Company Invents Shelf-Stable Omelettes That Can Last An Entire Year
When we think of omelettes, the image that comes to mind is fluffy eggs cooked to order with a multitude of fresh, savory ingredients. It’s a great morning meal to kick off the day, and doesn’t take too much time to make.
For those looking to the extremes of convenience, though, there are shelf-stable omelettes being invented that not only take out the need for cooking altogether, but can last an entire year.
Photo courtesy of Scramblers
Created by Scramblers, these “omelette bars” are meant to serve as a keto-friendly substitute to breakfast bars, protein bars, and yogurts. They come in three different flavors: Bacon and Egg with Cheese, Spinach & Feta, and Spicy Chicken Sausage. Each one has 10 grams of protein and only 1-3 grams of carbs, and gets its 12-month shelf life without the use of any preservatives.
Normally, eggs tend to go bad within just a few days, so extending that timeline to an entire year seems slightly unreal. However, co-founder Dan Kaplan stated that the company uses a “patent-pending” technology that cooks the eggs under a combination of pressure and heat that makes them shelf-stable. Kaplan described the method briefly, saying that the eggs are heat-sealed inside their packaging prior to cooking.
In the food industry, similar processes exist, including what is used for canning procedures. A newer process, microwave assisted thermal sterilization, is also being used to create shelf-stable meals, but it’s unclear how similar Scramblers’ patented method is to those processing techniques. The eggs are cooked in their packaging, helping to protect them during their 12-month shelf life.
While convenience is the key selling point of these shelf-stable omelettes, Kaplan’s team has poured a lot into their quality as well. Clean-label ingredients like eggs, ghee, bacon, and sausage are used to create each product, and each of these is transparently sourced.
For those who are off-put at the idea of eating a room temperature omelette, they can be microwaved in their packaging for 10-15 seconds to bring them up to temperature. They can then be eaten on their own, or mixed into various items to add protein to a meal. Some of the ideas that have come up so far, including making a quick “sandwich” using a piece of bread, adding it to salads, or even breaking one up into some rice.
It sounds a little strange to be eating an omelette that can last for an entire year, however, technology has gotten us to the point where we can do this safely and in a tasty manner, meaning that we don’t have to fresh cook eggs every time we want to whip up a quick omelette.
Scramblers is currently live as a project on Kickstarter, where they have already completed over two-thirds of their funding goal. If fully funded, they plan to launch their product in early 2019, starting out with sales through their website, Amazon, and possibly Thrive Market. The average cost of a bar is expected to be that of “clean protein and meat bars already on the market,” according to Kaplan, and average under $3 per bar in the funding options available on Kickstarter.
