Friday, November 5, 2010

Dehhdrating Eggs - Q & A

I've written a few posts about dehydrating eggs.  I did alot of "net surfing" and asked alot of questions.  At the time there just wasn't much information out there. So I came to the conclusion that I should be able to do them myself.  Rather than paying for what I consider expensive powdered eggs I gave it a shot (or two) and found out I was right.    Every instruction that I found called for first cooking the eggs and then placing them in the dehydrator.  I couldn't figure out just why you had to cook them first.  I still haven't found a good explanation for it.  If anyone has one, I would love to hear it.  A friend of mine from over  in the prepper chat room has done them both ways.  He said that taste-wise, after trying both methods, he preferred the eggs that had been dehydrated from raw eggs.  Since he is the only one that I know that has done them both ways I am going to go with his results.        Here is the way I dehydrate my eggs.  Crack your eggs in a bowl and whisk them really well.  Pour the mixture onto your roll up trays.  My trays hold 6 eggs each.  The amount will vary with different dehydrators.  Set your dryer temperature to 165 degrees.  I do this to kill the "bad stuff".  Let the eggs dry for approximately 24 hours.  They will a little "oily" to the touch but that is normal.       Take them off the trays.  Sometimes mine sort of stick a little so I use a spatula to help loosen them up.  Break up the eggs into small enough pieces to fit in your food processor. (You can use a blender if you don't have one)  Process them until they are as fine a powder as you can get.  I store mine in canning jars and seal them up with my FoodSaver.  Store them in a cool dark location until you are ready to use them.  To rehydrate them, I use 3 tablespoons per 1 tablespoon of powdered eggs. alwaystawnya left a comment on an older post about dehydrating eggs.  I thought I would try and answer her questions here.  And of course,  like I've always told my friend Felinae , when blogging- never ever let a post idea go to waste!  Sometimes they are just to danged hard to come by!   Anyway.... alwaystawnya said... so i am curious.... and brought out my dehyrdrater today after being in a cabinet for about 5 years. I've only dehyrdrated a few fruits and made some jerky. Today i am trying to dehyrdrate bacon for a snack for my dog being that she's allergic to most dog treats. What recipe would u use a dehyrdrate egg for. Trying to step outside my box and cook a little more.. Also never thought when making a stir fry to use anything other than fresh veggies. So ur dehydrating them and then.... Pull out the cabinet when ready to cook??? Sorry i may sound a little elementary but like i said just now trying to step outside the box and cook in a more cost effective way.      First I would like to say Congratulations on bringing out your dryer!  There are so many really cool things you can do with one and it can actually be fun too. You can dry almost any vegetable and lots of different fruits.     My friend Mushroom uses her dehydrator for making dog treats as well.  It is a great alternative to buying those processed (and expensive) dog treats.  Those things are loaded with all sorts of nasty stuff that (pardon the expression) you wouldn't even feed to a dog.  I would follow the same rules for making dog treats as you would when dehydrating your own meats.  Try to use leaner cuts of meat if you are storing for longer amounts of time.  Fat tends to make meats go rancid pretty fast.     As to your question about recipes for using powdered eggs, I use them in almost ANY recipe that calls for eggs.  You can use them to make regular scrambled eggs, omelets or other egg recipes.  I use them in baking as well.   You don't even have to rehydrate the eggs as they will do that on their own.   Just toss in the powdered eggs to your mixture.     alwaystawyna  asked a question about stir-frying rehydrated vegetables. I haven't ever tried to use them in a stir-fry as a stand alone vegetable.  If anyone has any experience with it I would like to hear them too.  Now I have used them making things like stir fried rice.  They work great!  I use them alot in soups, stews and casseroles but they are also great as a stand alone dish.   Don't forget that you can dry potato's in lots of different ways too. The uses for dried vegetables are almost endless.     Dehydrating foods is an excellent way to keep vegetables for your long term storage.  Just make sure they are sealed well and kept in a cool dark place and you will have wonderful vegetables for many years to come.                                                  ~~ Hey ... I'm Just Sayin ... ~~

3 comments:

  1. Used to dehydrate stuff, but haven't for many, many years. Maybe I ought to try it again.

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  2. The dog chicken jerky strips in the store are made in China even though the front of the package says that it is a US company.

    I buy bags of chicken breasts on sale. Soak in salt water for a 1/2 hour to remove surface bacteria - I use 1/2 cup salt to a half a sink of water. Remove the fat. I cut them in slices, about 1 inch long, and and about 1/4 inch thick (cut the breasts in half lengthwise). If you have a couple little pieces too small, just smoosh them together and place on tray. Put the strips on your trays, and dehydrate until they are hard, but not brittle.

    The beauty of this is that a) you are cutting them in much smaller strips than the ones in the bag, so they last longer and b) humans can eat the "jerky" too!

    The dogs love their little chicken snacks. I store in plastic Glad or Ziploc round bowls and keep in the fridge, just to keep them fresh. I also freeze them.

    Thanks to SciFiChick - I use my dehydrator all the time on all kinds of things :)

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  3. bookmarked for future reference. ;)

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