Wednesday, October 12, 2011

First Attempt

 I was rained out today so I came home at noon and had time to try something I have been wanting to do for a while now.
This is my first attempt at powdered eggs and with doing hours of research I am now ready.

Some say you can cook the eggs and some say you can just pour them right out on the sheet to be dehydrated. I am afraid of salmonella so I chose to cook the 4 dozen eggs as I would scrambled eggs to just under moist with salt and pepper added.
Then I crumbled them up and put them on the dehydrator trays. It should be ready in about 12 to 15 hours.

If successful I will run the dried eggs through the food processor until they are powder.
After that, I will put them in sterilized 1/2 pint jars and vacuum the lids on.  

I figured why not and if it works out then I will do enough to last a year.
Next on the list is to can butter.

14 comments:

  1. I will be following the progress on these powdered eggs cause I have always wanted to try to do it but kind of chickened out. When you go to use them do you just add water? If you didnt add the salt and pepper you could probably use them in baking too right?

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  2. Wow what an idea! If the end of the world is nigh I want to be near you as I reckon you will have it all sorted

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  3. Maybe i'm dense but why not just store the powdered eggs and cook when needed or were you looking for something that did not require cooking.

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  4. SciFiChick has done this successfully, but I think hers were raw when she dehydrated them ...not sure. If you have already scrambled them, they are only good as re-hydrated scrambled eggs, plain or in casseroles. I don't think they would be good for a recipe that called for raw egg, like a cake or cookie recipe.

    Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I'm sure they will turn out fine for you. Check with Sci on how she did hers though. She loves to share information.

    : )

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  5. Denise - Yes you just add water or put directly into what you are cooking. If this turns out ok then I will make about 10 dozen without seasonings to use in mixes that call for whole eggs (1 tbs powder=1 egg) but I mainly salt and pepper most of my mixes anyway unless it is bread, cake or pancakes.

    Rhianna - That is the plan and with your skills, it would be an unstoppable team.

    Duke - I really don't understand the question, maybe I am the one that is dense.
    These were eggs right out of the chicken pen. I had to cook them to dehydrate them to make them powder so I can store them. I guess I could have bought powdered eggs in a can, but this way I make my own and it does not cost me anything and now I can store my own fresh eggs for two years.

    HB - From what I read, there is no difference in a cooked and dehydrated or a raw and dehydrated. In the end they get cooked and powdered. There is a salmonella scare if you don't cook them first because you have a raw egg sitting in a dehydrator for several hours.
    If a recipe calls for egg whites then yes, these will not work. If it calls for egg yolks, again these will not work. If this is successful I plan to have a few jars of whites, yolks and whole eggs. That way I can cover all recipes.

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  6. HossBoss beat me to it - i was gonna say check out SciFiChicks post - you can find it here:

    http://baconandeggs-scifichick.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-to-dehydrate-eggs.html

    but SciFiChick cooks hers as scrambled first - go read the post - it is very detailed. and she says that she has great results in rehydrating them.

    your friend,
    kymber

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  7. woops - just re-read her entire post. in the post she says she scrambles them first but then in the comments says she does them raw. do us all a favour and drop her an email to find out!'

    your friend,
    kymber

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  8. Well now I have someone new to check out and follow. Must go check out SciFiChick.

    MDR - I look forward to hearing how this turns out. We haven't had any fresh eggs from our girls in a while. It is not from lack of feed or water either. I guess the heat just took it out of them. The chickens we got them from are still laying. It would have been good to have back up. These store bought eggs just are not cutting it.

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  9. kymber - Thanks for finding the post I will check it out.I have read SciFiChick for a long time now and she is very knowledgeable.
    Not to sound rude or anything like that but I have done my studies on this and know how to do it. I am cooking the eggs first for safety issues and then drying them, then powdering them. There is no difference in cooking them first or drying them raw if you do not add anything during the cooking process.
    If I wanted to use them for scrambled eggs then I would not powder them and leave them in dried little egg rocks.
    My next batch will be hard boiled and thinly sliced and then dried.

    G - You will like her blog, I have been a reader for a long time now.
    My hens have just now got back into the laying. I also have the luxury of getting eggs from my Dad's chickens if I don't have enough. Don't worry, they will start when they are ready. Putting a light on them to extend the day time to 18 hours will help as well.

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  10. What a great idea. The one item I lack in my preps is a dehydrator. Need to fix that little problem.

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  11. Stephen - I ended up with three of them. Hand-me-downs, garage sells and one I actually bought, but just like guns, you can never have enough food prep stuff.

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  12. I've eaten plenty of powdered eggs in my life, and cooked with them, but I never made any. That's a good idea.

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  13. I just had to chime in on this one... Go Figure Right? LOL I've tried drying eggs both raw and pre-cooked and have to say that I personally like them better just doing them raw in the dehydrator. There IS a taste difference to me. One thing I have to say though is that I set my temperature to 165 degrees. This ensures that I'm not going to poison myself or someone else since the temps for killing salmonella are high enough. Either way you try it though, it sure is nice to have eggs on the shelf for those times when you run out. Besides, the cost factor alone, compared to canned powdered eggs, is enough to make me want to do it... being cheap....errr...frugal like me.
    I love dehydrating! There is so much you can do to stock your larder with this method of preserving and at a much lower cost to you than purchasing the same things from a "big dealer". Hey... I'm Just Sayin'....!

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  14. SciFiChick - Your name was thrown around enough in this one I knew you would be here sooner or later, LOL
    I do not have a dehydrator I can set to 165. Mine only goes to 145. I guess that one will be put on the Christmas list. I guess I could do them in the oven at that temp but I don't know how that would turn out.
    I am doing my eggs several different ways. I will post the results when I have completed all my tests.
    Thanks for the comment.

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