The Smoked Egg Company | Celebrating Australian Food and Agribusiness Innovations 2021
Egg producers Julie and Paul Kos had a desire to differentiate. After purchasing a smoker, the couple experimented with various foods and formats before settling on a goal — to smoke-infuse a whole raw egg in its shell. It was a tricky aim, as traditional methods raise the egg’s temperature and change its proteins, and the couple wanted the product to perform the same as a standard raw egg in all applications.
It took years to find the perfect blend of time, temperature, humidity and volume of smoke, with Julie and Paul developing a world-first chilled smoke technology in the process. It also delivered an additional benefit: where fresh eggs have thick whites that become runnier with age, Julie noticed the smoked eggs didn’t. Lab tests confirmed a shelf life of 210 days — substantially longer than a standard egg — because the Kos’ technique halts the ageing process and impedes bacterial growth.
With the whole raw egg format perfected, they looked to produce a liquid egg that would help industry and settled on a range of liquid format products including whites, yolks and a whole egg variety. The format makes it easier to imbue a deeper smoky flavour, as the inherent inconsistencies in individual eggs — such as shell pore size — are removed, allowing for standardised processing.
FIAL has been instrumental in the process, providing funding for research into food safety testing and to understand the impact of the smoking process on harmful bacteria, as well as advice on commercialisation and upscaling requirements.
The sterility of the Smoked Egg Company product makes it a suitable choice for consumers that are traditionally wary of raw egg, including pregnant women, the elderly and anyone suffering ill health.
A move to a new facility that saw the company double the size of operations will enable the Smoked Egg Company to fully commercialise the liquid format product by mid-2021.
