by: Susan Gast / Author, Blogger at Beesville Books, Bored Boomers, and a Food Dehydrating Fanatic!
I've found a way to dehydrate eggs safely to preserve the incredible edible egg (takes me back to the TV ad in 1976 by the American Egg Board!) making them an eggcellent choice for long-term food storage as they can last up to 10 years!
This makes storing eggs ideal for emergency situations, everyday cooking, or if you've got lazy chickens. If you want to learn how to raise happy chickens, visit my friend's site, "Raising Happy Chickens."
My post shows you how to turn fresh eggs into dehydrated powder. Just add water, and hey presto: eggs!
Using a food dehydrator is the best way to dehydrate eggs. It's easy to do, crack a few eggs, blend them in a blender or use an electric whisk in a bowl - then pour and spread the mixed egg onto dehydrator trays.
In the video coming up, Heidi says that when using a Nesco dehydrator, it's easy to fill the trays, one at a time, stacking them as you go. Just don't move the dehydrator when it's full!
If you've got a pull-out drawer-like dehydrator (Excalibur, for instance) then Heidi's tip is to pull the tray out about halfway, add your solid liner (see the brown silicone liners further down the page) and pour your egg mix onto the partially-pulled out tray. Genius!
See our Podcast Page here on this site, or here on Buzzsprout.
Temperature settings and "how long does it take" is also just a little further down the page. Patience grasshopper!
When the eggs are dry, you'll notice a greasy-like film; don't try to remove it - it's simply the fat from the yolks, and Heidi says you need that, especially for baking! Break the "egg leather" into pieces and place them in your blender.
Keep an eye on the bottom of the blender when grinding the dry eggs to make sure it's doing its job. If the egg is not moving, stop the blender and poke around down there, preferably NOT with a silicone spoon as you may damage the spoon on the blades - or worse - end up with bits of silicone spoon in your ground up egg. Just sayin'.
Heidi's Video
I think it's a great idea to dry eggs - making this storage method ideal for cooks, preppers, and tired-out old birds, er, hens!
In the video, Heidi is big on dehydrating eggs and storing them in vacuum-sealed Mason jars. She provides lots of tips - so make sure to watch it!
I will share here that the ratio of powdered egg to water is 1 tablespoon dried egg to 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of water.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?
Heidi also dries her eggs at NO HIGHER than 115°F and it takes around 12 hours, sometimes 14 hours, depending on the "depth" of your egg mix. Also, she reminds us that when your egg is dry, don't be put off by the oily look of the eggs; that's the natural fat from the yolks and is good for baking!
And get this, she uses a "brake bleeding pump" to draw the air out of her Mason jars! I've never seen that before! One great point about that is it's done by hand, which is great if/when the power is out... you can use and reseal your jars without electricity.
And some folks think it's gnarly to use a brake pump, so I hear you. I recently bought this cute white and green Mason jar vacuum sealer, below: (Amazon Affiliate links, thanks).
Mason Jars Regular Mouth Quart Jars
Mason Jars Wide Mouth Pint Jars
Mason Jars Wide Mouth Half Pint Jars
As an Amazon Associate, I earn commission from qualifying purchases. The price you pay does not increase. Read disclosure here.
NOTE: A lot of people in the Amazon reviews are saying these vacuum-suction contraptions are BEST suited for WIDE MOUTH jars, not REGULAR mouth jars.
My hubby was shopping at Walmart, so I had him get me another 12-pack of quart-size jars. I had him check for broken glass and/or dented metal lids in person... rather than hoping "they make it" in transport via Amazon (or the Walmart store online).
Another reason why I prefer to use "wide-mouth" jars is that I can get my hand inside the jar to give them a nice soapy wash! Can't do that with "regular-mouth" jars...
Elissa's Video
If you're not into breaking fingernails when prying off the lids, check out this lovely Australian lady named Elissa. She happily shares her secret to removing the lid. I'm not talking about the screw on/off band, but the vacuum-sealed lid itself.
Check out these silicone sheets, perfect for Nesco round dehydrators, and the brown ones are ideal for the square Excalibur dehydrators (Amazon Affiliate link, thanks).
I like the idea of silicone rather than plastic - plastic sheets can warp when/if they get too hot, but good old silicone lays flat, no matter what.
First of all, start with fresh eggs, uncooked, and use a food dehydrator set to 160°F to slowly evaporate the water content. Having said that, Jack over at Dehydrated Cookbook has success with scrambling the eggs first and then dehydrating them.
Note that Jack uses a much higher temperature (160°F) than Heidi does (115°F). Well, I guess eggs are protein, like meat, and in Jack's defense, we do dehydrate meat at a higher temperature too.
And, in Kiwanna's case in the next video a little further down the page, she dries her eggs at 140°F - but with ALL methods, do not season the eggs, just dehydrate them un-seasoned.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?
The process can take up to 10 hours, depending on either of those methods used. Once dried, grind the eggs into a fine powder using a blender or food processor, as mentioned earlier.
Both egg whites and yolks can be dehydrated together or separately. For safety reasons, it's best to buy and use pasteurized eggs when dehydrating raw eggs at home.
Why? Read on...
Using pasteurized eggs is safer because doing so greatly reduces the Salmonella risk and food-borne illness. When dehydrating, lower temperatures may not kill all pathogens.
Remember, not all store-bought eggs are pasteurized. If you're drying raw eggs, you might want to use pasteurized eggs.
If doing the scrambled eggs method à la Jack at Dehydrated Cookbook, then using regular eggs for scrambling - and then drying - is fine.
Good question. It's a step that commercial plants do by heating the eggs in their shells to 140°F for a set time, without cooking the egg, and that kills the bacteria. Neat.
You might want "to bother" drying eggs because it offers these advantages:
We can easily rehydrate dried eggs using a 2:1 ratio of water
to egg powder (or a tad less water if desired, like 1.5 tablespoons of water, as Heidi mentioned).
Kiwanna's Video
In the video above, Kiwanna (from Kiwanna's Kitchen) does a great demo and suggests that when you see brown patches of eggs while in the dehydrating process, they need flipping over and drying out for another 2 to 4 hours (at 140°F).
Kiwanna's Tip: After your eggs are dry, grind them up. She then puts the ground-up eggs back on her clean Nesco trays and dries them more. She also states to add oxygen absorbers into the jars before drawing out the air. I couldn't agree more.
Get this, Kiwanna says that a quart-size Mason jar holds 72 powdered eggs!
Another Kiwanna's Kitchen Tip: Let the powdered eggs absorb the water for about 5 to 10 minutes before cooking.
My Tip: Use a cupcake baking liner turned upside down and place it on the top of your dried egg and then vacuum seal the jar. Doing this keeps loose egg from blocking up the suction pipe. Do this cupcake liner trick with any other dried powdered foods.
Freeze drying is considered the best method of drying eggs because it preserves taste, texture, and nutritional value better than using your oven, or a food dehydrator. They have an even longer shelf life (up to 25 years), plus they rehydrate well and can be cooked in many ways.
Freeze-dried eggs closely resemble fresh eggs when rehydrated, but before you get too excited, just know that these specialized freeze-drying machines are a bit on the expensive side for homeowners, plus you need a dedicated place to put one.
Harvest Right HFD-1 Home Freeze Dryer
(Amazon Affiliate link, thanks)
The freeze-drying process is pretty similar to regular dehydrating inasmuch as you start by whisking raw eggs into a smooth mixture. It's then spread thinly on trays and placed in the freeze dryer.
The machine freezes the eggs rapidly and creates a vacuum
environment. Over 24-48 hours, the water content turns directly from ice to
vapor. (Yes, it takes "that long.")
The result is a lightweight, crispy
egg product that can be easily crushed into powder.
For those without access to a freeze dryer (raising my hand here), traditional dehydration pretty much achieves similar results at home.
RECAP:
To start, whisk raw eggs thoroughly. Pour the mixture onto dehydrator trays that have either the plastic non-stick liners or the silicone non-stick sheets. Spread the eggs thinly and evenly.
The consensus is to set the dehydrator to 135°F and let it run for about 10 hours. The eggs are ready when they're completely dry and brittle, but brown egg spot areas need turning over and drying more, per Kiwanna, in her video.
Once cooled, grind them into a fine powder using a blender or food processor.
This method works well for both raw and cooked eggs.
For Jack, dehydrating eggs involves scrambling them first, and then spreading the scrambled cooked eggs on top of the dehydrator trays to dry.
Even though the process of raw vs unseasoned scrambled is similar, the
final egg texture differs slightly.
When using an air fryer, start by whisking eggs as usual. Then pour the mixture into silicone molds that fit inside the air fryer basket. Set the air fryer to its lowest temperature setting, usually around 135°F.
Air fryer drying takes about 5-6 hours. Check the eggs regularly and give them a stir every hour to make sure you're drying them evenly. The eggs are "done" when they're completely dry and crumbly. After cooling, grind the dehydrated eggs into a powder.
While this method is handy if you don't have a dehydrator but have an airfryer, the fact that you can only do small batches of dehydrated eggs is offputting to me.
After the dried eggs have completely cooled down and you've ground them into a fine powder, store in airtight containers to help keep any moisture at bay.
Use Mason jars or Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. NOTE: We store vacuum-sealed packages inside Mylar bags, and then seal the Mylar bag. We don't draw the air out of Mylar bags.
And by keeping the three enemies at bay,
the storage life of dehydrated eggs goes up to 5-10 years when kept in a cool, dark place.
Remember, properly dehydrated and
stored eggs is a cost-effective way to have eggs on hand all year long.
Here are some common issues and how to address them.
To avoid rubbery or brittle eggs, make sure you mix the yolks and whites completely.
A finely-ground egg powder will rehydrate more evenly, and give us in a nice, smoother
texture and not as grainy-feeling/tasting.
It takes a steady hand in getting the right water-to-egg
ratio when rehydrating. Too much water makes runny eggs. Too little water makes them dry and crumbly. That makes sense, right?
Begin by using an equal amount of water to your dehydrated eggs. For example, 1 tablespoon of powdered eggs to 1 tablespoon of water. If the egg mix is a bit too thick, add a tad more water.
Kiwanna and Heidi say the ratio of 1 tablespoon of powdered egg (which is the equivalent of one regular egg) to 1.5 tablespoons of water is good. You can always add more water, but you can't take it out!
Next, let the mixture
sit in a bowl for 5-10 minutes after adding water so that the eggs drink up
the water. Remember to stir well - and often - while rehydrating.
Rehydrated eggs may not behave exactly like fresh eggs in all recipes. We might need to adjust liquid amounts in baked goods or add extra seasoning to scrambled eggs.
While dehydrating eggs at home is not for everyone, you can buy them online (of course!)
Here are a few best-selling brands on Amazon:
READYWISE - Simple Kitchen, Powdered Eggs, 72 Servings, Emergency Food Supply
Augason Farms Pasteurized Scrambled Egg Mix Can
Mountain House Scrambled Eggs with Bacon - Freeze Dried Survival & Emergency Food
and they are my Amazon Affiliate links, thanks!
Here are answers to some common questions about the process, storage, and rehydration of dehydrated eggs.
What's the process for drying eggs if you don't own a dehydrator?
When you don't have a dehydrator, use a regular oven (see next question) set to its lowest temperature. Air-dry whisked eggs in thin layers on parchment paper. This process takes longer but can be done if you live in a dry climate.
Preheat your regular oven to its lowest possible temperature. Whisk the eggs. Spread the mix out thinly on top of a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Carefully put the sheet in the oven. Leave the oven door slightly open by using the handle of a wooden spoon as that allows moisture to escape. This takes about 6-12 hours, depending on the oven and the humidity levels in your home.
Can I dehydrate eggs in an air fryer, and if so, how?
Yes, you can use an air fryer to dehydrate eggs. Start by whisking the eggs and pouring them into a shallow, air fryer-safe dish.
Set the air fryer to its lowest temperature, usually around 170°F - if it can go lower, great, as 135°F is best. Check and stir the eggs every 30 minutes until they're completely dry and crumbly.
How do you properly rehydrate dehydrated eggs for consumption?
Rehydrating powdered eggs is simple. The golden egg rule is 1 tablespoon of egg powder to 1.5 tablespoons of water and that equals one whole egg.
Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes to absorb the water and stir well.
Thanks for stopping by to read all about how to dehydrate eggs safely! We hope you found this information eggstra special. (Groan).
Don't forget to get your free "Six Simple Steps" eBook where I share how to dehydrate food safely!
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Hi, I'm Susan Gast and I've been making food preservation simple since 2010. Let me show you how to keep your food pantry full, whatever the reason or season!
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Should you purchase an item through their links, I may receive compensation. The price you pay does not increase.
THANKS for your support! Read full disclosure here.
easy FOOD DEHYDRATING: Making food preservation simple since 2010.
I show you how to keep your food pantry full, whatever the reason or season!
AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: I am an Affiliate for Amazon, and other sellers of quality merchandise.
Should you purchase an item through their links, I may receive compensation. The price you pay does not increase.
THANKS for your support! Read full disclosure here.
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