The Historical past of Powdered Eggs Throughout World Battle II

As egg costs soar and main supermarkets restrict purchases amid the hen flu outbreak, People are re-examining a protein supply that they’ve maybe taken as a right. Some would possibly even be mulling options like plant-based or liquid egg substitutes. 

Throughout unsure instances, it helps to look at historical past — on this case, the worldwide meals shortages of World Battle II, which spurred mass manufacturing and distribution of powdered eggs. Right here’s the historical past of this unsavory staple. 

A wartime innovation

“Eggs are extraordinarily perishable and fragile, and so there may be at all times plenty of curiosity in attempting to increase that shelf life and in addition sturdiness,” notes meals historian Sarah Wassberg Johnson. “[Egg substitutions today are] typically utilized in liquid or pasteurized varieties, however in World Battle I, there was a giant emphasis on meals dehydration.” She provides that in this time, U.S. army funding led to improvements like powdered creamer. 

Dried egg ads appeared within the late nineteenth century, and egg powder was referenced as a camp cooking staple in a youngsters’s journey e-book in 1912. Through the Nineteen Thirties, a London cake producer developed what stays the trendy technique for egg dehydration: crushed complete eggs sprayed via a nozzle right into a column of scorching air. This system eliminated moisture with out cooking them. 

The enchantment of dried eggs would skyrocket. Not solely had been they shelf-stable, however they took up simply 20% of the transport area of shelled eggs. The British authorities lifted the patent throughout World Battle II, which enabled American corporations to supply powdered eggs.

By the Nineteen Forties, the U.S. really overproduced eggs, says Lizzie Collingham, meals historian and creator of Style of Battle: World Battle II and the Battle for Meals. The U.S. rationed an ever-changing listing of meals all through and even after the warfare that included espresso, sugar, cheese, meat, canned fish, and processed meals — however not eggs. 

Roughly one-quarter of the eggs produced within the U.S. had been dehydrated into powder and shipped to Allied nations like Britain, China, and the Soviet Union as a part of the 1941 Lend-Lease Program. 

‘The 2 phrases which make my blood run chilly: dried egg’ 

Britain was slower than the U.S. to commercialize poultry and egg manufacturing, says Collingham. By the beginning of World Battle II, imports made up half of Britain’s meals provides, which included poultry and eggs. In accordance with the British Ministry of Meals, it was the chief purpose why the wartime scarcity of meals was so acute. 

Through the warfare, some Brits saved yard chickens and had been eligible for grain rations to feed them. The remainder had been entitled to a packet of dried egg, which contained the equal of 12 recent eggs, each 4 weeks. The dried egg may very well be reconstituted by mixing about one tablespoon of the powder with two tablespoons of water. 

“The issue as a British particular person was what to do with this terrible stuff,” says Collingham. The Ministry of Meals issued recipe leaflets for wartime rations, like bacon and egg pie in potato pastry, and “mock fried egg.” Collingham says that there’s not a lot proof that individuals really used these recipes.

Dried egg was additionally “hopeless” at aerating muffins, says Collingham. It was primarily used as filler in pies, or as an alternative choice to scrambled eggs or omelets, notably in establishments like boarding colleges. 

“Some folks complained that it went rubbery, that it was like a two-inch block of onerous, yellowish stuff which might ooze water and make the toast go soggy,” says Collingham. In her e-book, a lady who attended boarding faculty throughout the top of British meals rationing summed up the expertise: “The 2 phrases which nonetheless make my blood run chilly: dried egg.”

Most individuals in Britain weren’t going hungry, Collingham says, so that they typically left the powdered egg within the pantry till it went onerous. Situations within the Soviet Union had been way more dire, the place residents withstood hunger and horrific circumstances.  

“Dried egg was extremely vital for Soviet industrial staff,” says Collingham. “They’d make a porridge out of millet and dried egg powder, which was given out on sheets of paper that staff ate standing up. They’d exit into fields and accumulate nettles. They made bread with edible cellulose and sawdust sweepings.” 

Though their diets would possibly’ve been bland, most British residents may get by with bread and potatoes. 

“British folks from that era will let you know [they] had it so onerous, however the primary drawback for them was meals was boring and there wasn’t a lot fats,” says Collingham. “It’s not as if anyone would’ve thought, ‘I’m so hungry, I’ll eat that dried egg powder.’”

Nowadays, consumers have a lot tastier egg substitutes at their disposal, from liquid eggs to silken tofu and vegan Simply Eggs. However curious cooks can nonetheless discover dried egg powder on Amazon.