Dehydrated and freeze-dried foods are among the easiest foods around for both everyday cooking and long-term food storage. One handy item in that category is dried eggs and knowing how to use them is important.
At first glance, a pouch or can of this powdery substance may not be very appealing, but I can recommend it for so many different reasons. Here are just a few:
- With dried eggs on hand, you won’t ever have to worry about running out of fresh eggs at a critical juncture, whether baking a cake or serving scrambled eggs for breakfast.
- In a disaster or other worst case scenario, fresh eggs may be hard to come by. With dried eggs, you’ll always have this staple on hand.
- Dried eggs do not need to be refrigerated.
- Dried whole eggs are a God send for those on low carb diets, and dried egg whites are perfect for making low fat recipes.
- A #10 can of dried whole eggs contains around 70 eggs. Try storing 70 fresh eggs in the same amount of space!
Chances are, you’ve already eaten dried eggs and didn’t even realize it. Many restaurants, school cafeterias, and the military use dried eggs because of their versatility, ease of storage, and convenience. (Restaurants also often use liquid eggs in a carton, and those will probably contain additives. Plain, dried eggs do not.)
For the purists among us, the only thing you’ll find in most containers of dried eggs are…eggs. Some companies may add a small amount of an anti-caking ingredient, but other than that, what you see is what you get.
Forms of dried eggs
Dried eggs are sold by all the major food storage companies that sell packaged meals convenient for camping, hiking, hunting, and the like. One such company is Mountain House.
You’ll find dried whole eggs, dried egg whites, and different versions of scrambled eggs. In my research, dried scrambled eggs were the only dried egg product that contained numerous additives, such as bacon, ham, or dehydrated peppers. Some brands also contained preservatives, flavorings, and artificial coloring.
Dried scrambled eggs will produce something that looks and tastes like scrambled eggs, with a scrambled egg consistency, and they’re very handy for quick, tasty meals. Check out the ingredients on different brands, though, to make sure nothing has been added to the eggs that might cause an allergic reaction to someone in the family.
Dried whole eggs are the most versatile of all the dried egg products because only dried and powdered eggs are in the container. You can use this egg powder in place of fresh eggs in your baking, in casseroles, frittatas, and for use in the breading process. Dried eggs can be added directly to most recipes without having to be reconstituted with water first, but do add a little extra water to the recipe equivalent to the amount required for reconstituting the eggs.
In most cases, equal parts water and dried egg powder will equal one egg, but be sure to double check the label.
Tips for how to use dried eggs
- Dried eggs come in small pouches, #2.5 cans, #10 cans, and buckets. Pouches are handy for sampling the product before buying a larger quantity. #2.5 cans are best for households with only 1 or 2 persons or for those who seldom use fresh eggs. The #10 can will hold about a gallon of dried egg powder but since the can, once opened, will have a shelf life of a year or so, it’s not an overwhelming size. Most households easily consume 70 eggs per year.
- To calculate how much dried egg powder you should keep in your long-term storage, start keeping track of how many eggs your family consumes per month. Every time you record 70 eggs, or 6 dozen, that’s the equivalent of one #10 can.
- Always, always store food in a cool and dark part of the house. This will help extend its shelf life.
- If you make homemade pancake mix, add dried eggs, and store the mix in a cool cupboard. Each morning when you want pancakes, just scoop out the mix, add water, and you’re ready to go!
- Dried scrambled eggs will likely contain vegetable oil, which goes rancid over time. I recommend storing extra scrambled egg powder in a jar with a tight fitting lid and keeping it in the refrigerator for longest possible shelf life.
- Not sure what a #2.5 can or a #10 can is? Read this tutorial!
 More Resources for You
- “A Round-Up of Food Storage Resources“
- Food Saver — vacuum system for storing food long-term
- Food Saver Mason jar sealer
- Food Storage for Self-Sufficiency and Survival by Angela Paskett
- Oxygen absorbers, 100 cc
- Prepper’s Guide to Food Storage by Gaye Levy
- The Preparedness Planner (Print this out and prepare a customized planner!)
- The Prepper’s Cookbook by Tess Pennington
- Survival Mom: How to Prepare Your Family for Everyday Emergencies and Worst Case Scenarios by Lisa Bedford
Augason Farms has a 40% sale on #10 cans (for orders over $75) for two weeks. The code is 40percent. Happy Orthodox Easter, I guess. 😀
http://www.augasonfarms.com/Food-Storage-Sale
Thanks for mentioning that! Augason Farms has been a long time sponsor of this blog and I appreciate their support.
Our hens have been working overtime – so I’ve dehydrated my own eggs.
1. hard boil and shell
2. slice
3. dehydrate
4. drop into blender to granulate.
5. store in ziplock in freezer (for extended storage)
About 1 tablespoon = one egg
I’m getting ready to write an article about my own experiences with dehydrating eggs. 🙂
Awesome! THANK you for the ‘recipe’. I have not yet found a good source for organic bulk foods for storage. Most have ingredients I don’t want, nor do they need to put in. So I am stuck with making my own! this helps a lot!
Thank you so much for this article. I ordered my first sample pouch of powdered eggs yesterday and then found this article today I would love to learn how to dehydrate my own eggs. Is it safe to do it with a normal home dehydrator? I can’t wait to slip the powdered eggs into dishes to see if the family notice!! Thanks for all your articles.
I would highly recommend the OvaEasy brand of eggs. They only contain eggs and are really good. I have a new freeze-dryer and my daughter keeps chickens so I will be trying my hand at freeze-drying my own.
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I am attempting to dehydrate some eggs, but I do not eat them myself and will have my grandson try them.How can I reconstitute them and what qualifies as a serving?
Thank you,
Minnie, try 1 tablespoon of the dehydrated eggs to 2 tablespoons of water, and see if that consistency works for you.
Could you send me a recipe for pudding/custard made with reconstituted whole egg powder?
I cannot find a recipe for pudding using powdered whole egg. Why not give a few recipes with purchase of 2 lb. can Augusin dried whole egg powder as sold on Amazon. com and HSN. com?
Hi. I had bought a bag of powdered egg. Can I eat them directly? What’d be the quickest way to eat them? Sorry I do not have time to cook. 🙂 Thanks.
Just rehydrate them according to any instructions on the package. Very easy to use as scrambled eggs, other egg dishes, and in recipes that call for eggs.
Sorry there are no instructions on the package. What would be the easiest way to rehydrate and do some scrambled eggs? I tried to add some cold water but the mix was thick and it was not mixing at all. Seemed like the powder doesn’t like water. I tried to make an omelet or scrambled eggs, but it turned out to be extremely hard. Hard to chew even. 🙂 Please advise. Thanks
Does the company have a website? Since I don’t know what brand you have, I can’t give specific advice.
Can you freeze an omelet after preparing with powdered eggs?
Give it a try! Technically, you can freeze anything. Whether or not the food withstands freezing temperatures over a period of time without deteriorating in some way is the question.
I have been freeze drying raw scrambled eggs for a few years now. I just couldn’t see letting all those beautiful eggs my girls produce go to waste and since I can’t even give them away (everyone seems to have an egg source around here) I most certainly can’t use 18 eggs a day! So, into the FD they go. I can’t tell you how many eggs I have put up but was doing 15 dozen at a time several times a month. I found your post by asking the question about baking with them. I didn’t know if I needed to reconstitute them or not. NOW I KNOW! THANKS. (I figure I have running about 80 dozen eggs put back. I think that should last me a while if things really go south with enough to help out the community!)
When I use powdered eggs in my pancakes, I add the eggs with the dry ingredients and add the water to the wet. They are always dry, and fall apart. Can I prevent that?