With all the talk about health and contaminated eggs, some of you might be looking to egg substitutes
as an alternative. Because these mostly egg white products are pasteurized, they won’t be contaminated with salmonella, as some eggs are now. These products have been touted as healthier for a long time because they lack the fat and cholesterol of egg yolks. Then again, whole eggs have nutrients that those substitutes don’t have. And those nutrients can be good for you.
We’ll take real eggs every time. While the taste of egg substitutes aren’t bad in some applications, if you’re looking for an omelette or scrambled eggs, the real thing works best.
But we do have to say that if you’re making a custard, quiche, egg casserole or something like that, the egg substitutes can work well. They save a lot of time in beating and mixing eggs or in baking.
Why, you may ask, don’t we recommend egg substitutes for things like scrambled eggs? Because they have a tendency to separate into grainy particles that are very unappealing. Another thing I don’t like is the addition of all the other ingredients to make these product shelf stable and not as ugly as plain egg whites. We can’t stand egg-white only omelets or egg dishes because they look and taste terrible. Unless you eat eggs every day, you shouldn’t have any health problems from eating eggs. But always consult with your doctor or a nutritionist.
