Dutch Oven Breakfast Casserole
Bread, sausage, and eggs baked under coals. Feeds eight people out of one pot.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 8.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 73
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 40 min
- total time
- 55 min
- water
- 950 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Butter | 2 tbsp | or shortening, which keeps better in heat |
|---|---|---|
| Bread | 8 slices | stale is fine, better even |
| Pre-cooked pork sausage | 2 lb | shelf-stable summer sausage or vacuum-packed links |
| Powdered whole egg | 1 cup | equals 12 eggs |
| Powdered whole milk | 3/4 cup | reconstitutes to 1 qt |
| Cheddar cheese | 1 lb | a hard block, not shredded |
| Dry mustard | 1-1/2 tsp | |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Cold water | about 950 ml |
Method
- Build a fire down to coals well before you start. You need about 25 briquette-equivalents to hold 350°F in a 12-inch oven: 17 on the lid, 8 underneath.
- Grease the inside of the dutch oven with the butter, walls included.
- Tear the bread into rough pieces. Cut the sausage into chunks. Grate or shave the cheese.
- In a bowl or pot, whisk the egg powder, milk powder, mustard, and salt into the cold water until no lumps remain. Let it sit five minutes and whisk again.
- Layer bread in the bottom, sausage over it, then pour the egg mixture across the whole thing.
- Lid on, coals on top and under. Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Rotate the oven and the lid a third turn every ten minutes so it does not scorch on one side.
- Lift the lid, scatter the cheese over the top, and bake another 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese browns and the eggs are set in the center.
- Pull the bottom coals and let it stand five minutes before serving.
This is a scout-camp dutch oven recipe pushed toward shelf stability. Powdered egg and powdered milk replace a dozen eggs and a quart of milk, which is the whole cooler problem solved in two bags. Reconstitute them cold and let the mix rest before the pour, or you get lumps that bake in.
The bread is structural. It soaks up the custard and keeps the eggs from sheeting into rubber against the hot cast iron. Cheese goes on late for the same reason it always does: forty minutes under coals turns it to grease, ten minutes turns it into a crust.
Packing
Combine the egg powder, milk powder, mustard, and salt in one bag at home so camp is one pour and one whisk. Cheese and sausage ride in the cooler if you have one, but both hold a day or two without it.
Variations
- A cooler trip can use real eggs and milk in place of the powders, same amounts.
- Dried onion and bell pepper, rehydrated in the water first, cut the richness.
- A 10-inch oven takes about two-thirds of everything at the same heat and time.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/breakfast_casserole-1322.asp