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Powdered Eggs

15159 Views 21 Replies 15 Participants Last post by  kyfarmer
Anyone ever given powdered eggs a whirl? How we're they?

I'm looking into buying just a few cans as I have chickens who supply most of my eggs. Gonna get a few cans of powdered eggs for the survival kit though.

Well, that is, only if you guys say they pretty good....
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haven't tried them myself, but I also have chickens and eggs. I just keep buying more laying hens. But you know that you can freeze AND dehydrate your own eggs.

EGGS, DEHYDRATED
Submitted Via. E-mail by Debi

Hi. You can also dehydrate eggs. I have for the past several years and they work just fine. Break eggs into a bowl or blender and blend whites and yolks together, like you would make scrambled eggs. (Do not add milk :) ) Pour onto a LIGHTLY greased dehydrator leather tray and dry at 145* for 4 hours then lower the temperature until the lethicin is dry and brittle. Return to blender and blend to granulate. Store in airtight container (vacuumed sealed bags, e.g.). To reconstitute: 1 TBSP egg powder to 2.5 TBSP water. Just add to recipe.
I dehydrate eggs with a Mr. Coffee dehydrator. I do 6 at a time, and use the fruit roll sheet on the top tray. I beat the eggs as if I were going to make an omlette, then freeze them in a glass jar in the freezer overnight.
When I'm ready to dry them, I let them thaw, but not warm to room temp. Freezing seems to speed up the process a little. After about 18 hours of drying, they're dry and brittle. I powder them with an old coffee grinder, but a blender or food processor will work just as well. The egg powder goes into ziplock baggies, and in the cupboard.

I've used eggs that I've dehydrated this way for omlettes and cooking, with no problems. To rehydrate for use, I mix two measures of water for each measure of powder.

I have some eggs that were dehyrated over 5 years ago, and stored in the cupboard in a ziplock bag, that are still good to use.
Carla Emery, in her book Encyclopedia of Country Living, tells of dehydrating eggs by this method: "Beat very fresh whole eggs thoroughly (use an egg beater or the equivalent). Pour beaten eggs to make a very thin layer (maximum 1/8") on drying surfaces that have been precoated with plastic or foil. In an oven or dryer, dry at about 120 degrees for 24-36 hours. When the egg layer is dry on top and firm all through, peel away the plastic or foil layer, turn the egg layer upside down and dry that side 12-24 hours more. Then break it up and dry it a few more hours. Then turn your dried egg into a powder using a mortar and pestle or a blender. These eggs work fine in baked goods. Make scrambled eggs by combining the powder with an equal amount of water, such as 1/4 c dried egg powder with 1/4 c. water."
I understand that most of you have chickens and stuff but if you were in a bug uot situation, you can't load up your chickens and haul them out sticks with you. Where would you keep them contained? Certainly not in your tent or car. Powdered eggs would be great for this event. I haven't tried them yet and I am betting they aren't as good as a fresh egg, but they will certainly do in the instance!
Well that is why you live in a non-bugout area.

There is very little here that I would have to " bug out" from. There are no hurricanes, No tornados, No floods, and if there was a wildfire, my property would be saved due to my preparations. The only things I'd have to "bug out" for would be a massive volcanic eruption (yellowstone super volcano sized).

And If we had " advanced warning" of any type, we could still haul many of the chickens along in the horse trailer with the horses. I'm not leaveing without the horses and that leaves a portion of the horse trailer to also haul chickens in.

I understand that most of you have chickens and stuff but if you were in a bug uot situation, you can't load up your chickens and haul them out sticks with you. Where would you keep them contained? Certainly not in your tent or car. Powdered eggs would be great for this event. I haven't tried them yet and I am betting they aren't as good as a fresh egg, but they will certainly do in the instance!
I started using powdered eggs several months ago and have had great success. I just love them. They are both economical and very easy to use. I also like that you can use whole eggs, or use egg whites and not have to waste the yolks as directed in some recipes. They are very economical: coming out to between 19 and 15 cents each egg, depending on the size you buy. I use them in baking mostly, and that leaves my fresh eggs to use for eating fresh.

I definitely suggest anyone give them a try. You can buy them in small 2.5 cans if you don't want to invest too much. They are good in the fridge for over a year once opened, and many more than that sealed in cans on the shelf.

Good Luck!!
I prefer to invest in fresh foods for optimum nutritional content, but I can see the wisdom in storing some dried forms of dairy products for emergencies. I recently stocked some powdered milk and buttermilk. I have been debating the eggs. We have our own hens, but what if they were stolen or we had to eat them? We can't have a roo, so we would be dependant on a hatchery for replacements. Without eggs our baking choices would be very limited.
I just hate the thought of spending money on something that we wouldn't use in our normal food rotation. It would be a waste, but also a form of security.
I'm still thinking on this one.
I've had dehydrated eggs since I started backpacking years ago. The key I remembered to preparing them is to start cooking with them pretty watery. If you start to dry, you end up with something that resembles a rubber superball you played with as a kid. Not too edible. Otherwise, as noted, they're great to have around for baking when you don't have any fresh ones around and can make a pretty decent scrambled egg, too. I haven't tried making french toast with them yet, but it's on my list of things to try.
I've had them many times. Some you have to reconstitute with milk, others with water. They pass as eggs as far as texture and almost as eggs in looks if you're preparing them scrambled. They taste a little on the sweet side (at least the two types I've had), but they work much better in recipes. If you've never eaten military rations, then you might be a little disappointed with these. However, in a bind their protein content is what you should be most interested in. They have the same protein content as real eggs. They are not as good as Eggbeaters from the dairy section of your local supermarket, but they pass.
I hate to resurrect an old thread.... Has anyone found dried / powered eggs they like? I bought some and either I'm rehydrated-challenged or there is some trick I just can't figure out.

Suggestions?
I hate to resurrect an old thread.... Has anyone found dried / powered eggs they like? I bought some and either I'm rehydrated-challenged or there is some trick I just can't figure out.

Suggestions?
The ones from Honeyville Grain or Shelf Reliance are not bad!!!!
The ones from Honeyville Grain or Shelf Reliance are not bad!!!!
I've got the ones from Honeyville. Do you follow the instructions to reconstitute them or do you have some other way that works for you? I just can't get the texture right.
I think the real importance of freeze dried or dehydrated eggs have been missed here. While they might not be the best tasting long term storage item, they are going to fill in a need for variety in your diet when they become either scarce or non-existent. They can be used in or with other dishes, french toast maybe?,YUM,:2thumb: and of course in baking, like egg bread just to mention a few. Lets see, go hungry, or maybe eat eggs that don't taste like the real McCoy. Not much you can use to substitute for these, somethings, but not a lot.
I think the real importance of freeze dried or dehydrated eggs have been missed here. While they might not be the best tasting long term storage item, they are going to fill in a need for variety in your diet when they become either scarce or non-existent. They can be used in or with other dishes, french toast maybe?,YUM,:2thumb: and of course in baking, like egg bread just to mention a few. Lets see, go hungry, or maybe eat eggs that don't taste like the real McCoy. Not much you can use to substitute for these, somethings, but not a lot.
I realize that - I just can't reconstitute the dried eggs in such a way they even resemble eggs. I followed the directions on the can to make scrambled eggs and they turn out looking like fried mustard. Is there a secret way to reconstitute them? I've added more water. I've added milk. I've added more milk.

I am reasonably sure some of the cruise ships use powered eggs. I like their eggs. I don't know how to replicate the process. That's why I thought maybe I was buying the wrong eggs.

On a happier note - I did manage to freeze eggs yesterday. Somewhere in my excitement (about learning eggs can be frozen) I skipped over the part about spraying the muffin tin. That won't happen again. I have six little frozen eggs in the freezer. One of them will go in cornbread later this week.
I'm going to look into the best way to reconstitute powdered eggs, we had them in the military and I thought that while they didn't taste like fresh, they weren't bad. By the way I found this for making your own dry egg powder...The Incredible, Edible DRIED EGG!!
Thanks, BB. I'm starting to feel I'm rehydrated-challenged. :cry:
I tried the "Heavenly Scrambled Eggs" from the website. My eggs went from looking like fried mustard to throw-up (my apologies if any of you have not yet had breakfast!) The taste still leaves a lot to be desired. I used butter instead of butter buds - not sure it would make that much of a difference.

The challenge continues.
While not really full egg tasting, they were not bad. We have eaten them on fishing trip's and even in deer camp once i used them instead of real one's, no one knew them from the other. But they might have been really hungry to. ;)
I tried the "Heavenly Scrambled Eggs" from the website. My eggs went from looking like fried mustard to throw-up (my apologies if any of you have not yet had breakfast!) The taste still leaves a lot to be desired. I used butter instead of butter buds - not sure it would make that much of a difference.

The challenge continues.
Did you fry the powdered eggs in butter?
The fat content in butter dissallows for the protein of the eggs to bind to other egg proteins by attaching the protein to a fat source (like a roux minus the carbohydrate to absoarb surrounding moisture). Did you get little clumps? That's where the egg proteins bound together before the fat could isolate them.
If you did add the butter after. I'm sorry. That sucks.
just wondering if anybody has ever tried to use the 'egg beaters' to dehydrate......just a thought.....save you the trouble of using your fresh eggs that way too.
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