November 8, 2014

Testing Those Dehydrated Eggs

November has brought our first frost plus a wintry mix of cold rain and snow! After morning milking I thought, "What better than fresh hot pancakes for breakfast." But we are eggless. I hadn't had a single egg in several days. Usually I have a new batch of pullets coming on, so that I've never had a truly eggless winter. But we only had roosters hatch this year, which means my youngest ladies are going into their second molt, which means eggs will be few and far between. Fortunately I'd been diligent to preserve some! I decided to try some of my dehydrated raw eggs.

Home dehydrated powdered raw eggs

I measured out a rounded tablespoon for each egg.


Then added warm water and stirred. I found that two tablespoons of water to one tablespoon dried egg gave me the best consistency.

2 tbsp warm water to 1 rounded tbsp dried egg powder = 1 whole egg

Not exactly like fresh raw eggs, but good enough. This made about a quarter cup, the equivalent of two good size eggs. I let it sit while I assembled my other ingredients and got to work. The result?


Light, fluffy, and out-of-this-world delicious!

I didn't mention the eggs to Dan until he was well into his second helping. He was impressed! And so was I. Recipe below.

Dehydrated Egg Pancakes

  • 2 rounded tbsp dehydrated raw eggs
  • 4 tbsp warm water for reconstituting the eggs
  • 1 cup white whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup unbleached white flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 cup whey
  • 1 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup melted butter

Mix dried egg and warm water, stir well and set aside while assembling other ingredients. Mix remaining dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add whey, milk, butter, and eggs. Cook on a hot griddle until golden brown on both sides. Serve immediately! Makes about a dozen pancakes.

Recipe Notes:

  • Of course you can substitute any type of flour, liquid, or fat you wish. I use what's on hand and we really like the flavor using the above combination.
  • I don't use baking powder, so the soda and whey serve as my homemade substitute. The baking soda (a base) and whey (an acid) combine to create carbon dioxide bubbles, which cause baked goods to rise.  

The question is, would I dry eggs again next summer for winter use? The answer is possibly.

In the plus column I have no complaints about the dried eggs themselves. Besides passing the pancake test with flying colors, they were much easier to use in a pinch than my usual frozen eggs, which require planning ahead to defrost. Dried take up less storage space too. Because of our warm climate and their potential to go rancid, I refrigerated them (freezing would work too), so there were no caking issues from the humidity.

On the other hand, the dehydrating process was slow due to the liquid content of the beaten eggs. Not that my electric dehydrator pulls a lot of watts, but it's in constant use during the summer so drying lots of eggs means something else would have to wait. (My solar oven got too hot when I experimented drying blueberries so I wouldn't use it. It would cook the eggs!).

So for those who asked, there you have it. No denying I was thankful to have those eggs!

16 comments:

Quinn said...

So glad! I've been wondering :)

Harry Flashman said...

Dehydrated eggs, scrambled with potato cubes , were a staple of Marine Corps field messes during the 1970's and 1980's. Depending on the skill of the cooks, it could be a fine breakfast. With some bacon mixed in, and if the eggs weren't too watery, it was a fine meal. I keep dehydrated eggs in number ten cans in my store rooms, but I buy them from places like Emergency Essentials. I envy those who can produce their own long term storage food.

Dawn said...

I am using eggs I dehydrated when we had a glut as my chooks are going through moult so we are eggless, I am glad i dont have to go out and buy eggs.

DFW said...

Leigh,

So glad your experiment worked. How long can you keep them stored, once powdered? And, do you vacuum seal them?

Dani said...

Would be interesting to know what they were like reconstituted and scrambled :) I think the taste could be improved by adding extra butter, but what would the consistency be like...?

Yeah - my being without a dehydrator makes the possibility of using this method out of my reach.

But, I think I'm going to google dehydrating eggs and see if there is another way... :) Will let you know, obviously, if I come across anything useful.

Leigh said...

Quinn, thanks!

Harry, those #10 cans were what got me thinking about dehydrating my own. Very handy to have and you're right about getting the mixing just right.

Dawn, wonderful! I'll have to check out your blog to see if you did a post on that. So agree about not having to buy eggs!

DFW, good question, one that answers seem to vary for! Storage temperature seems to be key. If I didn't freeze the dried eggs I'd probably not use them after 4 or 5 months, which is enough to get through the eggless season. Vacuum sealing would be an excellent shelf life extender. Since I did so few eggs, I just popped the jar into the fridge.

Dani, I'm going to try my dried scrambled eggs next and will let you know. I think any additions would help tremendously. A dehydrator is a must, I agree. I've been looking at plans to make a solar dehydrator if I can only find the time! Do keep me posted on what you find.

DebbieB said...

Leigh, this is so timely (though not for eggs, since I don't have chickens yet). I just bought a dehydrator a few weeks ago (got a great deal, couldn't resist, since we are now producing a lot of our own veggies). The garden is just about done for this year, but I'm anxious to try it out for next. I'm going to look through your Book to see what you dehydrate (besides eggs, which is such a great idea!)

Renee Nefe said...

w00t! I'm so glad that they worked for you. Maybe you can figure out another way to dehydrate them? I know that would be tricky where you are.
It would probably work much better where I am as it is so dry.

Meredith said...

Thanks for sharing the results of your dehydrated egg experiment! I like the idea of having some on hand to use in a pinch.

Leigh said...

Debbie, you will love your dehydrator. There is so much you can do with it and the nice thing about dried foods is that they take up less storage space and have an excellent shelf life.

Renee, thanks! I imagine you'd do very well dehydrating things. A dry climate really helps.

Meredith, these are great in a pinch. I wouldn't recommend them for long term storage, but for the annual egg drought, they are great.

Sandy Livesay said...

Leigh,

Those pancakes look delicious! Glad to hear you had dry eggs to complete your recipe.

I love this idea of dehydrating your own eggs. I freeze my extra eggs in ice cube trays.

Ngo Family Farm said...

So clever! And the tip about the baking soda and whey in place of baking powder - that is genius! I've been trying to find ways to limit what I need in the pantry, so I'll have to remember that! This is the first year I didn't freeze any eggs since I hadn't needed to use them the past two winters, and now guess what?! Eggless. Lesson learned.
-Jaime

Leigh said...

Sandy, I think freezing eggs is my favorite way 'cuz it's so easy. :) But with the success of this experiment, I think I'll try to keep some dehydrated on hand in the future as well.

Jaime, good to hear from you! I almost didn't freeze any this year too but I'm so glad I did because we do seem to be eggless (or nearly)! Lessons learned, eh?

For the baking powder substitute, you can use anything slightly acidic: buttermilk, molasses, sour raw milk, non-alkali cocoa. I've even used vinegar in a pinch. :)

Laura said...

I'm dehydrating the last of my rose hips (though I plan to get more - I've been eyeing them on my way to work). I currently have ducks, with the youngest ones just starting to lay. I don't eat many eggs and I have a ready outlet to sell them, so I don't have much build up. However, I do like a frittatta every so often, which uses a bunch! I may look at freezing some next year, because, as some point these girls will go into moult, and I'll be eggless!

Unknown said...

This is something I have never tried or thought of. Thank you for a new way to use my eggs and a test case to show it works. Frequently people suggest things but don't report on how it actually turns out. :)

Leigh said...

Larua, do you have any trouble storing those dried rose hips? That's the first thing the pantry moths devour!

Brittany, hello and thanks! There are definitely some good options out there for preserving eggs. I thought this one was a lot of fuss, but I love the ease of being able to use the end result. :)