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Dehydrating Eggs at Home (2015)

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Re: Dehydrating Eggs at Home (2015)

#41
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to this page (I didn't verify it myself), salmonella is quite difficult to dry sterilize. ( https://www.foodsafety-experts.com/food-safety/salmonella-se... ) > Salmonella is very difficult to kill when it is sitting in dry powders. Depending on the product you might need to get the product heated to temperatures above 150°C for at least 30 minutes to achieve a 6-log reduction if any Salmonella present in th…

Wow, this is news to me. I always assumed there were time-temperature curves for pasteurization & sterilization that applied to bacteria regardless of the medium the pathogens existed within. Food safety is actually pretty complex and often gives me hesitation when cooking sous vide (for instance, botulism spores from garlic can easily survive anaerobic sous vide conditions).

Could you instead sterilize the garlic before use?

Moisture level generally has strong effects on microorganism survival. Another example is B. cereus spores (can be present in rice) which can remain viable in boiling water for extended periods and are even more heat resistant in dry environments.

I was a bit surprised by the extremely high temperature claimed by the article linked in my previous comment. I'm still wondering if perhaps they accidentally swapped C and F in the units there, but I didn't have much luck tracking down a time-temperature survival curve for salmonella under dry conditions.

Re: Dehydrating Eggs at Home (2015)

#42
post #39

That was oddly a fun read. And I got a chuckle from the conclusion: So is it worthwhile to dehydrate eggs? From a cost standpoint, the answer is unequivocally “yes,” but only if you keep your own hens to begin with

[deleted]

Re: Dehydrating Eggs at Home (2015)

#43
Dehydrated eggs used to be very inexpensive. I bought a case (6) big cans I think in like 2009 for I want to say around $100. Wow that has changed. I still have most of the case, not sure how long they last. I opened a can like 2 years ago and it had an oxygen absorber and was fine. I got them here. https://honeyville.com/

I highly recommend the 6 grain cereal, it's awesome. https://shop.honeyville.com/6-grain-rolled-cereal.html The dried eggs frankly were not as good. I think they were mostly yolks. They were good to bake with.

For what it's worth chickens aren't that cheap to raise anyway. You need a coop and usually food. I'd rather just spend a little and avoid the hassle. The last batch of chickens I had never even made it to laying before they were all eaten by a fox or weasel or something. But free range chicken eggs are very tasty.

Re: Dehydrating Eggs at Home (2015)

#44
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to this page (I didn't verify it myself), salmonella is quite difficult to dry sterilize. ( https://www.foodsafety-experts.com/food-safety/salmonella-se... ) > Salmonella is very difficult to kill when it is sitting in dry powders. Depending on the product you might need to get the product heated to temperatures above 150°C for at least 30 minutes to achieve a 6-log reduction if any Salmonella present in th…

Wow, this is news to me. I always assumed there were time-temperature curves for pasteurization & sterilization that applied to bacteria regardless of the medium the pathogens existed within. Food safety is actually pretty complex and often gives me hesitation when cooking sous vide (for instance, botulism spores from garlic can easily survive anaerobic sous vide conditions).

Bacteria are completely different when they are wet and when they are dry.

Re: Dehydrating Eggs at Home (2015)

#45
post #40
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is pretty typical (along with milk) for people who are scrambling their eggs over moderately high heat, under the belief that it makes their eggs fluffier. What it actually does is make wetter eggs. By breaking the yolks and mixing before cooking you are breaking down the various proteins, and by adding liquid you are just making the eggs wetter. (Much like how a custard can weep if you hit it with high heat.) I…

FWIW, ATK recommends half-and-half. https://www.americastestkitchen.com/articles/1055-how-to-mak... As I recall, the underlying science is that this helps alleviate the fact that the various proteins in eggs coagulate at different temperatures so adding some fat means that there's less of an issue with some of the proteins drying out while waiting for others to solidify.

I do often add fat, though typically in the form of butter or cream product (sour cream, creme fraiche, etc.) Half and half probably works in a pinch.

Re: Dehydrating Eggs at Home (2015)

#46
post #6

This line got to me. > I blended two fresh eggs with ¼ cup of water and pan-scrambled them. Is adding water to scrambled eggs really a thing that people do? Never in my life have I added water to fresh eggs before scrambling them.

My aunt made the best scrambled eggs ever. Many years later, I learned that her secret was the addition of a small amount of Cheez Wiz to the mix: about 1 Tbsp to four eggs. That right there is a game-changer.

Grate about 1 tsp. Romano, or Parmigiano Reggiano...curd the eggs only, leaving a wet sheen. Heaven.

Re: Dehydrating Eggs at Home (2015)

#47
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to this page (I didn't verify it myself), salmonella is quite difficult to dry sterilize. ( https://www.foodsafety-experts.com/food-safety/salmonella-se... ) > Salmonella is very difficult to kill when it is sitting in dry powders. Depending on the product you might need to get the product heated to temperatures above 150°C for at least 30 minutes to achieve a 6-log reduction if any Salmonella present in th…

Wow, this is news to me. I always assumed there were time-temperature curves for pasteurization & sterilization that applied to bacteria regardless of the medium the pathogens existed within. Food safety is actually pretty complex and often gives me hesitation when cooking sous vide (for instance, botulism spores from garlic can easily survive anaerobic sous vide conditions).

I don't believe anyone has ever gotten botulism poisoning from sous vide cooking and people cook garlic/onions that way all the time. I'm sure it doesn't kill the spores but perhaps the heat still kills enough?

Re: Dehydrating Eggs at Home (2015)

#48
"Eggs dehydrate easily, and most online sources suggest keeping the eggs at 135° F to 145° F for about 10 hours. However this temperature is not sufficient to keep salmonella from forming during the dehydration process, because this leaves eggs in the food safety danger zone for too long."

Umm, no. The food wouldn't be in the danger zone very long, and even if it were the following 9 hours would be more than enough to kill them.

Re: Dehydrating Eggs at Home (2015)

#49

"Eggs dehydrate easily, and most online sources suggest keeping the eggs at 135° F to 145° F for about 10 hours. However this temperature is not sufficient to keep salmonella from forming during the dehydration process, because this leaves eggs in the food safety danger zone for too long." Umm, no. The food wouldn't be in the danger zone very long, and even if it were the following 9 hours would be more than enough t…

Yeah that's what I was thinking. 135F will kill salmonella in under an hour.

From how it's worded in the article, I assume they're just ignorant of how pasteurization works at different temperatures so they're going by the over-simplified recommendation from FDA. I see this same misunderstanding happen periodically on the sous vide forums.

Re: Dehydrating Eggs at Home (2015)

#50
post #40
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is pretty typical (along with milk) for people who are scrambling their eggs over moderately high heat, under the belief that it makes their eggs fluffier. What it actually does is make wetter eggs. By breaking the yolks and mixing before cooking you are breaking down the various proteins, and by adding liquid you are just making the eggs wetter. (Much like how a custard can weep if you hit it with high heat.) I…

FWIW, ATK recommends half-and-half. https://www.americastestkitchen.com/articles/1055-how-to-mak... As I recall, the underlying science is that this helps alleviate the fact that the various proteins in eggs coagulate at different temperatures so adding some fat means that there's less of an issue with some of the proteins drying out while waiting for others to solidify.

Why half-and-half and not cream or butter?
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