Camp Jar Pickled Eggs and Sausage
Boiled eggs and grilled smoked sausage packed in a hot vinegar brine. Made at home, eaten out of the jar at camp.
- calories
- 320
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 53
- protein
- 22 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 30 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- 240 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Snack
- Lunch
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Eggs | 1 dozen | hard boiled and peeled |
|---|---|---|
| Smoked sausage | 1 lb | grilled, then cut into 1 to 2 inch chunks |
| Red onion | 1 | sliced |
| Jalapeno | 1 | sliced |
| Apple cider vinegar | 2 cups | |
| White vinegar | 2 cups | |
| Water | 1 cup | |
| Brown sugar | 1/4 cup | |
| Whole mustard seed | 2 tbsp | |
| Fennel seed | 1 tbsp | |
| Kosher salt | 1 tbsp | |
| Bay leaves | 2 | |
| Star anise | 2 whole | |
| Red pepper flakes | a pinch |
Method
- Hard boil the eggs, cool them, and peel them. Do this at home where you have a sink.
- Grill the sausage over the fire or on a grate until the casing chars in spots. Let it cool, then cut into 1 to 2 inch chunks.
- Stack the eggs, sausage, onion, and jalapeno into a clean 2 quart jar in loose layers so brine can move between them.
- Combine both vinegars, the water, sugar, salt, mustard seed, fennel seed, bay, star anise, and pepper flakes in a pot. Bring to a boil, then pull it off the heat and let it stop steaming.
- Pour the brine over the jar contents until everything is submerged. Seal it and keep it cold.
- Wait at least three days before eating. A week is better.
This is a cooler recipe, not a pack recipe. Eggs and sausage in vinegar need to stay cold and they need time, so the whole thing gets built at home and hauled out whole. Give it three days minimum before the first jar opening. The brine has not reached the yolks before that.
Grilling the sausage before it goes in the jar is the step worth keeping. Char adds smoke that survives the vinegar, and rendering some fat out first keeps the brine from going greasy. The sugar is not there to make it sweet, it just takes the edge off four cups of vinegar. Keep everything under the liquid line and the jar holds for weeks in a cold cooler.
Packing
Build the jar at home and let it sit in the fridge the week before the trip. It rides in the cooler and stays there. Glass in a cooler wants a towel around it.
Variations
- Skip the star anise if you want a straight sour pickle instead of a spiced one.
- Swap the jalapeno for a serrano or two if you want it to bite.
- Small pickling onions in place of the sliced red onion hold their shape better over a long soak.
https://realtree.com/timber-2-table-wild-game-recipes/pickled-egg-and-sausage-snack