Cooking Part 2: Classic Hot Breakfast

From all the years of camping experience, no matter what you cook…it always always tastes better out in the wild!
– Mom

There’s nothing better than hot coffee and a delicious breakfast to get you ready for a day out of doors. So when we decided to take our Coleman stove camping last weekend we packed eggs and bacon too!

Coffee is the first thing I make when camping. A hot cuppa always makes the chilly morning and waiting for breakfast easier. I’ve come to really like these micro-ground instant coffees because they’re so easy to make and are tasty with the addition of a little maple syrup. But what I really want is a full camping coffee ritual with a grinder, good beans and the knowledge to pour a great cup, but that’s another story.

The thick-cut bacon was tossed into a hot cast iron skillet and cooked slowly on the main burner. Then Ryan rendered a bit of the fat to fry the eggs in the titanium skillet on the second burner. Cooking eggs on a single-temperature stove with limited utensils is a challenge on its own so Ryan devised a method of spreading the egg around the pan, cooking it thoroughly without flipping. I’ve always eaten my eggs over-medium (grossed out by runny whites) but these sunny side up eggs were perfect. The edges were crispy, the yolk runny, with a silky texture all around. Toast was fried in a small bit of grease after the bacon was well done, and breakfast was served.

What You’ll Need

• 2 eggs per person, such as these
• 2 pieces of thick sliced, smoked bacon per person (or more if you love bacon!)
• 1 piece of sliced wheat bread per person
• kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
• I like to add 1/2 of an avocado to breakfast for extra nom
• 1 package of instant coffee per person
• 1 teaspoon of maple syrup for the coffee, more for the bacon if you like it sweet

First boil water for coffee. I measure the water using my coffee cups and cook only what’s necessary. Start the bacon on a cast iron skillet because it takes the longest. After the coffee is made, transfer a teaspoon of fat into another skillet and begin cooking the eggs, moving the whites around the pan to ensure even cooking. When the bacon is done, dispose of most of the fat, then cook the toast in the skillet. Serve extra hot!

Opinions vary greatly on wether eggs and bacon need refrigeration but I’ll just put it out there: I buy high quality organic eggs and house-cured, smoked bacon, and I don’t refrigerate them while camping. It’s wise to keep things cool, dry and out of the sun but I think it’s ridiculous to carry a cooler, a lot of ice, and quickly decomposing foods while backpacking, so I live on the wild side.