Have you seen the liquid egg products on the shelves with the whole eggs? Do you wonder how they are different? Choose whichever eggs are best for your family and your budget.
What’s the Difference in Liquid Egg Products?
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When I go to the grocery store, you can almost guarantee that I’ll have milk, Diet Coke, and eggs in my cart every time. Unless I’m making a recipe that specifically needs egg whites, I always buy whole eggs. But there are some other options available in the egg section, and that got me thinking… What’s the difference between the liquid egg products?
Let’s start with whole eggs, shall we?
Whole Eggs
Eggs are a great source of protein – clocking in at 6 grams of protein in one egg. That’s not too bad, considering that 3 ounces of beef has about 21 grams of protein. (One large egg is around 1.75 ounces.)
Eggs do have some fat and cholesterol. One large egg has 5 grams of fat and 185 mg of cholesterol, all in the yolk. One egg also has 25 milligrams of choline, which is important in memory development, liver function, and lots of other cell functions. Whether eggs have white or brown shells, the nutrition is the same.
For people who need to avoid cholesterol, there are some other options!
Egg Beaters
Egg Beaters is a brand name… my grocery store was out of stock when I was shopping, so I’ve got the Walmart store brand here. But the nutrition is the same. This is a liquid egg product, made from egg whites. Instead of being clear or milky white like you would expect from egg whites, this liquid egg product is yellow. There is beta carotene added for color, and a few other things added for flavor and extra vitamins.
Nutrition-wise, the liquid egg product has no fat or cholesterol, and 5 grams of protein per serving (that’s a little less than whole eggs).
I cooked a serving to compare to a whole scrambled egg. The color was about the same, although this had a more even coloring (my scrambled egg could have been a little better scrambled). If I didn’t know what I was eating, I could have mistaken this for a whole egg. The texture was a little different, but the taste was pretty similar. Add some cheese and bacon, and I would not have known the difference.
Egg Whites
This is another option for a liquid egg product – 100% egg whites. This is the color you would expect from egg whites, because that is all that is in this carton!
The 100% egg whites have the same amount of protein as the liquid egg product – 5 grams per serving. There is no fat or cholesterol.
I cooked a serving of these, too. As you might expect, they looked like “scrambled” egg whites. They cooked so fast… my skillet was pre-heated (I cooked the whole egg first), and they cooked almost faster than I could get in with the spatula to mix them up. Even with a little bit of sunflower oil in the pan (how I usually cook my eggs), these stuck to my pan a little bit. And they tasted like egg whites (like the white part when you fry an egg instead of scrambling it). They tasted good, just not the same as a whole egg. Cheese and bacon would be good here, too, but it wouldn’t make me think I was eating a regular scrambled egg.
So which one is better?
That’s up to you. Think about these things before making a decision at the grocery store:
- Cost. The liquid egg products did cost more per serving than the whole eggs. The eggs were $0.20 per egg (1 egg is 1 serving), and both of the liquid egg products were $0.32 per serving.
- Nutrition. Whole eggs have a little more protein than liquid egg products. If you need more protein in your diet, you probably want to stick with the whole eggs. (Although for most of us, 1 gram of protein is not going to make a very big difference.) If you have high cholesterol or have been told to stick to a low-fat diet, the liquid egg products are going to be a good alternative for you.
- Recipe. How will you be cooking with them? While the regular liquid egg product does taste a lot like whole eggs, the 100% egg whites do not. This could change the final taste of your dish.
Enjoy!
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