Powdered Eggs

[Jim_C]

I figure with all of the hunting, fishing, and camping experience on this forum, and plenty of folks who have had meals which included scrambled eggs made from powdered eggs, I can ask some questions and gain some knowledge from the expertise here at SMF.

But before that a bit of history......We were at our second place and ran out of eggs. We were leaving the next day and didn't want to run out and get a dozen eggs. I thought...never again, got on Amazon and ordered powdered eggs. That was a couple of months ago. This morning we wanted eggs and only had one left. I thought....great time to try those powdered eggs. God awful. Dry, pasty, tasted somewhat like eggs. I threw most of it away.

I had bought 'ReadyWise Simple Kitchen - Powdered Eggs'. I looked at the ingredients and it says "Less than 2% Sodium Silicoaluminate, Whole Eggs". So there eggs.

My questions are:

• Is there a brand you have used specifically and like?
• What sets that brand apart for you?
• Does dry and pasty mean not enough water?
• The color was kind of brown-yellow. Is that standard for reconstituted powdered eggs when they are cooked?
• Do you doctor them up, and if so, with what?

Thanks in advance...................

 

[SmokinEdge]

I have zero experience here, but I would think that freeze dried eggs would be a much better option. I’ll be curious what others experience says.

 

[zwiller]

I went down this rabbit hole but did not grab any. Cliff notes, they work well for cooking/baking but NOT for straight up as cooked eggs. LOTS of much better options. Go to GFS they sell all sorts of egg stuff like this: https://gfsstore.com/en-us/products/762861/

 

[thirdeye]

Even in my backpacking days I never used powdered eggs.

For regular camping where I live..., garbage is a big deal, especially in bear country, so when we took fresh eggs I would crack them into a wide mouth plastic bottle. Otherwise Egg Beaters are an okay option because 99% of the time, breakfast burritos worked the best. I precook sausage, bacon or take sliced ham (which is also good for lunch sandwiches).

 

[SmokinEdge]

Here is a read with some information.


https://unlimited-recipes.com/powdered-eggs-vs-freeze-dried-eggs/

 

[normanaj]

MRE is always an option.

 

[Steve H]

Had my share while in the Army in the 80's. Best solution? Hot sauce. Lots and lots of hot sauce.

 

[ajbert]

I was in the Navy for a number of years and made 11 deployments. When the ship ran out of real eggs the cooks would break out the powder eggs. That is when I turned to yogurt and toast for breakfast. Once we got stores delivered is when I went back to the regular breakfast that was real eggs.

Never tried the liquid egg stuff in the stores, though.

 

[cpaysonc]

We freeze dry raw, scrambled eggs from our girls, they reconstitute very well as scrambled eggs. Our main reason for doing it is to make use of our excess eggs.

 

[LanceR]

Jim_C ,

Your experience was normal for powdered eggs regardless of the marketing hype. Powdered eggs are best reserved for baking.

For camping, they are best used when doing things like repackaging baking mixes, off the shelf or homemade, and can be used with fresh milk, non-fat dry milk or Nido dry whole milk (found in the Latin section of most stores). We add the powdered eggs and milk powder to baking mixes in freezer weight zipper bags at home and write the water amount and baking instructions on the bag. When ready to bake or make pancakes we mix the dry ingredients and water right in the bag so there's less cleanup on site.

What you want for scrambled eggs or omelettes is either freeze dried eggs or, better for most things, OvaEasy Egg Crystals. OvaEasy egg crystals cook up like fresh eggs in scrambled eggs or omelettes and work great for baking and sauces.

They are somewhat pricey and can sometimes be hard to find but are well worth the cost for occasional use. They come in pouches that hold either 5 or 12 eggs worth of egg crystals. Just add water and cook as usual.

On backpacking or canoe trips we use the smaller bag which is a 5-egg equivalent. It is a good size for my wife and I as I usually have three eggs and she usually has two eggs. When looked at on a per-egg basis the smaller pouches are sometimes a better bargain. When getting ready to pack meals at home we buy whichever size is more cost effective at the time.

The Nido milk is can be used as soon as it is mixed but for drinking it can be a tiny bit grainy in the first few minutes after mixing. It is indistinguishable from fesh whole milk if it sits for little while after reconstituting it. Our experience has been that when buying the larger cans the cost of the Nido milk powder is the same as buying fresh milk.

I hope some of this rambling helps......

 

[Jim_C]

Jim_C ,

Your experience was normal for powdered eggs regardless of the marketing hype. Powdered eggs are best reserved for baking.

For camping, they are best used when doing things like repackaging baking mixes, off the shelf or homemade, and can be used with fresh milk, non-fat dry milk or Nido dry whole milk (found in the Latin section of most stores). We add the powdered eggs and milk powder to baking mixes in freezer weight zipper bags at home and write the water amount and baking instructions on the bag. When ready to bake or make pancakes we mix the dry ingredients and water right in the bag so there's less cleanup on site.

What you want for scrambled eggs or omelettes is either freeze dried eggs or, better for most things, OvaEasy Egg Crystals. OvaEasy egg crystals cook up like fresh eggs in scrambled eggs or omelettes and work great for baking and sauces.

They are somewhat pricey and can sometimes be hard to find but are well worth the cost for occasional use. They come in pouches that hold either 5 or 12 eggs worth of egg crystals. Just add water and cook as usual.

On backpacking or canoe trips we use the smaller bag which is a 5-egg equivalent. It is a good size for my wife and I as I usually have three eggs and she usually has two eggs. When looked at on a per-egg basis the smaller pouches are sometimes a better bargain. When getting ready to pack meals at home we buy whichever size is more cost effective at the time.

The Nido milk is can be used as soon as it is mixed but for drinking it can be a tiny bit grainy in the first few minutes after mixing. It is indistinguishable from fesh whole milk if it sits for little while after reconstituting it. Our experience has been that when buying the larger cans the cost of the Nido milk powder is the same as buying fresh milk.

I hope some of this rambling helps......

A lot of great information..........Thanks.....................

 

[Kvgsqtii]

I was in the Navy for a number of years and made 11 deployments. When the ship ran out of real eggs the cooks would break out the powder eggs. That is when I turned to yogurt and toast for breakfast. Once we got stores delivered is when I went back to the regular breakfast that was real eggs.

Never tried the liquid egg stuff in the stores, though.

Yeah about 2 weeks into an underway on the sub, the fresh eggs would run out and we'd get the powdered eggs. Luckily the Frank's Redhot didn't spoil so we had plenty of that. They weren't the worst if you got them fresh out of the kitchen, but would start to turn green pretty quick on the hot bar. Mmmmm Mmmmm, don't miss green eggs.

 

[LanceR]

Alrighty now.... let's stay on topic.....

 

[Hijack73]

It's been a LOOOONNNNGGGGGG time but back in the late 70's or early 80's my grandfather (USN retired) went on what I will describe as a 'This is what I ate in the Navy nostalgia tour' (he retired early 70's)

Powdered eggs. Had to show us how easy and delicious they were by just adding a little liquid, giving them a stir, and popping them in the microwave. I think he bought a microwave just to make them, nobody else in the family had one.

He'd taught me already that enough salt. pepper and ketchup could make just about anything edible. He didn't have enough ketchup for me to enjoy my bowl.

From what I remember the addition of cheese along with the ketchup cut it a bit.

Great grandmother told him to try adding milk as liquid. So he did. Powdered milk. Dump it all in a bowl, stir it up, microwave. He thought trying to make them 'soft' was the key. There was no key. I don't remember dry and pasty. I remember yellowish stuff that kinda resembled day old grits sort of chopped up.

A few months later he went back to regular eggs, thank the Lord. He was married 4 times. I wonder if his cooking ran off the middle 2....

 

[Fueling Around]

Been following this thread out of curiosity
Never had powdered eggs. Never used the packaged stuff out backpacking.

Some of the descriptions to make powdered eggs palatable remind me of what is used for me to eat grits

 

[sandyut]

Im pretty sure I had some dried/freeze dried eggs on some backpacking trips when I was younger. Zero recollection on the flavor or taste. Like I was starving and it didnt matter, and or young and didnt care. But from the descriptions you'll are throwing down, not gonna try them. Thanks for the warning.

 

[Jim_C]

Im pretty sure I had some dried/freeze dried eggs on some backpacking trips when I was younger. Zero recollection on the flavor or taste. Like I was starving and it didnt matter, and or young and didnt care. But from the descriptions you'll are throwing down, not gonna try them. Thanks for the warning.

I know that feeling from when I was young and backpacking. When we were at a pristine lake at 6,000 feet everything tasted good. I blame those experiences with dried food for the obsession I had with Kraft mac n' cheese in my late teens and early 20's.

 

[sandyut]

obsession I had with Kraft mac n' cheese in my late teens and early 20's.

Man I a broke a** college kid. I would buy the 5 for a $1 mac and cheese. I big day was using milk and butter. Payday was adding cut up hot dogs. Those times made me strong.

 

[bill ace 350]

Had my share while in the Army in the 80's. Best solution? Hot sauce. Lots and lots of hot sauce.

Yup. Served cold from a Mermite.