Paper Bag Bacon and Eggs

Nailed it!!! I made Paper Bag Bacon and Eggs while camping last weekend and failed hilariously. I watched a YouTube video on how to make Paper Bag Bacon and Eggs directly on the coals of a campfire. I figured it would be a cool trick to share with you, so I tried it. My attempt went up in flames, literally! I thought it would be fun to share my failed experience with you, in case you want to try it yourself.

Kieran and I camped on the coast last weekend with our buddy Eric. Eric texted us Saturday morning at 10am asking if we wanted to go camping. We said yes and were on the road by noon. I packed the ingredients for Paper Bag Bacon and Eggs and was excited to try the recipe on Sunday morning.

Side note, Kieran and I adore camping. Our goal is to camp at least once a month until it gets too cold/rainy. Packing for a camping trip can be time consuming so I put together a “camping tote” to streamline the process.

Throughout the years I’ve accumulated extra cups, plates, cutting boards, pots/pans, and knifes. These items are old and perfect for camping use. You can buy speciality camping kitchen items/gear if you want, but I’d rather use what I have.

I use a blue plastic bin as my tote. I packed it with smaller camping essentials like: cups, plates, sporks, a cutting board, a knife, a skillet, salt and pepper, paper towels, dehydrated food, tongs, first aid kit, bug spray, sun tan lotion, extra batteries, a head lamp, a flashlight, scissors, fire starters, hand/feet warmers, our jetboil, extra fuel for our jetboil, 1-2 garbage bags, tin foil, duck tape, a hammer, ect.

When we return from camping I wash the dishes, repack them in the tote, and replenish any items we used up during the trip (ex garbage bags/paper towels). Once the tote is repacked and put away, it’s ready to grab for our next trip!

We store the camping tote next to our tent, sleeping bags, self inflatable sleeping mats, camping chairs, cooler, 5 gallon water holder, grill grate, and portable butane stove. When we want to go camping, we’re literally ready to go at any time.

I love the convenience of a pre-packed camping tote, it saves us time and allows us a certain level of spontaneity. Chicago Christina NEVER went camping on a moments notice. Portland Christina can get a camping invite text at 10am and be driving to the campsite at 12pm. It’s awesome!

We camped at Barview Jetty County Campground near Tillamook, Oregon. Barview is the kind of campground that supplies showers, bathrooms, and packs as many people into the grounds as possible. I prefer primitive and secluded camping but hey, camping is camping. I’ll take what I can get. PLUS, our campsite was a five minute walk to the Pacific Ocean!!

We settled into our site, started a fire, and relaxed.

I swear, if Kieran ever leaves me, it would be for this hammock ?

Sadly, Eric’s awesome wife Phoebe was away on business so she couldn’t join us. We wished she was there, but made do as we joked around and enjoyed each other’s company.

No, Eric is not burning his hand in the fire, he’s scrunched up face is due to smoke fire burning his eyes.

Campers a few sites down from us arrived back to their site after crabbing. We’d never met these people before yet they surprised us by walking over a plate full of cooked crab legs! Shocked, we EAGERLY dove into the plate of fresh crab and enjoyed the fruits of their labor.

After nightfall we put out the campfire and strolled the beach. The night sky was overcast and the temperature dropped to the low 60’s by the ocean. We wore warm clothes but the fierce coastal winds were relentless. We sought refuge next to manmade drift wood structures that dotted the beach. Beach goers from the afternoon left their campfire’s going so Eric carried a piece of burning wood from an existing fire and carried it to where we were sitting. Within minutes Eric and Kieran were able to start our own beach fire using the remnants of another. Talk about savvy!

We listened to the sounds of the waves crashing into the shoreline as we relaxed by the warmth of our beach fire. I said repeatedly I wished the sky wasn’t overcast because I longed to gaze at the stars. Other than missing the stars the night was a blast. We’re hoping to go ocean camping again in the near future.

I woke up at 7:30am on Sunday excited to make Paper Bag Bacon and Eggs. I watched the YouTube tutorial on how to make this recipe and thought what could possibly go wrong? Hahahahahaha, my naivety was hilarious as I watched my breakfast burst into flames.

Now, the recipe WORKS if you do it right. I’ll explain what I did wrong so you won’t make the same mistakes I did.

1. Start a fire. You’ll need to burn down the fire to hot coals.
2. Grab a paper lunch bag and a piece of bacon.
3. Gently rub the bacon on the bottom AND up along the sides of the paper bag. You want to saturate the bag with as much grease as possible.
4. Cut 2-3 pieces of bacon in half, and line them up on the bottom of the bag. Overlap the bacon like shingles on a rooftop. In the picture below you’ll see I had gaps between the bacon. That is a no-no. Make sure the bottom of the bag is completely covered in bacon.
5. Crack two eggs on top of the bacon. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
6. Fold the top of the paper bag over a couple of times. Using a knife, poke a hole through the folded part of a bag. Insert a stick through the hole to use as a handle, so you can easily carry the bag into and out of the fire. I skipped this step. I don’t recommend skipping this step. If your breakfast starts to catch fire, you’ll want to quickly remove it from the flames and blow the fire out.

According to the tutorial I watched, you should be able to place the bag on top of the hot bed of coals.

Important note – make sure the coals are hot, but all open flames have died down. Honestly, I think that’s why I failed the recipe. I put all the bags in the fire, and moved the coals around to make room. A flare up occurred and my bags caught fire 3 seconds later.

Here is the hilarious succession of photos that Kieran took after I placed the paper bags on the hot bed of coals…

Two bags, resting on the bed of coals, what could go wrong?

All 3 paper bags are on top of the hot bed of coals. I’m hungry and can’t wait for breakfast!

Oh shit, the bags caught fire!!! Like a dumb ass I BLEW on the bags, thinking I could put the fire out! Suddenly all 3 bags burst into flames!

BLAZING BREAKFAST INFERNO!!!!

We watched with amusement as our breakfast started to smolder.

There you have it folks, our campfire Paper Bag Bacon and Eggs, Nailed it!!!

After the flames died down we rescued the paper bags from the fire pit. I packed extra eggs and bacon so I cooked them on a skillet on a butane camping stove.

When the paper bags were cool enough to handle, we tore them open, curious to what we’d find. The eggs, believe it or not, were edible! The yolk was hard but once you scraped off the burn and added a little salt, they tasted good!

If you love to camp I encourage you to try this recipe. The worst that can happen is your breakfast will catch on fire. BUT, if you do it correctly, you’ll have a cool new trick to show your friends and family!!