How to Cook Make Powdered Eggs Step by Step

If you’re a homesteader, preserving the foods you grow and harvest is very important. Preserved foods enable you to ensure you have enough supplies on hand during the winter, when your homestead will likely be less productive. While food preservation techniques like root cellars, canning and smoking are popular options to store food, another somewhat less common preserved food is powdered eggs.

If you have a flock of chickens, you can create a safe, high-protein preserved food that will last for years, is delicious, and is great for bartering with your neighbors and other homesteaders as well.

So, if you want to learn a traditional and very effective food preservation technique, this article will show you how to make your very own powdered eggs step by step!

You Need to Cook the Eggs First!

Even though lots of folks are using home dehydrators to make these, Utah State University states that these devices can’t reach high enough temperatures to make the dehydration process fully safe.

While some dehydrators can reach a high enough temperature, most do NOT, and the ones that do won’t be able to sustain it for the many hours the process takes. This is why we need an extra step, cook the eggs first – basically make an omelet, then dehydrate it. Cooking reaches far higher temps that drying and that’s what will actually kill salmonella (if present).

Even so, there is no tested recipe that involves cooking and then dehydrating on any extension… but the cooking process should take care of the salmonella if it’s there. This is probably the safest recipe you can try if you want to dehydrate eggs at home.

Note: you should cook the eggs with as little oil or butter as possible. If you ahve a non-stick pan and can do with without oil, that would be best. Oils tend to go rancid over time, and that’s an issue since you’re deyhdrating them for the long term.

What Are Powdered Eggs, Anyway?

Powdered eggs are simply fresh eggs that have been cracked, beaten with a blender, then dehydrated to remove moisture into a powder. They should last a really long time, and can be used like you would real eggs.

Commercially, powdered eggs are made via a technique known as spray drying. This is a method involving atomizing liquid eggs into tiny droplets and feeding them through a large drying chamber.

There they are exposed to hot air that evaporates the water content and transforms them into solid particles – creating the powder we know today.

Of course, it’s also possible to make your own powdered eggs – and it’s far easier than you might think!

Powdered Eggs, from Beloved Camp Food to World War II Staple

Powdered eggs, sometimes called dried eggs, or dehydrated eggs, have been in widespread use for well over a century. Because a container of powdered eggs is so light and compact, it became a very popular camp food.

Hunting lodges and fishing camps relied on foods like powdered eggs and beef jerky to keep their clients well-fed while they were on excursions to the more remote parts of the United States.

Because they were so lightweight and packed with nutrients, it was not long before governments saw the utility of powdered eggs as well.

During the Second World War, when food was a critical commodity that governments controlled closely, powdered eggs were adopted widely. In the UK, dried eggs imported from the United States were distributed widely through the Ministry of Food’s ration systems, due in part to the shortage of fresh eggs.

While not as popular as fresh eggs from the farm, powdered eggs no doubt helped to keep the civilian population in the United Kingdom well-fed, so they could continue to fight the Axis Powers and win World War II.

In the years following the War, powdered eggs fell out of fashion. People were no doubt happy to be free of the ration system, and the end of the War years also coincided with the beginning of mass poultry production as well.

Over the years, fresh eggs became mass-produced, inexpensive, and widely available, and powdered eggs slowly faded into obscurity.

Now, however, homesteaders are continuing to discover old skills and crafts that have become lost or obscure, and putting them to work in the 21st Century.

Interest in both homesteading as well as prepping have led many people to give powdered eggs a second look; many people even buy powdered eggs in bulk now to ensure they have a ready supply of protein on hand at all times.

But as easy as it is to order a can or bag of powdered eggs online, it’s more practical and satisfying to make them yourself. So, maybe it is time to give powdered eggs a try on your homestead. After all, this preserved food is a great fit for economical, sustainable, and low-cost living.

Why You Should Make Powdered Eggs

If you’re a prepper, powdered eggs are great to have on hand for emergencies or survival situations as well. Here are a few of the benefits of making and using powdered eggs.

They Let You Make the Most of Boom and Bust Egg Laying Cycles

If your homestead is in a cold weather climate, your chickens may not lay prolifically throughout the winter; here in New England, even my hardiest cold weather hens slow down their egg laying considerably during the colder parts of the year.

Making powdered eggs during the peak egg-laying months of summer will ensure you have a steady supply of eggs for your breakfast and baking needs all year long.

They’re Easy to Store

Powdered eggs are also easier to store when space is an issue, or you are hiking and want to travel light. A dozen fresh eggs take up about 122 cubic inches of space; however, their powdered equivalent only requires about 22 cubic inches.

The drying process, which we’ll discuss later, helps to kill bacteria that could have possibly contaminated eggs during handling and shipping.

Are Powdered Eggs Good For You?

Powdered eggs are also highly nutritious. A tablespoon of powdered eggs – the equivalent of one whole egg – contains over 5 grams of protein, and other essential vitamins and minerals as well.

So, now that you know a bit about the history and benefits of powdered eggs, let’s take a close look at how you can make them on your homestead.

Equipment and Ingredients

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Making powdered eggs is surprisingly simple, but you will need some basic equipment, including:

• Blender. Any standard blender will do; you’re only using the blender to mix your eggs and then ground the dried eggs into a fine powder, so it won’t get much of a workout! If you choose to do so, you can use a whisk and mixing bowl for both of these steps. However, a blender or food processor does a much more thorough job of mixing your raw eggs and rendering the dried eggs into a fine powder.
• Dehydrator. You’ll need a dehydrator to actually dry your eggs. While you could use a standard oven to dry them, a dehydrator will be much more effective and consistent. Additionally, your dehydrator can do many other important and tasty food preservation tasks as well, so it is a good tool to have on a homestead. Your dehydrator will need solid trays for you to spread out your mixed raw eggs to draw upon; these are the same types of trays used to prepare fruit leather.
• Large Mixing Bowl. You’ll need a large mixing bowl to transfer your eggs into after they’ve been dehydrated. Also, you’ll want to crack your eggs open into a bowl as well, so that you can easily remove any stray eggshells or other debris that happens to get mixed in with them.
• Storage. You’ll need something to store your powdered eggs once you make them. If you plan to consume them relatively quickly, then simple plastic locking bags or containers may suffice. However, if you intend to store your powdered eggs for months or years on end, you will need more sophisticated procedures to ensure they are packed airtight. We will discuss powdered egg storage options for your consideration later.
• Ladle or Spoon. You will use a ladle or spoon to carefully transfer your eggs from your blender onto your dehydrator trays.
• Eggs! Of course, in order to make powdered eggs, you’ll need fresh eggs to start with. This particular recipe calls for two dozen fresh eggs.

Packing and Storing Powdered Eggs

If you plan to use your powdered eggs relatively quickly, you can simply store them in a locking plastic bag in your refrigerator. However, if you intend to store powdered eggs for months or years at a time, you should definitely take additional measures.

One great option to safely store your powdered eggs for the long term is to use a vacuum seal machine to pack your powdered eggs into an airtight plastic bag.

Once you have vacuum packed your eggs, store them in a cool dry place that is out of direct sunlight. Once you’ve opened any of your vacuum-packed powdered egg bags, ensure you store them in a refrigerator.

Another option for storing powdered eggs is in mason jars. Not only do they offer a neat and tidy way to store them, but they provide you with an airtight seal that will help to keep them fresh for longer periods of time. It’s easy to see what’s inside so you can use up your powdered eggs ASAP.

You can learn more about powdered eggs and food safety from the USDA website. Additionally, here is a great video that demonstrates how vacuum packing is used for food preservation and storage, especially for powdered goods:

Reconstituting Cooking with Powdered Eggs

I should have probably mentioned this in advance, but the taste of powdered eggs will never be the same as that of regular eggs. That’s just something you’ll have to get used to…

To cook your powdered eggs into scrambled eggs, one tablespoon of powder and two tablespoons of water approximates one egg. Simply mix the egg powder and water together, then add to a skillet and cook the mixture over medium heat for a plate of scrambled eggs.

You can also use your powdered eggs in lieu of fresh eggs for recipes that require them, such as cake. Simply use the 1:2 powder-to-water ratio to add the appropriate amount of powder and water for any given recipe.

Of course, dried eggs will make a tasty omelet every time…

You DO NOT have to mix the egg powder and water prior to adding them to a given recipe, either – unless you already tried it and want to improve the taste. In most cases, you simply add the proper amount of egg powder and water separately to a mixing bowl with the other ingredients the recipe calls for, so that you approximate the amount of eggs the recipe calls for.

When using them for baking, same advice: you don’t need to rehydrate them in advance. Simply add them to the mix and you’re good to go!

Shelf Life

As I mentioned in the beginning, eggs dried in a home dehydrator are not that shelf-stable, so don’t count on them to last for a year, like your typical cans of food. Instead, see them as a solution to salvage some eggs when you have too many. Strive to consume them as soon as possible.

Parting Thoughts

If you’re looking for innovative ways to preserve food on your homestead, you should definitely consider making powdered eggs.

Powdered eggs are packed with protein and other nutrients and are easy to make and store. Plus, they are absolutely delicious as well. So, follow the directions here, and add some powdered eggs to your pantry today!

Powdered Eggs FAQ