Dry replacement for eggs, anyone?
I saw a topic (before I joined!) about using ground flax seed to replace eggs in recipes. Now that I've joined - I can't find that string! Anyway, I need something that I can add to a dry bran muffin mix to replace eggs, so that when I make up the mix (while camping) I can just add water and oil. If ground flax seed will work - great - but how MUCH equals one egg? And can I just add the flax to the big batch of mix as I'm making it (before dividing it into 1-dozen-muffin size packages) or - as I read earlier - does the flax have to be mixed with water BEFORE adding to the batter? I'd rather not have to, but I could do that if I just knew how much ground flax seed to use to replace each egg. Whew! I hope that makes sense!
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13 Comments:
1 tbsp gr. flax seed + 3 tbsp water= 1 egg.
dmcavanagh at 6:07PM on 10/11/09
If it was me, I'd just go with dried eggs. You can find dried whites or dried whole eggs. I've seen 'em in the baking section of my local grocer, and if they sell them here, they can't be too hard to find in more sophisticated areas.
I've never used them, but I suspect they'd have conversion information on the package. Probably a lot easier than trying to use something unrelated to replace the eggs.
dbcurrie at 6:24PM on 10/11/09
I agree with @dbcurrie - get some dried eggs. Unless you're dealing with an egg allergy I just see no sense in subbing something foreign like flax seed.
tapioca at 7:31PM on 10/11/09
@lilyb, that was my post. I'd seen an article in Bittman's column so perhaps I posted it under "Food Media and News", making it harder to track down.
Heres a link to the Talk topic if you want to see it again.
As for your current situation, I'm not sure if it will work well for you. I've not tried this myself, but Bittman's column talks about mixing with water beforehand. Check out the comments on that post, other people had some helpful input. There are also a few more links that other people posted.
engmcmuffin at 7:38PM on 10/11/09
Thanks for that, dmcavanagh - do you think it will work if I simply add it to the dry ingredients?
lilyb at 10:18PM on 10/11/09
Thanks! It never occurred to me to look for dried eggs! I live in a suburb of Atlanta, so if it's available, I should be able to get it here. I'll check Whole Foods this week.
lilyb at 10:20PM on 10/11/09
I'll look there - I saw there were a lot of comments, so maybe one of them will answer my question. I'm new at this, so not good at finding older posts. I appreciate your comment and advice.
lilyb at 10:21PM on 10/11/09
@lilyb-I don't see why not, it appears that your recipe will contain water and oil, so just add flax with the dry ingredients and you should be good. One thing to remember though, eggs act as a leavening agent, so since you aren't using them be sure your mixture includes a leavener, typically that would be baking soda &/or baking powder. If not, your muffins will be hockey pucks
dmcavanagh at 11:01PM on 10/11/09
@lilyb- the link that engmcmuffin gave you, says mix flax with the water to create and egg-like mixture. Maybe that's the way to go.
dmcavanagh at 11:25PM on 10/11/09
If you go with the flax, I suggest trying it once at home, before you make a big batch for camping. Not just to see if it works, but for taste as well. It would be unfortunate if you had a supply of muffin mix and every time you made them, the rest of your camp buddies decide it would be better to go gnaw on some bark, instead.
And maybe I'm wrong, but doesn't flax oil go rancid really fast? Or am I thinking of something else? But I'm pretty sure the flax products are all refrigerated at the heath food store. It's something to keep in mind if this is a long camping trip and the weather will be warm. If you're going out on a more snowy venture, then never mind.
dbcurrie at 11:35PM on 10/11/09
I would use powdered eggs.
CJ McD at 12:36PM on 10/12/09
I've ordered both powdered yolks and whole eggs from the King Arthur's Flour catalog. Don't use them too often, but they come in handy sometimes.
SavtaShayna at 5:25PM on 10/12/09
I looked at Publix yesterday and didn't find dried eggs. I found whites, but no yolks - no joke - so maybe I'll try to order through King Arthur's Flour as did SavtaShayna. Good tip. I also think I might try using applesauce in place of the egg - I know that's sometimes done - again, I'm not sure how much applesauce for an egg. And as dmcavanagh mentioned, some extra levening. As for the rancidity issue, dbcurrie, I have some ground flaxseed that I've had for a while - they said when I bought it that it didn't need refrigeration, so I've kept it in the pantry, and it hasn't gone bad. It's almost gone and they no longer have it at Costco, where I got it originally - too bad. I've been using it mostly in bread - I grind my own wheat (Vitamix), and found that replacing a 1/2 cup of the resulting flour with the flaxseed is nice - lightens it up a little - can't tell a taste difference. Maybe the oil does get rancid - that wouldn't surprise me - most oils do! Thanks for all your comments.
lilyb at 9:28AM on 10/13/09