Campfire Smoked Deviled Eggs
Hard-boiled in the pot, smoked over the coals, filled with mustard and chopped pickle.
- calories
- 210
- weight
- 2.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 84
- protein
- 6 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 40 min
- total time
- 50 min
- water
- 1000 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
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Large eggs | 6 | carried in a hard egg case in the cooler |
|---|---|---|
| Mayonnaise | 1/2 cup | single-serve packets keep better than a jar |
| Dill pickle | 1 tsp | finely chopped, from a shelf-stable jar |
| Yellow mustard | 1 tsp | |
| Whiskey | 1 tsp | optional |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/2 tsp | |
| Hardwood chips | 1 cup | soaked ten minutes before they go on |
Method
- Set the eggs in a pot in one layer and cover with about three inches of water. Bring it to a hard boil over the fire and hold it there one minute.
- Lid on, pull the pot off the heat, and leave it alone for ten minutes. Drain and cool the eggs in cold water.
- Rake coals into a bed and set the grill grate over them. Scatter the wood chips directly on the coals.
- Peel the eggs, halve them lengthwise, and pop the yolks into a cup or a zip bag. Lay the whites cut side up in a small skillet or a foil pan.
- Set the pan on the grate, cover it loosely with foil, and let the whites take smoke for about twenty minutes. Keep the fire low. You want smoke, not cooking.
- Mash the yolks with the mayo, pickle, mustard, whiskey, salt, and pepper until smooth. A fork works; a bag and your thumbs work better.
- Snip a corner off the bag and pipe the filling back into the whites. Eat within the hour or put them back in the cooler.
This is the picnic version, moved outside and stripped down to what survives a cooler. The smoking step is the only reason to do it at camp rather than at home: cut egg white is porous and picks up smoke fast, which is why the whites go over the coals alone and the yolks stay out of it. Twenty minutes over a low fire is plenty. Longer and the whites go rubbery and bitter.
The one-minute boil and ten-minute rest is worth following exactly. Eggs held at a rolling boil the whole time get a grey ring and a sulfur smell, and they fight you when you peel them. Everything but the eggs here is shelf-stable, so the cooler is only doing one job. Mayo packets instead of a jar means no half-open jar riding warm in a car for three days.
Packing
Eggs travel in a rigid case, not the carton. Mayo in packets, mustard in a squeeze bottle, pickle chopped at home in a small screw-top jar. Everything but the wood chips stays in the cooler.
Variations
- No fire for smoking? Boil, fill, and add a pinch of smoked paprika to the yolks instead.
- A spoonful of pickle brine in the filling in place of the whiskey sharpens it up.
- Sliced pickled okra or a dusting of barbecue rub on top if you brought either.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/smoked-deviled-eggs