December 6, 2014

Testing the Dehydrated Scrambled Eggs

Dried scrambled eggs
Last month my dehydrated raw eggs passed the bake and taste test with flying colors. Recently I needed something for lunch and decided to try the dried scrambled eggs. Most folks powder them after they're dry, but I was curious about leaving the pieces in small chunks. I soaked them in boiling water, about two parts water to one part dehydrated eggs. Then I let them sit to rehydrate.

Soaking in boiling water to rehydrate

They sat and they sat but they never did completely soak up the water. It was time to eat so I browned some smoked sausage in a cast iron skillet and added the eggs.

Scrambled with smoked sausage

They looked good and the taste was good, but the texture was rubbery, well, chewy, if you can imagine that for scrambled eggs. Dan's and my conclusion was that it would indeed be better to powder the eggs after dehydrating.

Even at that I'm glad I gave this experiment a try. Sometimes it helps to understand the reasoning behind doing things, and texture is a good reason. Next time? I'll powder them in the blender and try again.

14 comments:

Frugal in Derbyshire said...

Great experiment. I've been waiting for this one ! I think I need to get some sort of dehydrator going as I like the idea of preserves that don't rely on freezers.
Gill

Mama Mess said...

I've never been much on dehydrating except mushrooms and jerky! I enjoy your experiments!

Harry Flashman said...

It was a good idea. Maybe the rehydrated eggs would have made good sandwich filling. I buy the dehydrated eggs in number ten cans and they make good omelets with lots of onions and sausage, and peppers.

Dani said...

S'funny - was thinking about your dehydrated eggs in the shower this morning and wondered if you'd tried making scrambled eggs with them. Then you did this post. Synchronicity :)

Have you any dehydrated eggs left? Would be good to know if the powdered egg works better than the chunky one...

Leigh said...

Gill, I have to agree about not using a freezer for everything. One of my goals is to cut down on electricity for food storage, although the dehydrator is electric!

the Goodwife, oh yes, dried mushrooms are wonderful. I love my dried onions too. :)

Harry, are the dehydrated eggs you get powdered? I seem to recall that the can I had was and worked very well. I think the recommendation to powder them a good one.

Dani, how funny! Yes, I do have some of the powdered raw eggs left and I think your idea to experiment with those a good one. If that works, then it may be easier to simply dry and powder only raw eggs and forget about precooking.

Anonymous said...

So glad you share what you try, even if it doesn't work exactly as you thought it might. :)

http://caffeinatedhomestead.weebly.com/blog

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Interesting. I have to buy my eggs so don't think I will try that one. Wondering about drying onions. I could put them out in the garage to dehydrate but then does it leave the dehydrator smelling for the next item? Nancy

Bill said...

Good to know. We have way too many eggs in the spring sometimes, and too few in the winter. We've experimented with freezing eggs, and we bake egg-rich things like pound cake and freeze that. But we haven't dehydrated them before. We dry lots of other things (herbs, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms) so we'll have to try eggs too. Thanks

Ed said...

I've taken powdered dehydrated eggs camping before to eat at breakfast and you can still tell they are dehydrated and not fresh. The taste is different and isn't bad, just different. I'm not sure if I can describe it any better than that. But like you, I've found they work just great in mixes for other things.

Farmer Barb said...

Without experimentation, where would we be?

Mark said...

Good info! I've been waiting to see how that one came out, too. It still sounds like a worthwhile thing to do in preparation for 'molting season'. I need to find a better home for our dehydrator before I get started on it, though. It's a bit noisy for the kitchen since both De and I wear hearing aids. The blowing fan starts take on the tone of a rushing wind after awhile.

Thanks for the update!

Sandy Livesay said...

Leigh,

Great experiment! You don't know how the eggs will taste until you try them with the sausage. You tried :-) and that's how we learn.

Karen@ onthebanksofsaltcreek.com said...

We bought a 14 acre farm about six months ago. Wow is there a lot to get used to. Certainly not the "city life" I grew up with. I've been thinking all along about trying to preserve the eggs so I can still have some during the winter. We bought our chicks in August so we haven't had any eggs yet. I like the idea of dehydrating raw and then turning it into powder. I love my dehydrator. I did tomato powder and my own cayenne powder this summer. Awesome! I will be referring back to this post when we start getting eggs. Thanx for this post.

Leigh said...

Nancy, well, the dyhydrator does seem to retain a bit of smell but not for long and it never imparts to the next batch. I usually wipe mine out with a damp rag in between batches. I have dried onions and they are great to have around! Garlic too.

Bill, I freeze quite a few eggs too but have to say it's great having the dried ones around. Very handy for any impulsive baking or egg eating. :)

Ed, I've never thought the commercially dried ones very good. Preservatives, perhaps? Camping is a great way to use them. Dried foods are so much easier to pack in that other things.

Barb, we'd be nowhere! LOL

Mark, thanks! Yes, I usually don't dehydrate in the kitchen either, but moreso because of the heat it generates. My back porch is my dehydrating place of choice!

Sandy, thanks! I've finally learned to call everything an experiment the first time I try it. There' always something to tweak afterwards!

Karen, welcome and congratulations on your farm! I have to agree it's a totally different way of living. Sounds like you'll be getting eggs soon, hopefully plenty so you can try dehydrating. I love having them available. I've not tried tomato powder but I really need to.

I'd return the blog visit but I see you don't have a blog. :)