# Does anyone buy powdered eggs or milk anymore? What other powdered foods are available?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-buy-powdered-eggs-or-milk-anymore-what-other-powdered-foods-are-available/662887
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** soda-softdrinks
**Created:** [July 7, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-buy-powdered-eggs-or-milk-anymore-what-other-powdered-foods-are-available/662887 "2013-07-07T19:16:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2013, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-buy-powdered-eggs-or-milk-anymore-what-other-powdered-foods-are-available/662887/61 "2013-07-09T03:10:16Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#):
>
> Ok. You all convinced me. I bought a canister of powdered milk and a canister of powdered buttermilk today. I didn’t see powdered eggs - I’ll have to keep looking.
I didn’t even know powdered eggs existed, since I’ve never seen them in stores. Has anyone else seen them since the turn of the century? And are they any cheaper than just buying eggs?
Even the places I know that don’t use real eggs use frozen egg tubes (for boiled) or liquid eggs (for scrambled).
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### Author:  [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2013, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-buy-powdered-eggs-or-milk-anymore-what-other-powdered-foods-are-available/662887/62 "2013-07-09T04:23:30Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#):
>
> I keep a packet of powdered milk in my cupboard, for emergencies when I run out of liquid milk and need a cup of tea quickly. Not as good as the real thing, but better than nothing.
I keep it for pretty much the same. Sometimes I _need_ my cup–or pot–of tea, and we’re low on milk and I’m under the weather or whatever. Not as good as real milk, but far, far better than “non-dairy creamer” or “coffee whitener”.
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### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2013, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-buy-powdered-eggs-or-milk-anymore-what-other-powdered-foods-are-available/662887/63 "2013-07-09T04:43:11Z")
> [@even\_sven](#):
>
> You can use powdered milk for a lot of things: making milk-based sauces, homemade yogurt, milkshakes, homemade farmer’s cheese, baking, fluffing up scrambled eggs, stirring in to coffee, etc. It’s also useful for adding a little bit of stealth nutrition into things you are cooking. I’ve been known in lean times to add a bit to tomato sauces or beans or whatever to boost the nutrition content.
>
> It’s not really worthwhile in the US, as it’s just as cheap to buy fresh milk. But there are still large chunks of the globe where safe fresh milk is unavailable and UHP milk is still to expensive for ordinary people. In rural Africa, for example, powdered milk is a common luxury food. It’s a bit on the expensive side, but there is a pretty big market for it.
And then it’s just mixed with contaminated water anyway. It would probably be safer to just keep your own goats or cows.
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### Author:  [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2013, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-buy-powdered-eggs-or-milk-anymore-what-other-powdered-foods-are-available/662887/64 "2013-07-09T11:04:01Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#):
>
> And then it’s just mixed with contaminated water anyway. It would probably be safer to just keep your own goats or cows.
Unpasturized milk can host TB, among other hardcore nasties. It’s a much bigger risk than sketchy water. And once you disinfect water, it keeps for a while, while even disinfected milk is still going to go bad quickly.
Keeping cows and goats would be nice, but around at around $400 for a cow and maybe $50 for a goat, they are out of the reach of the dollar-a-day crowd. Powdered milk is often sold in single serve packets to the very poor.
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### Author:  [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2013, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-buy-powdered-eggs-or-milk-anymore-what-other-powdered-foods-are-available/662887/65 "2013-07-09T14:10:24Z")
The ‘secret’ with drinking reconstituted powdered milk is to mix it up and let it sit for a decent amount of time – like overnight. It’s not wonderful even then, but cold and _completely_ rehydrated makes quite a difference. (I grew up drinking the stuff, trust me.)
BTW, the dry milk comes in fat free AND non-fat free varieties.
I still keep it on hand all the time, for the ‘emergency’ uses everyone else has mentioned. It does cost more per quart than ‘liquid’ milk, but if you store the envelopes in your fridge, the stuff is basically immortal.
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### Author:  [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-buy-powdered-eggs-or-milk-anymore-what-other-powdered-foods-are-available/662887/66 "2013-07-09T15:28:35Z")
I bought a container of powdered buttermilk 3 years ago to make ranch dressing. I still have half the container in the refrigerator. Ya think it’s still o.k.?
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### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2013, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-buy-powdered-eggs-or-milk-anymore-what-other-powdered-foods-are-available/662887/67 "2013-07-09T15:54:05Z")
> [@even\_sven](#):
>
> Unpasturized milk can host TB, among other hardcore nasties. It’s a much bigger risk than sketchy water. And once you disinfect water, it keeps for a while, while even disinfected milk is still going to go bad quickly.
>
> Keeping cows and goats would be nice, but around at around $400 for a cow and maybe $50 for a goat, they are out of the reach of the dollar-a-day crowd. Powdered milk is often sold in single serve packets to the very poor.
Goats don’t get TB, and feeding them is free because they eat pretty much anything, vegetation-wise.
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-buy-powdered-eggs-or-milk-anymore-what-other-powdered-foods-are-available/662887/68 "2013-07-09T17:52:57Z")
> [@gaffa](#):
>
> There is a whole huge section in Modernist Cuisine about making powder out of random ingredients. I got the distinct impression that there was a lot of “because we can” to the whole thing.
The whole Modernist idea seems to me to be about 65% “Because we can” and about 35% “better cooking techniques”.
Still, MCAH is a great cookbook, and I’m convinced isn’t as much of a straight-up book of recipes as it’s a book of techniques and concepts, and the recipes are there to illustrate the concepts and techniques, not the other way around like most cookbooks.
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### Author:  [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-buy-powdered-eggs-or-milk-anymore-what-other-powdered-foods-are-available/662887/69 "2013-07-10T23:35:57Z")
> [@bump](#):
>
> The whole Modernist idea seems to me to be about 65% “Because we can” and about 35% “better cooking techniques”.
>
> Still, MCAH is a great cookbook, and I’m convinced isn’t as much of a straight-up book of recipes as it’s a book of techniques and concepts, and the recipes are there to illustrate the concepts and techniques, not the other way around like most cookbooks.
Yeah, I don’t think anyone actually _needs_ a Pacojet, for instance. But it sure was fascinating to read about.
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### Author:  [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2013, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-buy-powdered-eggs-or-milk-anymore-what-other-powdered-foods-are-available/662887/70 "2013-07-11T00:17:00Z")
Pardon the early premature partial post if it happened.
That’s all the milk I buy. I pour some on my raisin bran and add blueberries (whole) or diced tropical fruit mix (canned), then soak it down with thrice-filtered water from my Britta countertop tank, then use the last couple of the brew to wash down my a.m. bunch of pills. Never tried powdered eggs unless the Navy might have scrambled some.
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### Author:  [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-buy-powdered-eggs-or-milk-anymore-what-other-powdered-foods-are-available/662887/71 "2013-07-11T00:21:42Z")
I buy powdered milk for the rare occasions when I am baking or using a recipe that calls for it (I don’t bake much). I didn’t know that there was powdered buttermilk, and now that I do, I will make cornbread more often.
No powdered eggs, though.
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### Author:  [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-buy-powdered-eggs-or-milk-anymore-what-other-powdered-foods-are-available/662887/72 "2013-07-11T00:42:16Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#):
>
> Goats don’t get TB, and feeding them is free because they eat pretty much anything, vegetation-wise.
IIRC, and this is a worse problem with cows, both of them (and humans) can get a very close relative to TB, _Mycobacterium bovis_, which can be nasty.
And even goats are a luxury to some people. IIRC, it is, after all, what programs such as Heifer Int. use as part of their charities. That goat is the family’s piggy bank. If having a goat was something so cheap, they wouldn’t be given away as money makers.
I’ve had powedered milk in my childhood because during hurricane season, they usually bought a tin in case one came and knocked off electricity. After the season was over, I would drink it by mixing the powder with much less water than what it called for. 😉 Nice yummy treat for me!
I still see it at the local grocery stores, Klim brand.
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### Author:  [@the\_O](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_O)
#### Post date: [July 12, 2013, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-buy-powdered-eggs-or-milk-anymore-what-other-powdered-foods-are-available/662887/73 "2013-07-12T03:15:08Z")
Because of this thread, I went and bought some powdered eggs. This type of powdered egg is a little different than what I’ve used previously. These are dehydrated eggs that haven’t been cooked already, whereas…other brands are cooked and then dehydrated.
Google: OvaEasy Whole Egg Crystal Powdered Eggs
or
[what I bought.](http://campingsurvival.com/ovwheggcrpoe3.html)
These are \*\*\*no \*\*\*deal, approximately twice the price of fresh eggs. But I’m thinking of the possibilities of camp cooking. (Not that I camp anymore. Or even eat, for that matter. Gawd, this ignorance fighting sure isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.)
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### Author:  [@limegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/limegreen)
#### Post date: [July 12, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-buy-powdered-eggs-or-milk-anymore-what-other-powdered-foods-are-available/662887/74 "2013-07-12T14:54:20Z")
When my daughter got married last summer, we made up a ungodly amount of tiny jars of popcorn seasoning, and one ingredient we bought for that was powdered cheese. Very handy, as you could mix it up with other seasonings and it did not need to be refrigerated, unlike parmesan. A little pricey, but very tasty.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [July 12, 2013, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-buy-powdered-eggs-or-milk-anymore-what-other-powdered-foods-are-available/662887/75 "2013-07-12T17:53:46Z")
A big thanks to those who mentioned using dry milk as a thickener. The other night, I made some mac & cheese that turned out too thin.
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### Author:  [@Mllz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mllz)
#### Post date: [July 12, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-buy-powdered-eggs-or-milk-anymore-what-other-powdered-foods-are-available/662887/76 "2013-07-12T18:46:20Z")
I bought this powdered water…
…
…now I don’t know what to add.
-Steven Wright
Turns out he was [onto something](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_water), but hardly a grocery item.
I imagine powdered eggs still play a significant role in all-you-can-eat breakfast buffets, no?
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