How to PERFECT Fire Eggs & More
BWCA 2020 - the year we perfected fire eggs.
*Originally written June 2020.
Okay, ya’ll, with all of the COVID stuff going on, our schedule pretty much went from 80% booked to 0% booked overnight in the early months of 2020. Originally with my coaching schedule this spring, a trek to the BW wasn’t looking likely, BUT then #COVID. Although I will never refer to a global pandemic as a blessing, it allowed our schedule to open to fit in the BW. We ended up booking a permit back in March thinking with a small hope that the BW may be remote enough that they would allow overnight paddlers.
Official BW season starts May 1st and was bundled in with the other state orders of being shutdown, so it was looking likely we would have to cancel the trip. Mid-May, another order went out that lifted restrictions on dispersed camping!! So about a week before we left, we learned we were actually going to be able to go :D
So lots of last minute packing later, we reserved a canoe, a bunk at the outfitter, and stuffed our Duluth packs full of all of the goodies (see post with BW prep and packing list here). The truck also came in handy this year as we slapped little Kevkev on top!
2020 weigh-ins -
bag 1) 37 lbs (started at 42 lbs, but cut 5)
bag 2) 37 lbs
As you can see, bag 1 started 5 lbs heavier (obvi my bag carrying all of Jake’s extra stuff), but we were able to take out a few pieces of unnecessary clothing & a pack of graham crackers to lighten the load. :D To give some perspective, in 2018 both bag 1 and bag 2 weighed 32 lbs meaning we added 10 lbs in 2 years - WOAH. Jakers - NO MORE NEW CAMP TOYS ALLOWED.
A solid night of sleep later and we were heading out to the water! We entered on Burntside this year which is a HUGE lake, but the weather was absolutely gorgeous - full sun and full calm. This year we had some long portages added, starting with a ~1.5 mile one to enter the BW border (first red line, lower right). Our portage to paddle ratio was much more balanced.
Stats, 4 days, 3 nights:
Paddle Miles: 26.3
Portage Miles: 5.7
Aside from the amazing weather we had the entire time (literally 3 sprinkles of rain), we have never had an easier time starting a fire. There was a fire ban in pretty much all boundaries outside of the BW meaning they needed rain badly, but it was allowed inside the BW borders. So much dry wood, so few matches, and soooo many campfires. We partially planned for a limited # of meals we would need the fire for as we knew it was dry, but it ended up not being a prob. See the foodie real below for the most delicious line up of meals, ftr Walmart paper bowls:
Note: this was the first time we tried the dried biscuits & gravy and it was SCRUMPTIOUS!!!
& that brings us to the purpose of this post…
Tips to perfecting campfire eggs:
Gather raw materials - fresh chicken eggs work best because you don’t have to keep them cold! It’s amazing & works perfectly because we have chickers. So if you never wash them, they never lose their outer lining (super thin and not visible) which is what requires them to be kept cold. The sterilization cycle eggs go through removes this liner.
Build your fire - but there are tricks here, folks - log cabin style is preferred so you can spread out the heat. You also don’t want super aggressive/high flames that are touching the pan because it becomes hard to flip and the eggers will cook too fast and then it all gets out of control. Perfect campfire eggs have the perfectly runny yolk!!
Build a base - since you don’t have a pan, you need to build one as we all knows eggs are runny. Rip a piece of tin foil and fold up all edges similar to a cookie sheet. I would suggest 1) Heavy duty tin foil and 2) make the pan about the size you will need for your eggs, but not a lot larger.
Grease your base - some years we cook bacon first and then use the bacon grease as the egg grease which usually works well as long as the fire doesn’t reach the bacon grease and you don’t puncture a hole in the tinfoil, but this year, we just brought pan spray. It worked great! Sure, it’s a little bulky to bring with, but you will need butter or spray or bacon grease as a base coat to prevent the eggs from sticking.
Add the goods - you should be ready to crack the eggers in the pan. One thing I would check is how level your surface is. if the grate is extremely unlevel, be careful how many eggs you crack at one because all will flood to the lowest point.
Flip jack - it works best to use two flippers if you have them. We have a fun foldable spatula that we bring and just leverage point. As you can see in the pic, you are cooking over a grate, not a even surface, so getting under the egg can be a challenge.
ENJOY THE PERFECTION <3
Be wild,
Wilderness Jen
