Long Term Egg Storage Solutions
Mar 4th, 2013 | By Julie C. | Category: Food, Storage, Top Headline | Print This Article
Editor’s note: This article is for informational purposes only. Please follow all safe food handling processes and proper food preparation methods.
You’ve stashed away wheat, sugar, and oil, and you’ve canned more quarts of beans, peaches, tomatoes, and pears than you care to remember. If you’re like me, though, one item you might have overlooked is eggs. We often take this inexpensive, widely available staple food for granted, but what would happen if you didn’t have access to a store or a chicken coop?
Eggs are an essential ingredient in most baked goods, adding moisture, tenderness, and texture. They’re also one of the cheapest sources of protein around. They provide B12, folate, and vitamin D—nutrients hard to find in other stored foods.
Buying Powdered Eggs
Recently, I’ve become interested in storing powdered or dehydrated eggs. These products are made by washing, filtering, and chilling fresh eggs to kill the bacteria. The eggs are then spray-dried, which is the same process used for making powdered milk. Some companies also add a filler to prevent caking. Any bacteria, such as Salmonella, are killed during the drying process. Dried eggs don’t need refrigeration, but like most food storage products, are best stored in a cool, dry location.
In addition to their benefits as a food storage item, powdered eggs work well for camping and backpacking trips. No more crushed eggs or packing jars of raw eggs, and they take up much less room than whole, fresh eggs. I also like to keep powdered eggs on hand for those inevitable moments, halfway through a baking project, when I realize I’m out of eggs.
Many online retailers sell powdered eggs. For about $20 or so, you can get two and a half pounds of powder—equivalent to nearly 100 eggs. It’s a bit more expensive than buying fresh eggs at the store, but it’s a price worth paying for emergency use. Even Amazon.com sells dehydrated eggs, and in some areas, you’ll find them at retail stores like Wal-Mart. Some retailers also offer powdered eggs in bulk.
Unopened cans of eggs stay fresh for three to five years, while opened cans are good for one year. To reconstitute the eggs, simply mix two tablespoons of dry egg mix with four tablespoons water. Some sources suggest a one-to-one ratio of egg powder to water, so experiment until you get your desired result. Dried, powdered eggs can be used in any recipe calling for eggs, including scrambled eggs, French toast, powdered mixes, and baking.
Making Your Own Powdered Eggs
If you’ve got a chicken coop with more than two or three chickens, you’ve probably got more eggs than you know what to do with. Why not turn some of those eggs into powdered eggs for long-term, emergency storage? Here’s how: Wash one dozen fresh eggs. Crack them into a large bowl and whisk them until scrambled. Pour the scrambled eggs onto fruit leather trays and dehydrate them in a food dryer at 145 degrees. Dry them until they are hard and brittle, typically two to three hours. Cool slightly and break the pieces into small chunks. Blend the chunks in a food processor or blender until very smooth. Store in plastic bags in a cool, dry place or in the refrigerator or freezer.
I’ve read some recipes that require you to cook the eggs in a skillet before drying them to kill any bacteria. Feel free to use this option, if you prefer, but keep in mind that any oil you use in the skillet might go rancid in storage. Dried eggs made with oil must be refrigerated and used more quickly.
How To Use Powdered Eggs
If you’ve got kids, using food storage items often becomes a covert mission. You mix powdered milk with fresh milk to disguise its taste and add dried vegetables to pasta sauces and soups. Powdered eggs require similar strategies until your family becomes accustomed to them. Use them first in powdered mixes, such as pancake or muffin mixes. Add them to cookies and banana bread. Later, use them in fresh, flavored egg dishes, such as French toast or egg casseroles. Finally, try powdered eggs in omelets and scrambled eggs. Powdered eggs actually taste very good, but like all dried foods, they’re not exactly like their fresh counterpart.
This 90 serving emergency food storage container has 9 different just-add-water gourmet meals!
A note: When using powdered eggs in recipes, you don’t have to mix the eggs with water first. Simply add the powder and the appropriate amount of water directly to the recipe. Here are a few ideas for using powdered eggs:
Whole-Grain Pancake Mix
- 4 cups whole-wheat flour
- 4 cups regular flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ cup powdered egg
- 2 tablespoons dried banana powder (optional—blend dried banana chips in a blender or food processor to make it)
Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and store in an airtight container. To make pancakes, mix one cup mix with one cup milk, ¼ cup oil or melted butter, and four tablespoons water. Whisk to make a thin batter and cook on a skillet.
French Toast
- ¼ cup powdered egg
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 loaf bread
Whisk the powdered egg, water, milk, juice, vanilla, and cinnamon together in a shallow bowl or pie pan. Dip the bread in the egg mixture and fry on a skillet until browned on both sides. Serve with syrup or fruit.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup powdered egg
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup whole-wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl. Add the powdered egg, water, and vanilla and beat again. Sift the flours, salt, and baking soda and stir into the egg mixture. Add the oats and chocolate chips and stir well. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and bake for eight minutes.
©2013 Off The Grid News
Loading ...
Excellent info with know how!
Thanks
Will the powdered eggs you make yourself have the same shelf life as the purchased powdered eggs? I also read somewhere that when you gather your fresh eggs and wash them, you coat them with olive oil and they will store longer. Is this true?
Yes, it is true you can store eggs for months but use mineral oil to coat them while wearing plastic gloves. The less you handle the eggs the better. DO NOT wash them, leave the feathers, poop and what have you on the eggs. Then store your eggs point side down and keep in cool area, we keep ours in the basement. We write a date on the end of the carton so we know when we put them down there, so we know which ones to use first.
I like the idea of dehydrating eggs yourself and have wondered if it were possible. We use grapeseed oil to coat ours because mineral oil is not a healthy product and we avoid as many toxins as we possibly can. Our eggs are also clean when we purchase them from a local organic farmer. We have had no trouble with them and have had them for at least 3 months. I’ve seen others who use clean eggs and cover in vegetable oil and store up to 6 months. Most vegetable oils aren’t healthy either so I don’t have them on hand and is why I use grapeseed oil because it’s what I have on hand. We store ours in our storm shelter area in our basement until we are ready to use. Knowing I can dehydrate them is awesome because now I know how to prepare some eggs for even longer shelf life!
Can you do an article on storing eggs using Water Glass (sodium silicate)? I’ve read several pieces on the web but they are from the 1930s and indicate storage in a crock. It would be useful to see an updated piece that addresses whether the eggs can also be stored in food grade plastic buckets, what shelf life to expect, will the water glass permanently coat any tools used and make them unusable for other purposes, etc. Thanks for all the good info.
I have used this as recently as the 1990′s. We (a family of five) had 50 chickens. We gave away eggs to all family members and stored the rest in a 7 gal crock with the water glass mixture for well over a year. The eggs we stored were never refrigerated. I know you can keep unrefrigerated eggs for many months as long as they are not as warm as they would be if being sat on by hen or incubated.
Article was dissapointing. I thought it was going to talk about storing fresh eggs, not powdered.
agreed. I thought the article title was misleading. Also, while I understand the need for commercial sponsorship, I resent thinking I am clicking on an informative article – only to have it be an infomercial> Label advertizing as such!
Brianless in Longarm- This wasn’t a commercial… ease up… did the article SAY in the title it was about storing fresh eggs? Er no. Perhaps you’re not cut out for this – yet.
Long range ocean cruisers do deal with whole fresh eggs. They report that eggs never refrigerated will last longer than refrigerated eggs. I get my fresh eggs from a farmer and they know I want mine un-refrigerated, but cool. . Not an exact measure, but I expect about 6 weeks as a minimum. Get the eggs rinsed but un-scrubbed for the longest life. Naturally, organic free-range eggs give the best results. I will not eat any other kind.
Keep in mind that in a “bug out” situation, I don’t think you’ll get far with whole eggs. Powdered eggs have an important place in your food storage program
Eggs store for quite a while at room temperature from my experience – We stored them under the deck plates in the Torpedo Room when out on patrol. I do recall them getting a bit “ripe” after some period of time but don’t recall exactly when we switched to powdered eggs – it was likely a race between consumption and degradation. Would be interested in hearing from others on this subject.
In years gone by we stored fresh eggs (not store bought) for many months by the dozens. As the hens were laying, we put them in cartons, wrote on the end of the carton what date it was filled, then put them in an extra fridge. We used the oldest first as we added fresh on the other end. In the winter, as the hens were slowed way down in laying, we would be using eggs from 6 to 7 months earlier. Only twice did I have a bad egg doing this. I did crack the eggs in a bowl to check first. We did discover that the bigger the egg, the longer it stored. The little banty eggs lost moisture/water/white faster because they had less of it than the bigger eggs. So we went to keeping only the bigger eggs and eating the smaller eggs right away. If the egg was too dirty from the nest and had to be washed, we ate that one right away, too. Only unwashed eggs were stored (with the bloom still on them). I used big eggs that were stored 8 months like this that were fine, they had mostly yolk left and not much white. I wondered if those would be good to use in making noodles but I never tried it. The cartons seemed to make a difference, too. The foam cartons seemed to keep the eggs from losing as much moisture as the cardboard cartons did. Makes sense. We never ran out of eggs year round when doing this. The fridge held all the stored eggs and still had room for other things, too. I also think that the eggs stored better when the hens were not getting any GMO/commercial feeds, only free range/bugs/whole non-GMO grains/fruits, veggies/grass/etc. If I had some older eggs getting up to 8/9 months stored, I would scramble those and cook them and then feed them back to the chickens. They loved them! Add some soured milk to that while cooking…and some pre-soaked non-GMO oats/corn/etc. Pre-soaked in the soured raw milk is best. Aw, the good old days…
Would love to have many more recipes using powdered eggs.. Do you have more or even a recipe book that I could purchase…. Thanks.. God Bless!!
I read and re-read the article, but didn’t find how to reconstitute them as eggs. How much of the powder you make do you add to how much water to make approximately how many eggs?
1 T of poweder = 1 egg it takes 2 T of water to rehydrate
We have dehydrated and powdered a bunch of eggs of late; they work out well! 1 T powder to 2 T water; re-hydrated and scramble. We found absolutely no taste difference, esp. if you use a touch of bacon grease in which to fry your scrambled egg. I love my girls, and we eat eggs every day, and still have some set back for “later”. We let them dry close to 24 hours in our dehydrator before my dh takes ‘em out, breaks up the larger pieces, and then runs them through our Vitamix. Into a quart jar they go, and we add a commercial silica absorber, (or make moisture absorbers with very dry rice and good ol’ coffee filters…) just to make sure the moisture stays very low. I go ahead and put the jars in the back of my fridge so they also stay dark and cool to help them last even longer. I don’t know if that is necessary, but I’d rather be safe than sorry, and I know my herbs last longer in glass in cool and in dark storage. We have not been super scientific, but are enjoying the process and I hope I have encouraged some other ideas. May you enjoy the bounty of hen fruit!
Like that rice and coffee filter idea, thanks!
Do you all have any type of suggestion that I might do to keep my insulin supply cold….I keep it in the
frig in the butter compartment but lately worry what happens if the power goes down I do realize I could
purchase a small frig and power it with some type of solar but I am not sure if this will work or not
Thank You so much
Dennis
I have no information on how cold insulin must be to keep, and what the temperature:duration curve might look like (typically, the cooler anything is, the longer it lasts — to a point: some things cannot freeze, others love -40°F/C).
That caveat aside, you can cool (or warm) almost anything to ~55°F (37°C) just by burying it ten feet (3 m) deep. Your latitude and climate affect the temperature at that depth, but not by much (the variation is probably ≤ 6°F/4°C). More than 10′ doesn’t buy you much, and going down 150′ may end up getting warmer.
Eggs will stay “fresh” several weeks, maybe a couple of months, at 55°F. Not indefinitely, but longer than under the hen.
If this is any help, great. If not, I’ll give you your money back.
Dennis
I thing you get insulin in a pen some what like the humira pen that does not need to be to be stored in the
frig.its a good bet it cost more
For keeping insuling after grid down scenario’s, it would be good to invest in a small propane refrigerator. Those are used in some RV’s. They are expensive new, but sometimes can be found quite cheaply used. They run a long time on a can of propane from what I understand and are quite durable.
My concern as well. I insist on using the older Humulin or Novalin as I am very familiar with them AND I don’t need an Rx to acquire a year supply. I was taught that long storage is refrigerated but that the vials I am using are OK at room temperature and never had trouble non cooled for 30 days or so.
According to: http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/rl_dsl/Publications/GudStrgInsulin.pdf Unopened, not-in-use insulin should be stored in a refrigerator at a temperature of 36-46º F. Opened, in-use insulin should be stored at room temperature below 86º F.
My 12 year old mini-fridge is rated for 1 amp at 115 volts so I would need at least 100 watts of battery back up solar power if it was kept closed most of the time. The propane or natural gas fridge (you can buy small or full size) is expensive to purchase and would be good only as long as you have fuel.
A cold spring would be perfect, but being without, last summer I experimented with the Zeer pot-in-pot evaporative cooler but our high humidity only allowed a 10 degree temperature drop. This summer I will dig a deep posthole (3 to 4 feet?) and measure the temperature drop in an insulated shaded hole. Hoping to get below 60 degrees on a 90+ degree day.
If you are in a climate with cold winters, consider this. The house I grew up in was initially a log cabin built in the late 1800s and later added on to with framed structure. Under the newer living room was a wet pit. My father explained to me that it was a miniature root cellar that was filled with ice during the winter to provide cool storage for the summer. The ultimate however was the old spring house with its ice cold water (drop a large watermelon in the water for a day for very cold summer treat).
Hi Dennis,
Have you ever heard of a Zeer Pot? It is off-grid refrigeration in places like Africa. You can check out the video on my blog here to see how to build one: http://preparednessshelfreliancecom.blogspot.com
Should be cold enough to keep insulin without letting it freeze. This is probably one of the easiest and least expensive ways to keep food and medicine cool without having to resort to alternative energy in an off-grid, power down situation.
As mentioned above – in a humid environment a Zeer pot will not be very effective. In 90 degree ambient temperature my experiment with Zeer resulted in 80 degree internal temp. Best is to experiment in your area as all it takes is 2 different sized clay pots (outer one must be unglazed), enough sand to fill the space between the pot-in-pot, water, a damp towel, a thermometer to measure internal temp and a shady and breezy location for the setup. Measure temps several times thru-out the day for average temp difference as the pots and sand also work as insulation/moderating the hourly temp variations.
I too thought the article was going to be about water glass. My Mom used to speak about having to go into the dark closet and fish around in a crock for eggs. Said eggs were always fine, but did not like the job of getting them out of the crock.
Thanks for your comment. I looked up “water glass” (a term I had heard years ago — and wholly forgotten) and discovered this:
http://www.storeitfoods.com/page/waterglass
Le
And this:
http://standeyo.com/News_Files/Food/storing_eggs.html
And this, too:
http://www.georgiaeggs.org/pages/preservation.html
Le
Some things I’ve learned about eggs….As an egg is laid, it is laid with a protective coating on it (called a bloom or cuticle) which seals the pores of the egg to keep bacteria out. If the egg is washed, that coating is removed and the pores are then open and available. If you do wash your eggs, you must then keep them refrigerated and they should eaten within a month or so. I never wash my eggs unless it is absolutely necessary and then keep those in the front to eat first. I have found that keeping the litter changed often in the nests helps to keep the eggs much cleaner. You can wash the eggs and replace the bloom with a light coating of mineral oil (not olive oil as it will go rancid) and the eggs will keep unrefrigerated but still not as long as it will keep in the refrigerator. The first sign of an egg “going bad” is when it floats in water. The bloom or mineral oil also keeps the water in the egg from evaporating through the pores. If the egg is old enough for the water inside to evaporate, then the egg will no longer sink in the water. Just my 2 cents.
I guess I was expecting a surprise way to keep fresh eggs, too. I had heard a podcast of a person who sailed the ocean a lot, and he said to rotate the eggs (turn them over, or roll them over) daily and they’d last a few months. I lived in China where they eat years old eggs, but I neglected to learn the secret. Fresh eggs have a coating called “bloom” that preserves the eggs for awhile by keeping the air out of the pores. I read in a poultry book that if you wash the eggs, you should replace the bloom with mineral oil. I did that when I sold eggs. Now I wash only nest soil from eggs and eat those first. Another thing I learned was that if you wash eggs with water colder than the eggs, they inhale, but if the water is warmer, they exhale the dirty water. After reading your article, I got the idea that dehydrating is a form on cooking at a low temperature, so I am going to try my hand at cooking them in the solar oven with only a thin coating of oil on the pan to see how that does for dehydrating. Maybe I’ll soft cook them, then move them to the dehydrator. Also, in your recipe for cookies, I suggest you use powdered butter, or ghee from food storage, too. Lastly, you can always float the eggs to see how old they are. If they start to end-up, eat them first, but if they float, don’t eat them. Best to get a few chickens and let them keep the eggs fresh by laying only what you eat. I’m one of the ones from the thirties who lived the hard times and share your thoughts on how things have changed in the last forty years or so. It never hurts to tell the truth, even if some folks don’t get it.
I store freeze dried store bought powdered eggs in FG plastic buckets. The contents are packed tightly by thumping on the ground leaving as little room for ambient air as possible. Oxygen absorber packets, 500 gram size, are laid on top. The lid must have a rubber ring seal in new condition. The lip of the bucket must be powder free and the lid placed on gently so as now to evacuate egg powder across neither the lip nor the gasket.
AND, I scramble 12 dozen eggs per week as well. These are cooked in a large non stick pot 6 dozen at a time. As soon as they begin to clump (1/2 cup clumps) in the pot I remove them from the heat and continue to stir. The residual heat usually cooks the rest rather quickly. A little experimentation on timing may be necessary.
I spread closely the chopped clumps in a 3/4-1 inch layer onto a Excalibur 9 tray dehydrator every other shelf.
They are dehydrated for 12 hrs at 145. If at the end of the cycle there are any larger pieces that are flexible they go back in for 2 to 4 more hours. Tear a couple larger pieces in half. A piece showing a color difference is a piece still having remaining moisture.
These 12 dz dried eggs are them run through a high speed blender 2-3 cups at a time until finely powdered.
Twelve dozen eggs dried in this fashion will fill a 1/2 gallon canning jar to the brim. 150 gram oxygen absorber packets (50 gram packets each) cannot squeeze in atop the already full to the brim jar so scoop out just enough room to make room for them.
I a “food saver” vacuum sealer device can be found for sealing canning jars your lucky to find one. This device will further enhance the storing process. The powdered eggs may be sealed alternatively in food saver vacuum sealed bags.
As an addition to the process, when running the eggs initially through a blender to scramble them I add 1 oz. colloidal silver (home brew) per 3 dz. scrambled batch. Whether this is effective or not it cant hurt. BTW, scrambled eggs in a blender creates froth/foam. This can be a problem if too many eggs are cooked at one time.
Scorched eggs will likely occur around a thin layer periphery of the pot. Stirring constantly will not void this from happening but stir constantly nonetheless. Refrain from scrapping the pot sides so as not to introduce these toasted amounts into the process. A little bit isnt going to spoil the batch.
I think I said enough.
Thanks, this is helpful.
Good info, HeR3tic. We process ours the same way. Folks, note the O2 absorbers or vacuum packing recommended. Excluding oxygen prevents the cholesterol (fat) in the eggs from going rancid.
on other type of storage is to coat them with mineral oil. it will keep them “fresh” up to 18 month at about 65 degree
Mineral oil is petroleum. Your eggs will easily absorb that through the pores. Its best to store eggs unwashed or coat with olive oil. Olive oil doesn’t go rancid if stored in cool dark place. Sure beats petroleum eggs!
jann,
Perhaps you should re-read all the other posts about using mineral oil as opposed to olive oil, since they all disagree with your comments.
Bob
Hi,
Just want to let you know that one can store farm fresh eggs up to 6 months on the counter top summer, or winter. However, the eggs must not have been washed prior to storing, as then the protective enzyme layer on the shell is then removed. No need for extra coating with oil. Nature is taking care of its own. These eggs can be eaten raw in smoothies etc. Very nutrisious.
Beware: The eggs must not have been refrigerated before storing in this way!
Always crack all eggs, stored this way or not, individually in a cup to detect if one, by chance, has gone bad.
Be very careful in handling eggs especially raw egg product. I worked for 2yrs for a company that provided egg albumin and frozen eggs for commercial use ie Pillsbury etc. Samonella was a major concern and required keeping everything as sterile as possible as samonella bac. are present in most situations. Just be careful how things are handed and stored. I’m sure there must be some recommended protocal available on the net.
I have heard of the turning technique, but have never used it. I seem to remember that it would make eggs last for years. After hearing the pro’s and con’s about mineral or olive oils, it seems to me that some type of wax might work. Any thoughts?
TIP ON HOW TO TELL IF AN EGG IS BAD:
Take a cup of tap water, not hot, warm or cold, just fresh from the tap, and gently drop the egg into the cup of water, with the fattest part of the egg down.
If the egg FLOATS to the top of the cup of water, it’s bad.
If the egg FLOATS HALF WAY, it can be used that day.
If the egg DOES NOT FLOAT, it’s good.
I would always forget which was which… float bad? sinks bad? So I came up with this memory reminder.
If it FLOATS, it’s F*CKED. LOL… that reminder has not failed me yet.
I only ctrlF’d most of the replies. But…what about pickling the eggs? I don’t know how pickling would, if at all, affect nutrition. But, they’ll store forever.
if you want to test eggs, if they are good or bad. put one egg in a cup of cold water.if it stay at the botton of the cup the egg is good. if it floats to the top, the egg is no good . mort
what about using good old “waterglass” , or, sodium silicate solution..? It worked 150 years ago…, still does the job…!
Perhaps a better memory aid might be, “sink or stink”. Just a thought.
Rubbing the eggs in warm mineral oil from the drug store/ Squibb or generic but pharmaceutical grade closes the pores of the egge shells. They will keep 9 mos. or so in a cool, dry location. Pretty cool.
Water glass is a sealer and should do the trick. There are a few old school methods, but all the folks I could check with are gone. Guess we’re on our own……
Check out the Lehman’s Hardware website. They sell water glass and probably could provide info on how to use it and how well it works.
In large chain grocery stores in England the eggs are for sale not in the cooler section like here, but at room temperature in a regular aisle. I don’t refrigerate the eggs from our chickens either. I have been told to clean them just by brushing off, not to use water as that also affects the integrity of the egg shells.
Has anyone considered a natural coconut oil? Organic virgin oil can be used for many things.
From cooking, to internally for the nutrients, to softening your skin. [t absorbes extremely well,]
And has no negative side effects.
It is liquid at body temperature, so could go on as a liquid.
In the cubboard it is a solid [kinda looks like crisco].
Wasted two days drying 18 eggs. I have tried re-hydrating them with water and milk. The flavor sucks.I guess you could mix it with other food to add protein but they don’t even come close to tasting like eggs .
What the heck is a “fruit leather tray” I have had the old stack up round food dehydrator trays but I have never heard of a fruit leather tray
A fruit leather tray is a round plastic disc with a hole in the middle. The edge of the disc is slightly turned up so as to hold thick liquid. It sets in your regular tray. It is made of a type of plastic like a milk jug is made from. Almost every new dehydrator has a fruit leather tray included with the trays.