Long passage, low on real eggs, but have powdered eggs
Posted by No-Country6348@reddit | sailing | View on Reddit | 65 comments
Any advice on breakfast with powdered eggs? We are getting low on food and won’t reach landfall for another ten days. 🤞🏼
Has anyone mixed powdered eggs with real eggs for scrambled eggs to make the real eggs last longer? Or should I reserve the powdered eggs for baking only?
I’ve never used powdered eggs but after reading reddit not sure I want to. We love to have eggs every morning for breakfast so that is my preferred use.
redaction_figure@reddit
For future reference, you can keep fresh, unwashed eggs for up to 18 months without refrigeration. It's called "water glassing" and is pretty simple to do.
ruxing@reddit
Mineral Oil does the trick as well on store bought eggs
One_Detail5601@reddit
Look up associated botulism risk and decide for yourself if you want to take the risk on passage. Personally I'll take powdered or pasteurized eggs.
TenYearHangover@reddit
lol hundreds of millions of people eat non refrigerated eggs every day. They aren’t all dying of botulism or salmonella poisoning. But fear away.
One_Detail5601@reddit
I eat non washed, non refrigerated fresh eggs all the time, as well as fully preserved eggs, just not water glassed.
TenYearHangover@reddit
Ohh this is specific to water glassing. I misunderstood.
WraithQuitsOut@reddit
Maybe I need to research it more, 9 years ago I studied abroad in Portugal and lived there for a year. Not a single egg was ever refrigerated. It was so weird to see eggs being sold in a non refrigeration aisle.
One_Detail5601@reddit
Yes, that is not the same as water glassing. Unwashed eggs, as commonly sold in Europe, do not need to be refrigerated and keep for weeks. Washed eggs, as sold in the US, must be refrigerated. Water glassing can help keep eggs for a year or more, with that caveat about botulism risk.
No-Country6348@reddit (OP)
I think it has a lot to do with the washing of the eggs. If you have your own chickens and dont wash the eggs, you can keep them on the counter for ages.
No-Country6348@reddit (OP)
I had A LOT of eggs at the outset, but we go through them fast. Will have to look into water glassing, and buy an embarrassing amount of eggs when we leave cape town - which will be our next super long passage after this indian ocean crossing.
mikeboatman@reddit
Try to get better about rationing, it's easier to stock for passages.
SVAuspicious@reddit
The important question is why are you running low on something that is important to you? Don't you have good numbers for normal consumption? Why would buying enough of something plus a margin be embarrassing (your word) to you?
You know where you're headed and your know the stop after that. My practice is to provision assuming I have to skip a stop plus add a week. I remember leaving Falmouth for Horta, Bermuda, Norfolk, and Annapolis with eighteen dozen eggs. I still had several dozen British eggs in Annapolis.
I don't buy things we don't want to eat. Why do you have powdered eggs?
Since you do have powdered eggs, use them for anything you can and save real eggs for things that require them. Use up the powdered eggs and don't buy them again. Buy more real eggs. Lots of them. Lots and lots of them.
Someone mentioned water glassing. You can. It's messy to do and messy every time you use them. You can just flip the cartons of eggs every couple of days to keep albumin distributed inside the shell to reduce gas exchange through the shell that makes old eggs stale.
How? You're on your second circumnavigation. Why did you leave your last port with so little that you're running low on food ten days from your next stop?
No-Country6348@reddit (OP)
Chill out man. We have plenty of food to not starve, but we filled our frig and freezer to the brim, they would barely close when we left cocos keeling, and are low on the food we enjoy eating most because we simply couldn’t fit more in the frig. (Eggs require refrigeration unless they are not washed.) Powdered eggs are a back up, that require no refrigeration and don’t take up much space, and are lightweight. Much like we are nearly out of uht milk and are using powdered milk now. We can only fit so much stuff. Judgy much?
rajrdajr@reddit
Interesting cross pollination idea: ultralight backpackers have lots of opinions about the best high calorie density foods as both space and weight are at a premium for them. For sailing, space is the constraint, but high calorie density might still help.
SVAuspicious@reddit
*sigh* Not true on eggs. When eggs are washed, you lose the bloom outside the shell the reduces gas exchange. Flipping the cartons of eggs every other day distributes the albumin (the bit that turns into a skin when you hard cook eggs) to reduce gas exchange. Eggs that have been refrigerated before purchase can experience condensation. That's bad as mold can grow on the shell and the roots of mold penetrate the porous shell and become a conduit for bacteria into the egg. Remediation is to wipe the eggs down to remove condensation three times in the 36 hours after refrigeration. I've had this discussion with USDA scientists and they contributed to this protocol.
Eating all the good stuff first instead of spacing it out is poor management. You need a better purser.
Also see NCHFP. Doesn't matter what nationality you are. Science is science and NCHFP is the best in the world.
Cocos Keeling to Madagascar is 3,000 nm at most. Why are you running low on food you want to eat still ten days out? You're about halfway and don't have what you want? How on Earth do expect not to be judged? Yes - I'm judging you. Get The Voyager's Handbook - Beth and Evans did circumnavigations without refrigeration and I can tell you that they ate well from my time on Hawk. I delivered Aventura III and ended up with Jimmy as a passenger. Much better provisioning there than you describe. My late ex-MIL whose version of boating was an hour putter on a pontoon boat but lived a three hour round trip from a grocery could go two weeks between shops without breaking a sweat. So yes, I'm judging you.
Too much fuel, to much water, and too much food are self correcting problems. You know that UHT milk is shelf stable, right? If you don't have enough room for UHT milk in quart or liter Tetra packs you have too much stuff you don't need. Are you six people on a 30 footer?
It's only 3,000 nm.
MathematicianSlow648@reddit
Well said. You were kinder in your answer than I would have been.
SVAuspicious@reddit
Username checks out. This is just math. *grin*
rajrdajr@reddit
Try adding the powder to some real eggs to see if you like it. I've done it with decent results - the eggs taste a bit different, but OK. Everyone has their own taste and tolerance though.
LateralThinkerer@reddit
What a world: "We're ten days from the nearest land but will post online about diminishing breakfast choices."
No-Country6348@reddit (OP)
So? Just trying to enjoy our meals while on passage. 🤷♀️
donatecrypto4pets@reddit
Fish
sola_mia@reddit
I imagine they're calling out how remarkable it is that you have comms offshore- to ask about breakfast ideas
LateralThinkerer@reddit
Exactly this.
No-Country6348@reddit (OP)
Fair enough. This is our second circumnavigation and starlink is wild, much different than last time with sailmail via ham radio. 😂
TenYearHangover@reddit
Whoosh
Mynplus1throwaway@reddit
Hey guys I'm lost at sea right now. I may not be able to twitch stream my Minecraft much longer, but super chats still help
No-Country6348@reddit (OP)
My son is on a brazilian server that’s faster than when we were in Australia. 😂 (we’re in the middle of the indian ocean en route to madagascar)
Mynplus1throwaway@reddit
That's pretty cool! I fear for the day where work is expected in planes, en route, and in Backcountry, but it will be useful for country folk and safety
Wooden-Quit1870@reddit
Ketchup hides a multitude of sins
Plastic_Table_8232@reddit
I’ve become a fan of turmeric in eggs.
This sounds crazy to a lot of people but vegans / vegetarians have ways of seasoning things like TVP, tofu, seitan, ect to make them very flavorful with texture and tastes very close to real meat / eggs / cheese.
I find this to be a great way to make food from long term storable powders, ect when fresh foods run out.
Coconut bacon is a good example. Vegan eggs use turmeric.
SorbetOk1165@reddit
Nutmeg is also good in eggs.
two_wheels_west@reddit
Just imagine if Christopher Columbus had the internet?!
ez_as_31416@reddit
Make a baked egg dish - such as baked egg casserole with sausage and veggies. On an IOR (yes, I am that old) racing boat we used to have one with eggs, biscuits and sausage. So good! Here are 25 from Taste of Home.. https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/egg-casserole-recipes-breakfast/
bon appetit
Sinister_Crayon@reddit
Powdered eggs aren't so bad. A bit of hot sauce helps. If you have someone that doesn't like hot sauce I've mixed them with a dash of paprika and basil... those flavors help to offset the differences a bit. But still, scrambled they're quite workable offshore.
Also... and make more of a habit of this... try eating fewer eggs! From departure day use powdered eggs for everything except an actual egg dish; so pancakes, waffles etc. Don't use your precious eggs for stuff where you can't tell there are eggs in it. Honestly, try it but if you find you don't mind it then start using powdered eggs day 1 for scrambled eggs and save the real eggs for fried, boiled etc. Heck, even a little salt and/or pepper on powdered scrambled eggs and you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference.
Not much we can do for you while you're at sea though LOL. Maybe set up a chicken coop on deck? :)
Blue_foot@reddit
Have you ever “enjoyed” the scrambled eggs at a cheap hotel’s buffet breakfast?
Those are powdered eggs.
Not the best, but ok especially when hungry. Hot sauce or some other add ins help.
sola_mia@reddit
I thought they came in a bag
oldmaninparadise@reddit
Depends upon the quality of the hotel. When I was in college, I was convinced the dining hall switched to powdered eggs during finals week. Just another way to weed us out. (Long time ago when A was not the normal grade and the dining hall was called, the cafeteria. )
Blue_foot@reddit
That is the next step up in egg quality.
Admirable-Horse-4681@reddit
GIs in WWII called powdered eggs ‘powdered misery’; more famously, they called their main staple, creamed chipped beef, ‘💩on a shingle.’
TheVoiceOfEurope@reddit
Fortunately for the food and hospitality industry, powdered eggs have come a long way since WWII
No-Country6348@reddit (OP)
Yeah i’ve just been reading on reddit that there is one brand in particular that tastes almost as good as real eggs.
No-Country6348@reddit (OP)
If only my grandpa was still alive to ask him about this. Although a chemical attack during the war destroyed his sense of smell and thus probably wouldn’t have noticed if they tasted bad. 😏
kerberos824@reddit
No eggs but Internet. What a world.
No-Country6348@reddit (OP)
Starlink has sure changed this circumnavigation experience from our last one!
Sufficient_Sun4928@reddit
But is it better?
No-Country6348@reddit (OP)
Absolutely yes, last time my two daughters were with us, this time they are young adults that i love to keep in near daily contact with 💙
bagnap@reddit
Uber Eats with that Internet connection
No-Country6348@reddit (OP)
Maybe a drone can deliver?
MasterShoNuffTLD@reddit
Standard door dash prices would cover it.
payment11@reddit
Just bring a chicken with you next time 😃
Powered eggs aren’t bad (think cheap breakfast bar at hotel or conference center)
Joe6pacK69@reddit
Good enough to eat scrambled on their own for the US Army
quietguy_6565@reddit
I'm fairly certain dining on the finest of watery eggs the government can provide is one of the steps to being a proper shellback.
TheVoiceOfEurope@reddit
Make pancakes?
magiccaptured@reddit
Don't ruin your real eggs by mixing with powdered.
3-2-1_liftoff@reddit
This is where the spice rack, sauces, jerky, and triscuits could come in handy to spice up and give the beige cookable protein powder some taste and mouth feel.
Mynplus1throwaway@reddit
HardBoil the eggs and enjoy them.
Then just eat the scrambled powder ones. They are fine but can only really be used for scrambled and still be acceptable
illimitable1@reddit
They work just fine as scrambled eggs for burrito fillings or hash. They can sometimes be gritty if you try to eat them as if they were plain scrambled.
RikkiLostMyNumber@reddit
They are passable scrambled, actually. Don't spare the butter if you have any left.
TenYearHangover@reddit
How tasty does the rest of the crew look?
No-Country6348@reddit (OP)
Haha, we aren’t approaching starvation measures, just want to get maximum enjoyment from meals. On long passages, food becomes the highlight. 😏
Theopylus@reddit
I’ve never had an issue with powdered eggs. Sure they’re not as good as real ones, but if they’re scrambled with some hot sauce on top, it’s hard to tell the difference
light24bulbs@reddit
I think they're good when added into other things like to make pancakes and stuff aren't they? I don't know I've sure had a lot of scrambled powdered eggs and they suck but they are edible you know
coldafsteel@reddit
I used to eat powdered scrambled eggs every day. You just cook and eat. If you don't like it a little hot sauce does the trick.
teakettle87@reddit
Powdered eggs can be scrambled. Not the best but food is food.
flyingron@reddit
You add water and then can scramble the powdered eggs directly. I guess you could mix it in with regular eggs, but I'd rather use the real eggs for non-scrambling purposes.