Cooking with DRIED EGG Dried egg makes a handy addition to staple food supplies. It is easy to carry home from the market. It takes up little storage space. It will keep for many months. And it has many uses in cooking. When eggs are dried, only water is removed. The solids that remain are made into a fine powder. When liquid is added to replace the liquid taken out, dried egg can be used in place of shell eggs in many recipes. Three dried-egg products are on the marketdried whole egg, dried egg white, and dried egg yolk. They are referred to in the trade as wholeegg solids, egg-white solids, and egg-yolk solids. Food Value Good-quality dried whole egg that has been properly stored has practically the same food value as shell eggs. It contains iron, vitamin A, and protein of good quality-important materials for building blood and body tissue. It also has thiamine, riboflavin, and other essential B vitamins. Proper Storage Dried egg will stay sweet and mild in flavor for about a year if it is properly stored. Keep unopened packages of dried egg in a dry, cool place (not over 55° F.), preferably in the refrigerator. Once a package is opened, put the unused portion into a container that has a closefitting lid; cover the container and store it in the refrigerator or other cool, dry place. Unless kept tightly covered, dried egg takes up moisture from the air and may absorb flavors from other foods. If dried egg takes up moisture in storage, it becomes lumpy and will not mix readily with liquid. Dried egg that develops a slight off-flavor need not be thrown away; this flavor may not be noticeable in baked products. Pointers on Use in Cooking The recipes on pages 8 to 23 have been developed especially for the use of dried egg. For information on using dried eggs in your own recipes for similar products, see the directions and precautions that follow. Because dried egg is sometimes contaminated with bacteria that can cause food poisoning, it may not be safe for use in foods that are not thoroughly cooked. After doing careful research, some companies are exercising rigid bacteriological control to make dried egg that is safe for use in uncooked or only lightly heated preparations, such as egg-milk drinks, mayonnaise, omelets, scrambled eggs, cream puddings or fillings, soft custards, and ice creams. Unless the label states that the dried egg you buy is of such quality, use it only in thoroughly cooked dishes-baked breads, cakes, long-cooked casseroles, baked custards-or in cooked salad dressing for which a short cook is safe because of the high acidity. To find how dried egg can best be combined with other ingredients in your recipe, note the directions for a similar product in the recipes on pages 8 to 23. For some recipes—muffins, popovers, cookies, baked custards, bread and rice puddings, for example—the dried egg is sifted with the dry ingredients. The water needed to replace the water removed from the egg in drying is added to the liquid in the recipe. For other recipes, the egg is reconstituted first (blended with the amount of water needed to replace that removed in drying), then used as shell eggs are used. Like shell eggs, dried egg if overcooked may cause certain kinds of mixtures to curdle. Therefore, in some recipes in which flour or other starchy ingredient is used for thickening, the dry ingredients and the liquid are cooked first; this mixture is then added to the reconstituted dried egg. Reconstitute only as much dried egg as you will need for the recipe you are preparing. Dried egg that has been blended with water should be used within an hour. Dried Whole Egg Amount to use.—The list of equivalents below shows the amount of dried whole egg and the amount of water to use in place of a given number of shell eggs. Measure the dried egg and water carefully in a standard measuring cup or tablespoon. water Shell eggs: 1 1. 2....... Dried whole egg, Lukewarm sifted 21/2 tablespoons 21/2 tablespoons 5 tablespoons 5 tablespoons 1/2 cup 2/3 cup 43 cup 3...... 1/2 cup 4. 5...... 6...... 3/4 cup 3/4 cup 8. 1 tablespoon 12........ 2 cups 11/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon 2 cups 1 Large eggs weighing 24 ounces per dozen. |
