Editor's Note: Dehydrated and freeze-dried eggs can inspire strong reactions among backpackers, paddlers, and campers.

We wondered which, if any, were worth packing along on the trail. So, we asked Trailspace member Andrew Friedman (leadbelly2550) to do the honors and taste test the following packaged plain egg products:

Andrew: I found all of these to be very filling, substantial breakfasts, though serving sizes varied widely by package and appetite. Notably, and not surprisingly for eggs, each product was loaded with cholesterol.

All but one come in a bag that can be resealed if you only cook a partial portion, helpful for the trail. The Cache Lake eggs cannot be resealed and would have to be stored in a Ziploc bag.

The Backpacker’s Pantry Scrambled Eggs (non-organic) were the overall winner for me — the best combination of taste, texture, and easy preparation.

The pre-cooked AlpineAire Scrambled Eggs were my least favorite, in part due to their texture, but more so because the preparation takes much longer and was somewhat messier. (While the Scrambled Eggs are pre-cooked to minimize cooking time and fuel, AlpineAire also makes an uncooked Scrambling & Omelet Egg Mix.)

I prepared each egg product for breakfast after early morning hikes, using the same stove and cookwear each time. The stove was an Optimus Nova, and the cookset was an anodized aluminum one with a non-stick coating from Primus. For the seasoned versions of the eggs I added black pepper and cut-up or pre-shredded cheddar cheese.

Breakdown by Egg



Pros

Easy to prepare

Fairly tasty right out of the bag

Nice consistency, closer to fresh eggs

Cons

Powdery texture makes them somewhat more difficult to mix with water

A little more seasoning wouldn’t have hurt these at all.

Pros:

An alternative if you are prone to burning eggs — dried eggs soak up boiling water

Container re-seals.

Pre-cooked to minimize cooking time and fuel.



Cons:

They take a long time to absorb water — much longer than the 10 minutes indicated on the package. Even after waiting twice the designated time, the larger pieces had a chewy/rubbery texture.

These would have benefited from breaking up the larger pieces in advance.

Needs seasoning

Total cooking time is long because the eggs have to sit, and messy because, as instructed, you have to pour off the excess water. (AlpineAire also makes an uncooked Scrambling & Omelet Egg Mix.)

Pros:

Best flavor of the group, comes pre-seasoned with some salt and pepper

Very good consistency — similar to cooking fresh eggs.

Easy to prepare and cook

Resealable container

My overall favorite

Cons:

They aren’t fresh eggs, but I really had very little to criticize about them.

Pros:

Relatively easy to prepare

Organic

Resealable package



Cons:

Mealy consistency was a turnoff.

Virtually unseasoned, so they need spicing up.

Powdery and a little harder to mix with water than some.

Pros:

Easy to mix, cooks quickly

Nice scrambled egg consistency

Great taste



Cons:

Slightly smaller portion than other brands

Unseasoned

Requires oil to cook properly

Requires two pans to cook properly

Preparation

The Backpacker’s Pantry scrambled eggs (both organic and non-organic) and Adventure Egg come in slender, small packages and are dry/powdered. To prepare them, you need to measure out the appropriate amount of water, mix, and cook. It’s a fairly easy process, though two of the brands were sufficiently powdery that mixing them with water took somewhat longer. Ultimately, though, even if it took longer to mix, I didn’t feel like that significantly affected the final product.

The AlpineAire Scrambled Eggs come in a much larger package and are freeze-dried. To prepare them, you measure out the amount of eggs, boil twice as much water (two cups of water for each cup of dried egg), pour the boiling water into the eggs and mix well, then let stand for at least ten minutes.

I found that the AlpineAire eggs needed much more time to allow the water to absorb, and even doubling the time to 20 minutes, I thought the texture needed improvement. If I were to cook these again, I might break up the larger chunks to help the water absorb.

The Cache Lake eggs are supposed to be cooked with a little vegetable oil or shortening in the pan. While bringing a small container of oil was something I would not normally do, the oil both improved the texture and made cooking and cleanup much easier, and it may have improved the taste. To cook the Cache Lake eggs according to the directions, you need to mix in one pan and heat up oil or shortening in another — meaning you have a little more cleanup.

It helps if your stove can modulate the flame. All of these eggs cook relatively quickly and can burn if you use high heat.

Texture

Texture varies among these products — significantly in some cases. For example, I liked the texture of the plain Backpacker’s Pantry Eggs and the Adventure Egg better than the others because they resembled home-cooked scrambled eggs, whereas the Backpacker’s Pantry Organic and AlpineAire eggs had a texture that diverged somewhat from regular, home-cooked scrambled eggs.

Flavor and Seasoning

The flavor of all the egg brands benefited from seasoning, some more so than others. For whatever reason, perhaps because they are pre-cooked, my added seasoning and extra ingredients didn’t mix as well with the AlpineAire as with the other brands.

I tended to like the eggs that already had a little seasoning, perhaps because I didn’t add any extra salt.

Testing Notes

A caveat to my review is that I learned a lot about cooking dried/powdered eggs through this process, and I know that knowledge influenced my results in at least one case.

Because most of these eggs were lightly seasoned, if at all, adding ingredients like salt, pepper, and cheddar cheese obviously will make a big difference in how they taste. As a result, I tended to add more cheese with the later batches, and it improved the taste. I could easily see adding other ingredients to these eggs — potatoes cooked in a skillet, sliced salami or vegetables, and really improving them.

I think these freeze-dried or powdered eggs are best viewed as a baseline, some better than others, and that using your creativity to add ingredients is both part of the fun of cooking them on the trail and a real improvement in the taste.

Notes: We tested only plain versions of these eggs to keep the comparisons as objective as possible. Depending on your individual taste, all could be improved upon with your own seasonings and additions.

Some of the brands tested also offer pre-seasoned and flavored eggs, which include cheese, beans, ham, spices, etc. If seasoning your own eggs isn't your thing, be aware that seasoned versions are available.

Share your own egg and breakfast reviews with the Trailspace community.



Disclosure: Samples of the above products were provided by the manufacturers for testing and review.