Freeze Drying Raw Eggs

Freeze drying some plain, raw eggs. Whole eggs, egg whites, and egg yolks.
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Before buying a freeze dryer perhaps research to find out more about the downside of the machine; some people have problems with their machine and it's big and heavy and hard to return!
When trying to decide what to freeze dry you can start by asking why.
Start by asking yourself this question. Why are you freeze drying food? Knowing this should help you decide what you should freeze dry first.
I'm freeze drying because:
Just to freeze dry leftovers?
You want to make your own food for camping/backpacking?
For if/when the SHTF?
For a short term emergency?
You have your own garden and want to freeze dry the food?
You love Costco but don't have a family of 6?
You are good at finding the food sales but only have 1 freezer?
When you cook homemade chili just for yourself you make 10 gallons? Because you have 3 full freezers and are worried about power outages?
Freeze dried food will stay fresh for many years and be ready and waiting when you need it.
We have started putting our videos up at rumble.com/use...
AFFILIATES & REFERRALS
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If you are thinking of buying a freeze dryer, please consider supporting us by purchasing through our link. It helps us and costs you nothing! affiliates.har...
We have the medium freeze dryer with the original vacuum pump.
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Amazon affiliate links to some of the things we have been using; it helps us and costs you nothing.
• Escali Primo Kitchen Scale amzn.to/3r8VqRe
• Etekcity Kitchen Scale11lb/5kg amzn.to/3K3ajhY
• Wilton Long Loaf Pan, 16 x 4-Inch amzn.to/3GCQTyh
• This is the scoop I use for bagging amzn.to/3pdTB4J​
• Silicone Square Cake Pan - Set of 2 amzn.to/2YvAp6L
• Teflon Tape for Impulse Sealers amzn.to/3pt2nMd​
• Dial Thermometer -40 to 160 F 1-Inch amzn.to/3pvAfIm
• Parchment paper - We usually get our at Costco, but they also have it on Amazon amzn.to/3owy5qC or amzn.to/3Cw1WXL​
• Corrugated Plastic Sheets we use in our freezer amzn.to/2YqAM2A​
• Drill Bit 5/32" x 10" Extra Length amzn.to/3tEOvRx
• Wilton 8" Pans, Set of 2 amzn.to/3bP3n85
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We are participants in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for sites to earn fees by linking to amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

[@wisteria4981]

Thank you for this video as I recently bought a flat of pasture raised eggs from a local friendly family farm. Btw, Harvest Right is sending me a replacement sealer and 10 oxygen obsorbers. That video couldn’t have been better timing, thank you again.

[@SchoolReports]

Good to hear that HR is sending you a new sealer! (fingers crossed:) May I suggest: Get a good scale right away for doing the "Dry Check." Never trust the freeze dryer to know when the food is dry - it can't know and is easily fooled.

[@wisteria4981]

@@SchoolReports yes I do have a scale and did weigh the cooked rice on the tray but forgot to weigh it when it was completed. I also bought one of those pin-type moisture meters but not sure what numbers I’ll be looking for as it’s normally for wood or building materials. Freeze drying is definitely a huge learning curve but trying to simplify the process if possible.

[@SchoolReports]

@@wisteria4981 I apologize in advance as this gets long-winded and maybe sounding a bit harsh. I want everybody that takes up freeze drying to have complete success! (I need to do a "short" video on this subject) I've read comments from multiple people saying they use wood moisture meters, infrared thermometers, or thermal imaging cameras to "check" the dryness of their freeze dried food. "Touch" doesn't tell you it's dry. "Snap" doesn't tell you it's dry. "Warm" doesn't tell you it's dry. Nor can a lumber moisture meter (or these other meters) tell you your food is dry enough to safely store long term. Moisture meters can only test the sample presented to it. With a probe type, that means the only part being tested is one single line between the two probes. It can't tell you anything about the rest of the piece being tested, only the area between the probes. And that's assuming the probes are in proper contact. (I was even told there is a video of a person "testing their food for dryness" using a lumber moisture meter, but had only one probe stuck in.) This might be a bit hyperbolic, but I don't think so - Take a piece of blank paper and make 2 little dots on it the same distance apart as the moisture meter's probes. Now, draw a line from one dot to the other. That is the area being tested - *_that line._* Not anything else. The meter is simply checking the electrical resistance from one probe to the other. Lumber moisture meters are not a good fit for food. Grain moisture might be a bit better. With a sample cup type grain moisture meter, only the small sample in the cup is being tested. With a probe grain moisture meter, at least the probes are long. With both types, they are usually made to test down to what is needed for safe storage of grain, so most only go down to about 5%. (and some have multiple calibrations for testing different grains) Our goal for freeze dried food is zero % moisture. (or as close as possible) I have yet to hear of a moisture meter up to the task of checking ALL the food in a freeze dryer load. If anyone knows of one, I would love to hear about it. As far as I know there are NO moisture meters on the market that will check the whole tray at once, not even the $9000 ones. Water Activity Meters are not something they sell at the lumber store. In my opinion, wood moisture meters are *worse* than a waste of money when used as a moisture meter for freeze drying food; they would give a false sense of security. I'm probably a bit neurotic when it comes to water activity levels in the food for storage. As far as using an infrared thermometer, I have one and after testing I wouldn't consider using it for this purpose. I would consider them to be a tiny step up from the wood moisture meters that some people say they use, I but I still don't see it as appropriate for this use. At least with a good Thermal Imaging Camera you can see if there are any cold spots on the whole surface. But they still don't tell you about water activity levels, and some of the foods act like insulation; they are very warm on the outside and ice on the inside. Even with the type of meter that I would consider using, ( www.weberscientific.com/water-activity-meters-novasina ) I _STILL_ wouldn't trust it, because If the food is only spot checked (Even assuming the meter is up to the task of checking water activity levels down to zero.) then you still have to hope and trust that you've found the slowest drying/wettest pieces every time. It's still only checking a small sample size/location on the tray. By using the extra drying time method, I'm essentially able to test the entire load at once. Water Activity 101: Mastering the Basics of Water Activity in Food Safety kzbin.info/www/bejne/hoqvnKdvoL97nZY I would NEVER trust any moisture meter (that I know of) to tell me whether or not the food is dry. I weigh the food. I don't know of a better way to test EVERY piece of food for dryness. By weighing it all, I'm essentially testing every piece of food to make sure the water has been removed. I'm probably a bit neurotic when it comes to water activity levels in the food for storage. I won't store any food that even MIGHT have water in it. In lots of the newer videos I show my process of checking to make sure each batch is dry by doing a "dry check" cycle. I'm using the fact that the weight of the trays of food should stop dropping when all of the water has been removed. This is my personal guideline about dry food: #1 Never trust the freeze dryer or a spot check moisture meter to tell you if the food is dry! Do a Dry Check using a scale to make sure it's dry before bagging and storing. #2 Don't overload the freeze dryer. I try to keep the medium machine to a maximum of about 8 pounds of Water Weight per batch. (I have had 11+ lbs of water. It took a long time and I won't do that again) #3 Don't make the food on the trays too thick (height, not viscosity) If you do, you may have to run the batch twice. #4 When in doubt about dryness, add extra final dry time. #5 Never trust the freeze dryer or a spot check moisture meter to tell you if the food is dry! Do a Dry Check using a scale to make SURE it's dry. #6 NEVER trust the freeze dryer or a spot check moisture meter to tell you if the food is dry! IT CAN'T KNOW! Do a Dry Check using a scale to make SURE it's ALL dry before bagging and storing. I've heard from too many people that thought their food was dry, only to check again a short time later and find out it wasn't, and now it has gone bad. Remember, I'm just another idiot on the internet. Don't listen to me. I could be wrong. Research. The #1 joke at our house is "But, I saw it on the internet!" Consider looking at what commercial companies are doing. That's where I look to for guidance. If they can do it, we probably can too. (with method adjustments)

[@Darenator1]

Kroger has 18 Pack large eggs on sale for $1.27. better price than Costco. ($0.85/dozen!) I'm going to get a bunch to Freeze Dry. Good timing on the video!

[@thatandthese]

How long did your freezedryer go after the prefreeze? My freezedryer is getting a little hot on top and I'm just now taking time to track how much time things take. Thanks! Love your info.

[@SchoolReports]

The freeze dryer does get warm as it moves all that heat out of the chamber. I couldn't tell you the total time of this exact batch of eggs, but I do have times for similar batches of eggs and a data sheet for a 50 batch series. (about 43 hours) Freeze Drying Your First 500 lbs of Food - Batch 4 - Eggs & Eggs with Milk, 11 lbs kzbin.info/www/bejne/iJ-6hZ9-nLtke6c (about 47 1/2 hrs) Freeze Drying Your First 500 lbs of Food - Batch 46 - Eggs - Whites, Yolks, and Whole Eggs kzbin.info/www/bejne/pIqnhYigfbWfrrc Data sheet with 50 batches of info: First 500 lbs data spreadsheet link: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ieekdk5aH_2OWLUealeOLurU9_zl03BfFEg_qhAgcaA/edit?usp=sharing

[@thatandthese]

@@SchoolReports Thank you as always for the help. Anyone I know I say come to you for the great content.

[@PatsysHorses]

Where did you get your clear door pillow replacement disc? I would love to have one. Thanks for the informative videos.

[@SchoolReports]

It's just a tight fitting disc I cut out of Acrylic. (I used 0.075" thick acrylic (1.9mm thick) I would probably use 1/8" (3mm +) next time) The disc seems to work better than the pad that came with the freeze dryer for lowering heat transfer. I'm basing this on the fact that the front of the door does not get as cold with the plastic disc in place as it did with pad. (think airplane window) I love how good of a job it has done and have not experienced any downside. Here is how I made it. (It's so simple even I could do it!) Making an Acrylic Disc Front for a Harvest Right Freeze Dryer kzbin.info/www/bejne/m6OrYol6prOcbpI

[@MM-oc3sb]

Your videos are always very helpful. You may have shared this before... we are wondering how you are storing your finished mylar bags? There are some that we want to avoid crushing and turning our fragile slices (e.g.meat slices) into powder. Thank you for your helpful insights!

[@SchoolReports]

Thanks for the comment. I've been meaning to share our storage, but I haven't yet. Hopefully I'm understanding your question. With fragile items that we don't want to crush, we don't remove/push out the air and we make sure to use an oxygen absorber big enough for the full volume of the empty bag. After they are bagged we store them in plastic bins on racks tracked by item, location, and month. This video shows a few seconds of the racks - kzbin.info/www/bejne/l2KmpoudgLmrpck

[@MM-oc3sb]

@@SchoolReports Thank you! We are starting with lightweight plastic footlockers that stack and we have labeled for the different categories. (We are hoping to move so they will be transportable.) Have thought about buckets, too. We appreciate all your tips!

[@janiejones808]

Have you reconstituted the egg yolks yet? Just wondering about the texture. I’ve seen others that did them whole and they did not come out well. Was afraid to try them.

[@SchoolReports]

We have rehyrated some of the yolk for making Banana Cream Pie. kzbin.info/www/bejne/f2WlfZhqrZasb5I We have also used some of that same batch of egg yolks for other cooking, without video, and so far it's all worked out well.

[@historyteacher4402]

Are your pans that you use to freeze, before the FD, 8x8? I like how you do this.

[@SchoolReports]

They were called 8x8" but the bottoms are about 7x7", 2 1/2 pans are a perfect fit ** for our medium freeze dryer trays. (Turns out they have them online too www.dollartree.com/cooking-concepts-square-cake-pans-75-in/10065 ) The different batches of pans that we have bought (over the past 20 years) have had slightly different side slopes, which would require a slight change in the divider shape. That's why some of our pans have an "X" on them. The divider is just something I designed and 3D printed to fit our pans. Here is the design and print video if you are interested; kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXyvk5-GeLmjfs0 The file is on Thingiverse. www.thingiverse.com/thing:3848619 (Some people feel that it's wrong to have food touch plastic - it's low on my personal risk list) I've updated the Thingiverse listing to include a new version of the divider that is slightly narrower at the bottom to fit more of the pans. (I hope!) ** Clarification on the 2 1/2 pans per tray; it only works IF the divider is the thickness I use. (or thicker) The freeze dryer trays actually fits about 1/2" less than 2 1/2 pans; that's one reason I made the dividers that thick, that and to fit the magnets.

[@historyteacher4402]

@@SchoolReports Thank you so much for the explanation and the links. Your channel has been the best “class” that I have taken on freeze drying.

[@historyteacher4402]

@@SchoolReports I found the pans at the store. Thanks for giving me information on the exact pans. I have chickens that have given us a lot of eggs. I am buying my freeze dryer this month. So, prepping the eggs early.

[@SchoolReports]

😁 Here is the list of Freeze dryers I've heard of: (If anyone knows of any others, please add to the list) (as of July 23rd 2023) harvestright.com/ (only one I've used) All the others might be great, I've just never tried them. p4lfood.com/ "The Cube" Same machine as the 4Patriots one? (Facebook page only a few months old?) 4patriots.com/products/4patriots-home-freeze-drying-system - Maybe built by Prep4 Life? stayfreshfreezedry.com/ - One person start-up import business? (Judging by the corporation papers listing a home as the Registered Address) www.cuddonfreezedry.com/products/ - Big - Probably not really a home unit. At least 20 times bigger than medium HR wmmachinery.com/products/freeze-dryer-for-home-use - Lower priced. Shipped direct from China? www.labrotovap.com/portfolio-item/large-home-freeze-dryer-lyophilizer-for-sale/ - Knockoff? Even used some of Harvest Right web page photos. www.usalab.com/freeze-dryers/ - Two models? Do they make or rebrand. freezedryco.com/equipment/food-cannabis/ Freeze Dry Company - more commercial www.hudsonvalleylyomac.com/stratus-mp3-series-floor-model.html Hudson Valley Lyomac - not really home size units d-freeze.com/ D-Freeze - Not out yet, being built in Canada www.freezedryfood.de/en/ FreezeDry® German bluealpinefreezedryers.com/ Blue Alpine Freeze Dryers - Idaho - Very new/Start-up - Looks very promising!

[@historyteacher4402]

Hi! I just did my first official batch. I am overflowing with eggs. I didn’t figure out the time component correctly. So, this morning I took them out because I needed to. I now know about how long to plan. My problem is that one tray has a thicker piece and when crumbling up, there were clods that seem wet. How can I put the powder back in and not create a mess? Will the vacuum suck the powder up? Or should I wet the eggs again and rerun them? Thank you!

[@SchoolReports]

Great question! No problem putting things back into the freeze dryer to finish drying. I also wouldn't trust _any_ of the trays of food if I found an issue with even one small spot on one tray. Personally, I would put everything back in for an additional _Dry Check_ cycle. In this older video, and in most of my older, shorter videos, I don't show doing the _Dry Check,_ the most important step of freeze drying to make sure it really dry. (In my old quest of trying to keep the videos short and I ended up leaving out all kinds of important information!) With this other batch, the tray that had egg whites took much longer than the other trays, so I kept adding time and doing _Dry Checks_ until it was dry. - Batch 46 - Eggs - Whites, Yolks, and Whole Eggs kzbin.info/www/bejne/pIqnhYigfbWfrrcsi=L3enAmaeCmljBzLn&t=1127 If I have anything that I suspected might not be 100% dry when I took it out of the freeze dryer, and for whatever reason couldn't just put it right back in, I would store it in the freezer until I could put it back in the precooled freeze dryer. I'm probably a bit neurotic when it comes to water activity levels in the food for storage. I won't store any food that even _might_ have water in it. I've heard from too many people that thought their food was dry, only to check again a short time later (or a year or 2) and find out it wasn't, and now it has gone bad. As far as putting it back in as a powder, if I'm worried about a food moving and making it to the vacuum outlet, I would probably cover it paper towels the way I did with this batch of shredded cheese - Batch 10 - Cheese, Shredded kzbin.info/www/bejne/d57WmJtonKmUsLMsi=VkFdWyS_4Q6mVVbn&t=447

[@historyteacher4402]

@@SchoolReports Thank you for your detailed response. I knew better than to not do a test for moisture(from your videos) but ran out of time. Thanks for helping me fix this.

[@SchoolReports]

@@historyteacher4402 You're welcome. I hope you find it helpful.

[@brianschindler1511]

👍👍👍👍👍

[@figelski1]

Where do you get those pan divider thingys?

[@SchoolReports]

The divider is just something I designed and 3D printed to fit our pans. Here is the design and print video if you are interested; kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXyvk5-GeLmjfs0 They were printed with ABS then vapor/acetone smoothed to seal them. The file is on Thingiverse. I have a picture of the pans on the Community page. They were called 8x8" pans when we bought them at the Dollar Tree store, but the bottoms are about 7x7", a perfect fit for our medium freeze dryer trays. The different batches of pans that we have bought have had slightly different side slopes, which would require a slight change in the divider shape. That's why some of our pans have an "X" on them. It might be doable to make dividers using foamcore or cardboard and covering it with plastic wrap, for those without a printer. (no 3D printer? ) Another viewer used cut some out of thick plastic (like thick cutting board) to make their dividers. (They did have a laser cutter) I going to try to figure out how to make a good, usable divider without using a printer. (For those odd people who don't have a 3D printer) I'm going to try to figure out how to make a good, usable (1/2" thick) divider without using a printer. (For those odd people who don't have a few 3D printers) 😇 Clarification on the 2 1/2 pans per tray; it only works IF the divider is the thickness I use. (or thicker) The freeze dryer trays actually fits about 1/2" less than 2 1/2 pans; that's one reason I made the dividers that thick. And to fit the magnet

[@dianemyers250]

Where did you get pans(size?) and the dividers for them?

[@SchoolReports]

The pans are just some pans we bought at a local Dollar store. We have 30+ of them; some are 10+ years old. They were called 8x8" pans, but the bottoms are about 7x7", a perfect fit for our freeze dryer trays. The divider is something I designed and 3D printed to fit our pans. They were printed with ABS then vapor/acetone smoothed to seal them. It would probably be pretty easy to make dividers using foamcore or cardboard and then covering it with plastic wrap, for those without a printer. This is the Thingiverse link for the print file www.thingiverse.com/thing:3848619 And here is the design and print video kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXyvk5-GeLmjfs0 The printing starts at about 4 :15 kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXyvk5-GeLmjfs0

[@imperialfam1]

Hello. I ran my first batch of scrambled raw eggs it took 28 hours and when my wife took them out when the cycle ended she said the trays were cold. Does this necessarily mean they weren’t finished should they have been left in for more drying time, is there a good way to check? Thanks

[@SchoolReports]

Thanks for watching and commenting! (Sorry about the following book) The short answer is feeling it is no way to check if it's dry, and if it's cold it shouldn't be taken out. The simple way to check if the batch is dry is to do a _Dry Check_ using a sensitive scale. The trays really should not be taken out while cold. If they are, you have to worry about condensation on the food. The machine's display can only tell you the temperature where the probe is, and it's not in the food. That's why we put thermometers in the food; we don't have to stop the machine to feel the tray, we already know the temperature without taking it out. More importantly, we know the temperature of the inside of the food. In the example you describe, they would have needed more time even if it turns out it was dry, just to make sure you don't end up with any condensation. While the fact that the tray is cold may tell you that the food may not be dry, I would never assume that having a warm tray tells me that it is dry. Cold does not equal wet and warm does not equal dry. I don't have a single video just about the Dry Check and any calculations. (I did add the idea to the list) I did talk about it some in this video - Batch 649 Freeze Drying - Comice Pear Slices kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJO1dpx8nbmjnc0si=3iaiKepjZuwm-v0c&t=765 I don't know were the earlier references are. (Unfortunately I don't have an index to my own videos:) There really is no calculation for knowing if it needs more time - If the weight drops during the Dry Check it needs more time. I feel very uncomfortable with any number other than 0! That being said, if it was no more than 1 gram and has been at least a 2 1/2 or 3 hour "Dry Check" and the dry weight of the food on the tray is over 100 grams (meaning the loss was well below 1%), than I sometimes will take it out. You can see on this video at this spot- kzbin.info/www/bejne/a5Sro6KkfLZ8epIsi=P8nUr6hs_1m8iamQ&t=1406 - that tray #1 had a 1 gram loss in 2 1/2 hours. After I mixed all 4 trays together for a total of 538 grams dry weight, the loss was less than 2 tenths of one percent. The only reason I kind of comfortable with taking it out after this small loss, is because after doing another round of Dry Checks many, many times, I've found that the next weight check would show no loss under these conditions. 🤣 I have to apologize for many of my older videos. (like this one) In my focus to keep my older videos very short, most of my older, shorter videos are almost devoid of information! I tried hard to keep the videos down to less then 10 or 15 minutes, no matter what I had to cut out! (Like information!) Remember, I'm just another idiot on the internet. I could be wrong. The #1 joke at our house is "But, I saw it on the internet!" ("If you read it on the Internet, it's absolutely true!" - Abraham Lincoln) I look at what commercial companies are doing. If they can do it, we probably can too. (with method adjustments)

[@imperialfam1]

@@SchoolReports thanks for responding and all the info. It was very helpful.

[@imperialfam1]

@@SchoolReports so by now I have made several batches and for several of them I have not yet had time to seal them in Mylar bags with oxygen packets but, they did go immediately into jumbo freezer bags. My question is, are they safe to seal up in Mylar after they have been only in ziplocks for a week or so, or do they need to be sealed up immediately after freeze drying? Thanks for all the info it’s been super useful, btw the pre-freeze is a game changer!

[@SchoolReports]

@@imperialfam1 I would be concerned with holding them in even the heaviest ziplocs for anything over a few hours, maybe a day or two if the humidity levels are extremely low. Did you happen to record the exact weight of the eggs before you put them into the ziplocs? If they were mine I would probably put them in the freeze dryer for a few hours of Final/Extra dry time unless I were 100% sure they haven't gained anything. Oxygen and moisture will go through ziplocs fairly quickly. 3% moisture gain in 12 hours. These weren't in a bag, but. . . Freeze Drying Frozen Strawberry Cubes - kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6O8YmuaarCKlassi=zoUPDtiiNAIrz7gK&t=451 Oxygen Absorbers in freezer ziploc - oxygen going through the bags. kzbin.info-HIdI58qRtQ?si=JG4p7eiBpLg28aTO&t=3333

[@ddhrsa]

I don't get the thermometer thing

[@SchoolReports]

It's pretty straight forward. I like information. They give me more information about how warm the food is, which helps let me know if it's dry or needs additional final dry time without having to open the door. With this batch the machine said it was almost done (perhaps 30 minutes to go) but the thermometer in the egg whites was still lower than 30f which means it can not be finished, so I was able to add more time without having to stop the machine. The thermometers are certainly not necessary for freeze drying. I track a lot of unnecessary information in my life; I find it interesting.

[@ashyslashy5818]

very dumb just cook them first....

[@SchoolReports]

I could, but if I did, it would be harder to use them in banana cream pie, angel food cake, or other cooking and baking.

[@ashyslashy5818]

@@SchoolReports oh i see.well then dont waste time freeze drying them .you can just dry them, just to let you know any bacteria freeze dried does not mean its dead ive tested a batch of eggs myself.it was there.i dont want you to get sick at the worst time during a crisis.thanks great channel....

[@anthonyw5188]

@@SchoolReports It would also eliminate interesting youtube comments. ;)