Trail Essentials: Breakfast

May 19, 2021
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By Laura Liebmann

Here at Bronco Nation, we’re obviously into Broncos, but we’re also fans of the great outdoors and of the places that the Bronco can take us that other modes of transportation can’t. We often talk about the trail and how the Bronco performs on it, but we also want Bronco Nation to be a place where we share ways to make the trail more accessible to everyone. This series will examine the essential elements of life on the rough roads and look at the gear that can make it an awesome experience for everyone on the trip.

Today, Mrs. [USER=21]@David[/USER] talks about the most important meal of the day.

One of my favorite parts of cooking is figuring out how to make something satisfying and tasty with the ingredients I have on hand and a minimum of waste. Minimizing the dishes I have to wash is also a plus. So when [USER=21]@David[/USER] brought home a new camp stove for our future Bronco adventures, figuring out a camp breakfast for our family of four seemed like a fun challenge.

JetBoil Minimo and Summit Skillet

We weren’t actually camping at the time, but we were away from home, visiting family with a large deck and a beautiful backyard. So [USER=21]@David[/USER] set up the Jetboil Minimo on the railing of the deck and revealed the brand's Summit Skillet, an 8-inch frying pan that nested in some cool ways. First, the handle folds in for easy packing. Second, a small spatula nests into the pan’s handle. Also, the pan is specially grooved on the bottom to grip onto the top of the Minimo cook ring for stability.

We gathered the additional equipment we would need to prepare breakfast: a paring knife, a small cutting board and a lightweight bowl. [USER=21]@David[/USER] told me later that the JetBoil came with a cup around the same size as our mixing bowl, so next time we can try using that. I also realized after cracking the eggs that I should have had some hand sanitizer and a towel ready, because I had to duck into the house to wash my hands.

We started preparing our breakfast by cutting a red potato into small cubes. We seasoned it well with a garlic herb blend, then added it to the pan with some olive oil. The pan warmed quickly and evenly, and it is quite light (10.6 ounces). Although we probably won’t be backpacking as much as camping out of our Bronco, we still don’t want to be thumping one of our cast iron pans from home onto the Minimo cook ring, even though traditional pots and pans can be used. We felt that the Summit Skillet performed well for the weight savings it provided. The JetBoil pot and Summit Skillet are both non-stick, and that helps make clean-up easier.

We gave the potatoes about 15 minutes before adding 3 sausage patties to the pan, but we probably should have gone to 20 minutes first. The sausage cooked through nicely in 10 minutes, and we removed both the sausage and the potato to the bowl while we scrambled four eggs. Despite the potatoes being slightly firm, everything was very tasty, and that one little pan had provided an ample breakfast for three members of our family. The only problem was, as I said, we are a family of four, including one boy who doesn’t like breakfast sausage.

Fueled by our delicious meal, [USER=21]@David[/USER] and I returned to REI together and found a toaster rack that fits over a camp stove. Next time, we’ll see if we can turn out some buttered toast, too. We only used about 1/10th of the fuel in our 230g Jetpower can, so there’s plenty of cooking left to be done.

Find more images of the breakfast prep and cook setup, plus the use of the Aeropress Go for coffee, here.

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