Hiker’s Bacon Baked Potato Boat Breakfast Campfire Cooking

So, back in the Tetons, I learned that I am not good at cooking fried eggs over the fire. Honestly, I’m just not good at frying eggs. It comes down to a matter of getting the heat and temperature right so that the egg whites are cooked through but the egg yolk hasn’t congealed into some chalky mess. So, I am continually searching for breakfast recipes that introduce some buffer between eggs and pan.

Most recently, I have found delight in the Campfire Bacon And Eggs Hash. So I thought I would try a similar recipe that cuts out the middle man and goes strait for the potato. Thus, I present the Hiker’s Bacon Baked Potato Boat Breakfast, a concoction guaranteed to give you the energy to hike a mountain or inspire the guilt to feel obligated to hike a mountain after eating so much.

Directions

To start, your potatoes must already be mostly baked. You can either do this at home, before heading out, or at your camp site. Given that I tend to be on the road for weeks before getting access to another kitchen, this is a recipe where I bake the potato by wrapping it in tin foil and placing it in indirect heat for quite a while. The softer the potato is, the easier it will be to complete the next step, but there will be more baking to come, so you don’t want the potato completely cooked either.

You can take this time to bake and crumble your bacon.

Place the potato on it’s side and cut away one third. Consider this to be the “lid.” Hollow out the potato with a spoon, leaving whatever thickness of potato suits you. But remember, there needs to be enough space for an egg and its fixings.

Place half a tablespoon of butter in each potato bowl. Gently crack an egg into each bowl, being sure not to break the yolk. Sprinkle bacon, cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper on top. Bake for another 20 minutes or until the egg white is completely cooked.

The problem with this recipe is in judging just when the egg is completely cooked through. Not only do you need to unwrap the tinfoil, but you need to poke around inside the potato to determine what is egg whites and if they have been cooked. I probably had the potatoes on the fire for half an hour but temperature is such a variable matter. Overall, I would rate this recipe a fun thing to try. I’d probably try it again some time. But it is more of a curiosity than something that I would attempt to cook while in the presence of hungry campers eager to get going.