Hi, our hens are laying more eggs than we can use or give away. Anyone know how to dry eggs? Help we are buried in eggs!

-- Daryll (twinck@wfeca.net), May 10, 1999

Answers

May you have this problem always!

We always fed our leftover eggs to the hogs.

-- Johnny (jljtm@bellsouth.net), May 10, 1999.

We bought 3 baby pigs yesterday,did'nt know they would eat eggs. thanks for that info

-- Daryll (twinck@wfeca.net), May 10, 1999.

Checked in this a.m. and saw the post re: hogs. Had to chuckle...years ago (many moons ago) we were losing chickens and discovered that the hogs were eating them. We had waited too long to clip wings (again) and they were flying into the hog pen. The chickens were 'breakfast' and snacks. I happen to witness an event when I was slopping the hogs with goats milk and grain..a morning ritual. But..they were the best eating pork we ever had. Have a good day and pray about our world condition. We need all the prayers we can muster.

-- Old Gramma (Gotitincalif@webtv.net), May 10, 1999.

I dehydrate eggs with a Mr. Coffee dehydrator. I do 6 at a time, and use the fruit roll sheet on the top tray. I beat the eggs as if I were going to make an omlette, then freeze them in a glass jar in the freezer overnight.

When I'm ready to dry them, I let them thaw, but not warm to room temp. Freezing seems to speed up the process a little. After about 18 hours of drying, they're dry and brittle. I powder them with an old coffee grinder, but a blender or food processor will work just as well. The egg powder goes into ziplock baggies, and in the cupboard.

I've used eggs that I've dehydrated this way for omlettes and cooking, with no problems. To rehydrate for use, I mix two measures of water for each measure of powder.

I have some eggs that were dehyrated over 5 years ago, and stored in the cupboard in a ziplock bag, that are still good to use.

Hope this helps.

-- LP (soldog@hotmail.com), May 10, 1999.

Many thanks to LP.....didn't used to worry about saving excess eggs but do so now. Drying eggs makes very good sense. Thanks again for the good useful info.

-- Old Gramma (Gotitincalif@webtv.net), May 10, 1999.

I hope it is okay to forward this tip to the Y2Kitchen Newsletter editor. I know she'd love to include it. I too have 18 chickens that are great eggers. It's hard to eat a dozen a day without thinking "cholesterol"!!!

Mr. K

-- Mr. Kennedy (Mr.K@work.today), May 10, 1999.

I've never heard of a Mr. Coffee Dehydrator. Are they widely available?

-- Doug (douglasjohnson@prodigy.net), May 10, 1999.

Try pickling your excess eggs- they're yummy that way. You can eat them later on either as a snack, chopped up with mayo as egg salad, etc,. we do that with the early spring 'flush" prior to my markets beginning. You can also waterglass preserve them- previous link somewheres on this forum......

-- anita (hillsidefarm@drbs.com), May 10, 1999.

Anita, where? I'd like the links to what you referred to. MrsK

-- Mrs.K (looking@Mr.K), May 10, 1999.

"I've never heard of a Mr. Coffee Dehydrator. Are they widely available? " - Doug

Doug,

I got mine at a discount store called Bi-Mart. It's a chain in Oregon (at least) similar to K-Mart, WalMart, and so on.

The address and phone given on the instruction manual are:

Mr. Coffee, Inc. 24700 Miles Road Bedford Heights Ohio 44146-1399 tel: 1-800-321-0370

You might call them and ask what stores in your area carry them.

I suspect that you can use whatever brand of dehydrator that is already at hand. I just mentioned the Mr. Coffee brand since that's the one I have. I haven't tried other brands of dehydrators.

If you don't want to get a dehydrator, you can do it in your oven, with the temperature turned down as low as you can get it...150 deg. F. or less, if possible. Keep the oven door open, as if you were using the oven to broil meat. You will probably have to keep a close eye on it for your first run, so you don't cook the eggs, and to determine how long it will take.

I haven't tried this method, but others that have posted their results on other forums I visit claim to have done it this way successfully. I should still have a copy of their posts. I'll post them here when/if I find them.

All the best.

-- LP (soldog@hotmail.com), May 11, 1999.

Oops, I forgot. The model of my Mr. Coffee dehydrator is the model FD5.

Sorry about that.

-- LP (soldog@hotmail.com), May 11, 1999.

LP-

Thanks for the info! This sounds like a fun project.

-- Doug (douglasjohnson@prodigy.net), May 11, 1999.

Mrs. K- re: waterglass and other eggpreserve methods- look under the archives topic"food" and then at the posting "eggs". Don't know how to do links.....

-- anita (hillsidefarm@drbs.com), May 11, 1999.

This is all I could find. I've removed the names and email addresses of the posters to respect their privacy.

***

Date: November 30, 1998 02:01 PM Subject: drying eggs

yes Jul it can be done, I found the information in:

"The Encyclopedia of Country Living", by Carla Emery

this book is worth having.

instructions:

crack egg, scramble, dry. It is that simple. Once dried grind into powder using a mortor/pestal.

Dry your egg shells, grind into powder and use for calcium. Can be given back to the chickens or taken yourself.

The lining of an eggshell can be used for drawing out a bee stinger. Crack egg, pull out the thin membrane and place on stinger. Though I have used the lining for other things like drawing out infection. http://y2k.entrewave.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFApp=20&Message_ID=23787 *** Date: November 30, 1998 09:57 PM

Thanks rainbow2k. I have C Emery's book but it is an early edition. You could use wax paper or foil or saran wrap if your dehydrator doesn't get too hot. My dehydrator came with a fruit roll tray. It is just a plastic tray with the edges curled up to hold the puree on. You could use foil. I have one dehydrator that has small holes to let only the smallest things fall through. http://y2k.entrewave.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFApp=20&Message_ID=23797 *** Date: December 18, 1998 04:01 PM Subject: egg drying

here is what we do;scramble eggs, no fat/butter or grease let them cool down, and cut into squares or wedges then put in food dryer til very dry then crumble or powder and put in air tight container one that does not let in light

easy to reconstitute. especially the squares-just put in bowl and pour some hot water over them. make sure everything is clean clean clean good luck and god bless *** Crack into a bowl and beat. Put into jars, freeze em, thaw em (they will be thicker now, better for drying), dehydrate em (135 deg. approx 18 hr.). Handle em a little while drying to speed and improve drying.

When COMPLETELY dry, push 1/4 pint at a time through blender, then coffee grinder. Powder them as fine as you can, the finer the better.

1 shot glass almost full of powder equals 2 eggs, mix 1 part powdered egg to 2 part water. 1 pint jar equals 22 powdered eggs. Fill jar almost full, put in a little dry ice put lid on loosely. When dry ice is gone, seal jar tight. Freeze until 2000. Will store nicely at roon temperature.

It really is simple, I figured out the process (I've been dehydrating things for years) and dehydrated a years supply of eggs in a casual weekend. *** I just read on another board: 145 degrees for 4 hours then 120 degrees till dry. this was for raw egg dehydration. I also saw Mountain Brook Foods sells 3# in a #10 can for $10.40 plus shipping. 1#=40 eggs. *** One large tablespoon of pure canned pumpkin gives the same effect and about the same taste as one whole egg. Try it. *** For recipes that require an egg: 2 Tablespoons canned pumpkin = 1 egg *** Another egg substitute I found is:

1 egg = 1 tsp gelatin, 3 T Cold Water, 1/4 C Boiling Water.

2 eggs = 2 tsp gelatin, 1/3 C Cold Water, 1/2 C Boiling Water

Place cold water in a mixing bowl and sprinkle gelatin in it to soften. Mix thoroughly. Add all the boiling water and stir until disolved. Place mixture in the freezer to thicken while preparing the batter. When the mixture calls for an egg, take the mixture and whip it until it is frothy. Then add it to the batter.

Now if you do not have a freezer - this may not work, but if you can get it very cold to thicken, you could use it. *** Date: December 28, 1998 09:41 PM Subject: eggs

I have been told you can dip the eggs (in the shell) in boiling water for 10 seconds before breaking the shell. This kills the Salmonella. Then you can dry them raw or cooked.

***

-- LP (soldog@hotmail.com), May 12, 1999.