Powdered eggs

Powdered eggs are fully dehydrated eggs. They are made in a spray dryer in the same way that powdered milk is made. The major advantages of powdered eggs over fresh eggs are the price, reduced weight per volume of whole egg equivalent, and the shelf life (which, when properly sealed, can be 5 to 10 years). Other advantages include smaller usage of storage space, and lack of need for refrigeration. Powdered eggs can be used without rehydration when baking, and can be rehydrated to make dishes such as scrambled eggs and omelettes.

Powdered eggs were a staple of camp cooking at least as early as 1912.^[1]

Powdered eggs were used throughout the Second World War for rationing and were widely used during wartime shortages. Powdered Eggs are also known as Dried Eggs.

The modern method of manufacturing powdered eggs was developed in the 1930s by Albert Grant and co of the Mile end Road. This cake manufacturer was importing liquid egg from China and one of his staff realised that this was 95% water. An experimental freeze drying plant was built and tried. Then a factory was set up in Singapore to process Chinese egg. As war approached Grant transferred his dried egg facility to Argentina. The patent was lifted by the British government during the war and many other suppliers came into the market notably in the USA.

1. ^ Along the Mohawk trail; or, Boy scouts on Lake Champlain, Percy Keese Fitzhugh, Grosset & Dunlap, 1912, p. 219.