With the price and scarcity of eggs, and the fact that I usually just use them in recipes, I’m curious about them, and if anyone here has used them. I’m pretty sure I had them when I canoed the Boundary Waters, but that was in 1991 and I’m sure the kind you get at the grocery store is not exactly the same as the kind carried by the outfitters.
Anyway, here’s a video about their use from a YouTuber I enjoy watching. Just one warning: If you do use black salt that’s been “dyed” with charcoal, be cautious if you’re taking any medications, because the charcoal can adsorb them and make them unavailable for your body.
My folks used them briefly when they had a place up near Cotapaxi Colorado. Because it was roughly 20 miles and 40 minutes on the roads in question to the nearest groceries of any sort, and another 25 miles and 40 minutes to any that were affordable. All of which you were taking home in an ice chest if they were perishable during the summer.
This was 10-15 years ago, and after the first few days or so, they just used them up in baked goods. The variants then (perhaps even now, though they absolutely looked better in the video) made mediocre eggs dishes at best. In a less egg-forward dish (again, baked goods) I’m sure they’d be fine.
Personally, I’ve had more luck with the liquid eggs in a carton, but IIRC, all of those variants were still MORE expensive than fresh eggs by the dozen. Sure, there are purchase limits, but a dozen was still $4.49 US at Trader Joes, though $6.99 at my local Kroger.
Using this as a baseline though:
(which is neither the cheapest or least expensive)
You get 24 servings equivalent to one egg. So $13.49 a dozen equivalent, almost twice the cost of even the Kroger eggs.
Still, if you’re only using a couple of eggs a week or longer, it’s got a reported 6 months of shelf life even after opening. That’s very little waste compared to buying a dozen and tossing half of them when you don’t find a use after the first planned meal or two.
H1N1 has been found in Herefordshire recently, the birds have been ordered to be culled. So I suppose it’s only a matter of time. I don’t recall them being so strict about it in the past.
Thanks, that’s good information for a baker, or even a @baker (couldn’t resist, sorry), but probably not so much for the average consumer. It did give me a chance to note and now correct my prior post where I said:
This is why I shouldn’t post late, it should read (which is neither the cheapest or MOST expensive). I tried to pick something at a glance that was reasonably well liked and mid-ish range on prices. So I apologize to all for my errors.
So again I think the powdered eggs are possibly, even at their higher-than-raw price-point are probably a good idea for persons who need eggs for cooking/baking purposes infrequently and are looking to avoid waste, which is an admirable thing. I fully own up to prior to eggs passing $3 a dozen, to having bought a carton and ended up throwing out half.
And if your cooking predominantly only uses whites or yolks, you can apparently get those as separate powdered options, though I suspect from the video you may have issues with sauces or foams that take advantage of the eggs abilities, though I’m hoping a more professional cooker or baker (on of the reasons for the @) could pass along their experience if any.
My limited experience though was only in their shelf-life and the minimization of any need for refrigeration.
No, it would work for the average person who likes eggs. If unopened these cans last 25 years. If opened several months to a year. There are 6 containers, so the equivalent of 70 eggs or about 6 dozen eggs per container. How long would it take most people to go through 6 dozen eggs? Surely no more than several months.
However some of us expect the price of eggs to go down from current levels–perhaps better methods of preventing flocks becoming infected, perhaps vaccines. Thus we wouldn’t want to lock in our next three year egg supply at current high prices.
Every time I’ve looked at stocking powdered egg to hedge against an emergency, the price has sent me into sticker shock; just not economical. Which was surprising because I had originally presumed that perishability was what put a premium on dairy prices (e.g., cheese is cheaper than butter which is cheaper than fresh cream), but not in this case. I suppose that the demand for egg as an ingredient completely absorbs any production beyond the market for fresh.
I have some powdered eggs that I bought years ago. They’re long-expired, but the package wasn’t opened until about three weeks ago. My wife opened it to try to use it to make almond-flour pasta. (It didn’t work.) My first attempt to make scrambled eggs, I got too much water in it. The second time, I didn’t get enough water in it. The third time, I added more water but it wasn’t enough. I’ll try again sometime.
You know that they’re safe to use long after the “best by date”, and I know that, and I’d bet a substantial portion of the board knows that (majority even) but most people?
And there are things old eggs do better than new eggs, and the reverse of course, depending on one’s cooking application.
The only time I’ve had a bad egg, or a bad carton of yogurt for that matter, it was within the sell-by date.
I stopped by a hole-in-the-wall African grocery today while in that part of town doing something else, and looked for powdered eggs but they didn’t have them. They did, however, have cans of full-fat powdered milk, which I cannot find in “regular” grocery stores. I later stopped by Natural Market, to get something else, and asked about powdered eggs. They took me to Egg Replacer on the shelf, which isn’t the same thing. I thanked them and got a few other things, including a short-dated dozen eggs for $3.99.
I don’t use powdered eggs, but someone recently took a container
of them into the hyperbaric oxygen chamber where i volunteer, with
hilarious consequences.
