How Powdered Eggs Are Made (And When They Were Invented)

Powdered eggs carry a persistent cultural reputation for being rubbery, sulfurous, and borderline inedible. That reputation isn’t entirely unearned! For decades, dehydrated eggs genuinely were terrible. The primitive drying techniques used throughout the early 20th century, most notoriously in World War II mess halls, often scorched proteins, caused revolting off-flavors, and yielded scrambled eggs that tasted more like damp cardboard than breakfast. The paradox is that while modern industrial food processing solved those problems decades ago, public perception never caught up. Unless you have served in the military or spent time eating commercial emergency rations, you have likely never sat down to a plate of rehydrated scrambled eggs. What most consumers do not realize is that they eat powdered eggs almost every week. Behind the scenes, modern egg powder is an indispensable, high-performance staple driving the commercial food industry, providing crucial structure, aeration, and emulsification in everything from boxed cake mixes and bakery breads to shelf-stable sauces and jarred mayonnaise. Basically, in simple language, powdered eggs don’t actually suck anymore, the culture just stopped paying attention after the war.

Transforming a delicate liquid emulsion into a uniform, free-flowing powder requires carefully controlled temperature, rapid evaporation, and stabilization techniques to keep the proteins from cooking or curdling during dehydration. While modern food manufacturers rely on highly refined spray-drying and freeze-drying systems to produce specialized egg powders, the underlying concept is far from new.

Although the commercial production of powdered eggs ramped up sometime in the 1930s, powdered eggs have been around much longer than most people think. It is clear that powdered eggs were invented sometime during the 1880s, and commercial production in the U.S. began during that decade. Shortly thereafter, some egg drying operations began in China, temporarily curtailing powdered egg production in the U.S. By the 1920s, dried egg production had once again resumed in America.

Who Invented Powdered Eggs?

We cannot be sure who first invented the process for drying and powdering eggs. There were numerous patents related to egg drying issued to W.O. Stoddard during the 1870s. Stoddard began an egg drying operation in St. Louis, Missouri, around that time. Also, in 1899, Charles LaMont was also issued a patent for an egg drying process. His patent, unlike Stoddard’s, involved spray drying, a technique that is still used today.

Shortly after Stoddard began his operation, egg drying plants were started in China using a belt-drying or pan-drying process. The costs in China were so low that dehydrated egg operations in the United States weren’t the most lucrative things to start. Some 1920 tariffs on Chinese eggs changed this, and egg dehydration once again started up in America. World War II greatly increased the need for dehydrated eggs, and this was one of the periods of the highest production of dried eggs in history, especially due to the military purchasing tons of egg powder. On average, from 1942 to 1946, the average yearly production was 209 million pounds. In 1944, there were over 135 spray-drying operations, and 300 million pounds were produced in that year.

It is often claimed that Albert Grant and Co. in London invented dehydrated eggs during the 1930s. This is clearly not true, but they did develop a freeze-drying method for manufacturing powdered eggs during that time. Spray drying is the most common method used today, but freeze drying is sometimes used, most often in the United States.

The Magical European Egg Myth: According to a popular social media opinion, Americans are paranoid, corporate-controlled germaphobes who needlessly chill their eggs, while Europeans enjoy a superior, “natural” system where an unwashed egg sits proudly on the kitchen counter for weeks without a single problem. Learn why, once and for all, unwashed OR washed eggs need refrigeration. Leaving eggs at room temperature ages them 7x faster and dissolves egg whites. Read More: The European Egg Myth: Why Room Temperature Storage Actually Ruins Your Eggs

Spray-Drying Invention

Spray drying is done by converting a liquid into super fine droplets by “spraying” it and exposing these droplets to a stream of hot air or gas in a drying chamber. This process has been around since at least 1872 and it’s generally believed that a fellow named Samuel Percy invented it. Charles La Mont patented, as mentioned above, patented his process for spray-drying liquid eggs into whole egg powder in 1889.

Spray drying produces a powder so no further processing is typically needed so “spray dried eggs” and powdered eggs can be considered synonymous.

Eggs can be dried whole or separate egg components can be dried. In other words, the egg whites or the egg yolk can both be dried separately. All eggs and egg components are pasteurized before drying and are filtered to remove any shell bits and membranes (egg yolk chalazae and vitelline).

Drying Egg Whites

During the 1930s, egg whites were only pan dried as it was believed this was the only way to dry them. Spray drying was tried in the late 1930s, though, and was successful. In the late 1940s, as cake-mix producers demanded better dried egg whites, production began in earnest.

Egg Whites are modified somewhat before drying. They have to have a bit of free glucose removed to prevent the Maillard reaction which can result in a brown color and off-flavors. As well, an additive might be used to aid in whipping, such as sodium lauryl sulfate (or triethyl citrate, xanthan gum). This can help the egg whites maintain their whipping ability after being dehydrated and reconstituted. Then, the whites are spray-dried or they are air-dried in thin layers on sheets.

Drying Egg Yolks

Egg yolks are also stabilized but may first be stabilized by having glucose removed via glucose oxidase. Then, egg yolks are usually made into a free-flowing powder with anticaking additives used.

Drying Whole Eggs

When whole eggs are dehydrated, sucrose, corn-syrup solids, or other carbohydrates might be added to help the eggs be more like fresh eggs once rehydrated. Once spray-dried, they too are often made into a powder and again anti-caking agents are added.

Dehydrated Eggs Maintain Most of Their Characteristics

Yes, dehydrated powdered eggs maintain much of their functional characteristics and flavor. Certainly, if you make scrambled eggs out of powdered eggs, they are not going to fool you, but they do coagulate, they do taste like eggs, look like eggs, and have the nutrition of eggs…just not great eggs.

Much of the hatred, frankly, comes down to pure military conditioning. When I was in the service, I ate plenty of powdered eggs out in the field, usually with a liberal splash of Tabasco. They were a bit watery, with liquid weeping from the curd, and a touch firmer than fresh eggs, but they tasted fine. Yet without fail, you would watch guys choke them down while complaining bitterly about how disgusting they were. They weren’t actually reacting to the eggs they were eating. They were just performing a tried and true military ritual. The culture says powdered eggs are supposed to be terrible, so everyone dutifully pretends they are.

Early powdered egg products, such as those cranked out under wartime rationing in WWII, genuinely warranted the complaints, plagued by off-flavors and scorched proteins. But since those early operations, vast improvements have been made in drying chemistry, pasteurization, and protein stabilization. As well, specific processes have been created that can improve the functional characteristics, based on the needs of food manufacturers.

Today, powdered eggs and other dehydrated egg products are used in all sorts of other applications like cake mixes, salad dressings, jarred mayonnaise, candies, and all sorts of baked goods. Food manufacturers demand all sorts of different types of dried eggs, with varying functional characteristics, and often have them made to their own specifications.

Spray Drying versus Freeze Drying

As I stated above, most dried eggs are spray dried, as already described. Freeze drying is a newer method that maintains the functional characteristics of fresh eggs better than spray drying.

In freeze drying, the whole egg is frozen and then subjected to a vacuum to remove water. Heat is still applied to the egg while it is drying, though. This process is used more in the United States and not as much in Europe. You can assume that most powdered eggs used in the US and Europe, though, are spray dried.

Dried Powdered Eggs Are Used in Many Manufactured Food Products

You’ll find dried powdered eggs used extensively in the food industry for much the same reason that fresh eggs would be used, but with the advantage of being free from microbes and abled to be handled much more cleanly. Some of the products that might use dried eggs are:

baked goods like cakes, cookies, and bread
cake mixes
dressings, mayonnaise, and other sauces
soups and stews
cured meat products like sausages
candies and other confections
protein shake mixes

Advantages of Dried Eggs

Dried powdered eggs have several advantages and the existence of many food products is owed to them. Among these advantages are:

Dehydrated powdered eggs are easily stored, requiring no refrigeration and less space
Dried eggs are much less expensive to transport than whole shell eggs or liquid eggs

Dried eggs will not cross-contaminate surfaces and thus are easy to use in a clean and sanitary way.
Powdered eggs, even when stored for long periods, do not allow the growth of bacteria
Dried eggs can be re-hydrated to exact specification so that the amount of water can be controlled according to a food maker’s needs.
Dehydrated eggs are more uniform in function than whole fresh eggs.

Quick Facts about Dried Eggs

Dried eggs maintain most of their nutritional value, including protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals.
Dried eggs are very shelf-stable and can last years when unopened.
You can use dried eggs in place of fresh eggs in baking when in a pinch.
Powdered eggs will not taste like fresh eggs when scrambled or made into omelets, but they are not nearly as bad as people make them out to be.
Reconstituted powdered eggs don’t have the aerating ability of fresh eggs unless nonreducing sugars are added, but this causes a sweet flavor.
There are more types of dried egg products than the three basic ones I talked about above. Some products have varying amounts of egg components in them, so that they have various functional benefits.
30 dozen whole eggs will yield about 18 kg (40 pounds) of liquid whole egg or 4.5 kg (10 pounds) of dried eggs (with 2.5% moisture).

Frequently Asked Questions

When were powdered eggs first invented?

While commercial production ramped up in the 1930s, powdered eggs were actually invented in the 1880s. Early drying operations began in St. Louis, Missouri, during that decade, followed by similar operations in China shortly after.

Who is credited with the invention?

There is no single inventor, but several pioneers held key patents:

W.O. Stoddard: Issued several patents in the 1870s for egg drying and ran an operation in St. Louis.
Charles LaMont: Issued a patent in 1889 for spray drying, a method still widely used today.
Samuel Percy: Generally credited with inventing the broader spray-drying process in 1872.

How are powdered eggs made today?

Most modern powdered eggs are produced through spray drying, where liquid eggs are sprayed into a stream of hot gas to create a fine powder. Another method is freeze drying, which is more common in the United States and is known for better maintaining the functional characteristics of fresh eggs.

Do powdered eggs taste the same as fresh eggs?

Not exactly. While they maintain the same nutritional value (protein, fats, and minerals), they are often described as being slightly firmer or “watery” when scrambled. However, modern production techniques have significantly reduced the off-flavors that were common in older versions, such as those used during World War II.

Why are additives like glucose removed during processing?

For egg whites and yolks, free glucose is often removed to prevent the Maillard reaction. This prevents the powder from turning brown or developing off-flavors during storage.

What are the main advantages of using dried eggs?

Storage: They require no refrigeration and have a very long shelf life.
Safety: They are pasteurized and free from microbes, reducing the risk of cross-contamination.
Efficiency: They are cheaper to transport and take up significantly less space than shell eggs.
Consistency: They provide more uniform results in industrial food manufacturing.