Foil Packet Hash and Egg
Sausage, hash browns, and an egg sealed in foil and buried in coals.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 7 oz
- cal / oz
- 74
- protein
- 24 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 min
- water
- 30 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
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Foil packet
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Precooked sausage patty | 1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Dehydrated hash brown shreds | 1/2 cup | rehydrate at camp, or use refrigerated shreds from the cooler |
| Egg | 1 | carried in the cooler, or 2 tbsp powdered egg plus 3 tbsp water |
| Salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder | to taste | |
| Paper towel | 1 sheet | |
| Heavy-duty aluminum foil | 2 squares, about 12 in |
Method
- If you brought dehydrated hash browns, cover them with hot or cold water for ten minutes, then squeeze them dry. Wet potatoes steam instead of browning.
- Lay down one square of foil. Soak the paper towel, wring it out, and lay it flat on the foil. Cover it with the second square. That damp layer buffers the packet from the coals.
- Set the sausage patty on the top square. Spread the hash browns over and around it in a thin, even layer.
- Crack the egg on top, or pour on reconstituted egg powder. Season it.
- Fold the foil into a sealed packet with the seams on top, leaving a little headroom.
- Rake coals flat, no flames. Sit the packet on them for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Pull it out with a stick or gloves and open it away from your face. The egg white should be set through. Give it another few minutes if it is not.
- Eat straight out of the foil.
The paper towel between two sheets of foil is the part worth keeping. Coals run hot and uneven, and the bottom of a packet sitting directly on them scorches long before the egg sets. The damp layer turns that into steam heat, buying you the ten minutes the egg needs without a black crust underneath.
Everything here except the egg is already cooked or dried, so the packet is really just heating food through and setting one egg. That is why the timing is forgiving. Dehydrated hash browns and powdered egg take the cooler out of the equation, at the cost of a soak step and a slightly flatter result.
Packing
Foil squares pre-cut and folded flat. Spices premixed in one small bag. Eggs travel best in a hard case or, if you would rather skip the cooler entirely, as powder.
Variations
- Powdered egg and dehydrated hash browns make the whole thing shelf-stable, no cooler needed.
- Swap the sausage for a foil-pouch of chicken or a handful of vegetarian crumbles.
- A slice of hard cheese under the egg melts into the potatoes.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/mini_hash-1733.asp