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Dehydrating eggs and other dairy products is not difficult, and the end result tastes great. Sure, you can buy expensive #10 cans of powdered eggs, but frugal preppers can opt to make their own and use their savings to buy other long-term food items and necessary supplies.
As most preparedness authors have already noted, learning how to prepare long-term food products in advance and making sure you actually enjoy the taste is extremely important. When you are starving, just about anything will taste good, but there is no need to go to such extremes if you learn how to dehydrate and powder your own produce and meat.
There are two ways to dehydrate eggs: the wet method and the dry method. The dry method is more time consuming, stinky, and really only works well when using the rehydrated eggs for baking or cooking. The wet method is quick, simple, foul-odor free, and can be used for making a big batch of scrambled eggs or an omelet as well.
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How to Dehydrate Eggs
- Place 1 dozen eggs into a blender or food processor and mix until extremely well blended. The process takes only about one minute in my Ninja mixer.
- Place plastic dehydrator discs into each of the trays you will be using.
- Pour half of the egg mixture into each tray.
- Repeat the steps until all your trays are filled with about a half-dozen eggs.
- Set the dehydrator to 135 degrees, or the fruit and vegetables setting.
- The processing time will vary dependent upon the power of your chosen dehydrator. I have three, all different sizes and brands, and the eggs are typically done in about 8 to 10 hours.
- Powdering the eggs is optional, but makes for more compact storage and exact rehydration to avoid runny eggs. To powder, dump the eggs back into your mixer or food processor and blend into a fine powder. This will take about a minute or two. Seal the powdered eggs inside Mason jars and store in a cool dark place. These should be safe to eat for at least two to five years – possibly longer.
- To rehydrate the eggs, mix about one tablespoon of warm water with two tablespoons of powdered eggs. Stir and wait about five minutes and use as you would regular eggs.
Tips and Hints
When the dehydrated eggs are done, they will look a bit like a piece of peanut brittle. It won’t be as hard, but it will have the same texture. If you do not blend the eggs well enough, you will notice some burnt looking spots on the top of the finished product and it will be greasy to the touch. Should this occur, just dab the eggs with a towel to remove any of the grease and allow them to dry thoroughly before powdering.
I have also successfully dehydrated cottage cheese and sour cream. Simply pour and spread the sour cream or cottage cheese onto plastic insert discs inside the dehydrator trays. Try to make the food levels in each tray fairly even and not too thick. Set the dehydrator to 135 or 140 degrees and walk away for the next seven hours. The dehydrated dairy items can be powdered and rehydrated by using the wet egg storage and restoration steps noted above.
With the exception of 100 percent fluid items, it is possible to dehydrate anything with a home-grade drying machine. The one I use to dehydrate eggs was purchased from Amazon for less than $75 dollars. When purchasing a dehydrator, make sure to order some plastic disc inserts and plastic disc screen for dehydrating dairy products and baby food, as well as other partial liquids and small items like corn.
