Preserving eggs?

[i_am2bz]

Ok, I haven't seen this one, but if someone knows of a thread already out there, just let me know...

My 4 chickens (Golden Comets) lay 1/day each, & with only two of us in the house, we get egged-out (good for the neighbors & close family of course)...I would LOVE to find a way to save them somehow. I know you can buy them powdered in cannisters (like Provident Pantry)...but can it be done at home, with some kind of dehydrater? I know eggs can be pickled, but I want something that tastes like an egg, not a...well, pickle. What about freezing them?

Anyone here have some ideas...?

 

[xpc]

I freeze mine for up to a year - of course you have to crack them into a small container first, best to use in cooked dishes rather than straight fried or scrambled.

I guess I should qualify that by saying the eggs tasted funny to me after being frozen when I made scrambled but seemed fine in baked items, there is nothing wrong with them either way. I also freeze milk and use it the same way for cooking but never to drink.

I have read that people put individual eggs in ice cube trays then freeze, pop out, wrap and put in a bigger container. I usually scramble 2 to a sandwich bag and freeze.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

The best info I have found on keeping eggs is this article.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1977-11-01/Fresh-Eggs.aspx

Unwashed, fresh eggs have a bloom or a coating of sorts that keeps them fresh for a looooong time. As in several months on the counter and up to a year or so in the fridge, depending on the temperatures. My first 6 chickens were lost back in Oct. My mother still has 3 of them, we just ate the other 8 she had.

That was a funny conversation:
Me, digging in the fridge "Hey, where'd you get these eggs? They look like fresh eggs..."
Her "From you."
"What?! Aren't you going to eat them?"
"No, they taste too... something. Too strong. Or something. I tried one."
"Well, give them back then!"
So, she did and we ate them and they were fine! I did crack them individually into a bowl & smelled them before tossing them into the frying pan.
It was good to remember my first flock when we ate them.

 

[xpc]

The best info I have found on keeping eggs is this article.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1977-11-01/Fresh-Eggs.aspx

Good reading and give kudos to whoever taste tested the eggs over the year, a much braver person then me. I wonder why they never considered freezing as an option?

 

[ORChick]

The best info I have found on keeping eggs is this article.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1977-11-01/Fresh-Eggs.aspx

Good reading and give kudos to whoever taste tested the eggs over the year, a much braver person then me. I wonder why they never considered freezing as an option?

It said at the beginning of the article that these were *old-timey* methods, thus no freezing. I agree though that they were brave souls who took part in the testing I froze some eggs last year for holiday baking (good thing I did too, the girls took a total winter holiday :/), but I was really bad about remembering to pull them out to thaw in time. I think this winter I'll just refrigerate some, as recommended in the article.

 

[Farmfresh]

I personally used to do the ice cube method. Always stir in some salt when beating the eggs. It helps the flavor and keeping quality. Pop the cubes out of the tray when frozen and keep frozen in a Ziplock freezer bag until use. I cube equals 1 small egg approximately.

I too use them mostly for baking.

In the olden days people also used a chemical storage for eggs in a substance called water glass. I really don't know a lot about that.

 

[i_am2bz]

You've jogged my memory, I remember reading about the ice cube tray method somewhere. That sounds like the easiest. But it's good to know they'll last so long in the fridge (altho I really don't have the room for 6 dozen eggs)...

 

[valmom]

OK, not good for keeping eggs to fry for breakfast, but I was just talking to my oriental boss about her salted eggs. She brines raw eggs for about 3 weeks. Then boil them (I think). They keep a very long time this way, apparently. Another co-worker says she pickles her eggs. Boil first, shell them, and put in pickling solution. Her husband love them.

 

[~gd]

I personally used to do the ice cube method. Always stir in some salt when beating the eggs. It helps the flavor and keeping quality. Pop the cubes out of the tray when frozen and keep frozen in a Ziplock freezer bag until use. I cube equals 1 small egg approximately.

I too use them mostly for baking.

In the olden days people also used a chemical storage for eggs in a substance called water glass. I really don't know a lot about that.

I do I am so darn old that we didn't have electrical power and we kept things cool In a Ice box, a well insulated box that had a compartment in the top for ice and the food was in the bottom (cold sinks) under the metal drip tray. Unwashed eggs were dipped in the water glass and allowed to dry. We usually double dipped them to get complete coverage(very inportant) When they were ready for storage they looked and felt like they had a very thin coating of glass. Unlike the study mentioned above we stored ours in a very cool and moist root cellar (~40F and 70% humidity) We kept them on egg flats not cartons. We usually managed to put up enough to last untill the birds started to lay in the spring. Yes some would spoil so they were ALWAYS broken one at a time into a cup so they could be checked without spoiling what they were to be used for. I still do that to this day because you never know about any egg until it is broken.
Water glass is a solution of Sodium Silicate and can sometimes be found in hardware stores where it has some application in mason's work perhaps in waterproofing plaster because once it has dried it is very difficult to remove. Even after we got power and a refrigator we kept doing them this way, who had room in a old small refrigator for months of eggs for a family of 6? ~gd

 

[Farmfresh]

Thanks ~gd! I really appreciate that input. I had heard about the water glass, but was unsure of it's application.

The principle of the method is to seal the pours within the eggs shell to prevent contamination by bacteria and also to prevent moisture loss.

Your storage temps are right on tract with modern research which suggests temps of between 45- 50 as "ideal" for egg storage. The refrigerator gets much colder than that or your milk would be spoiling.

I have also heard of "waxing" eggs to try to do the same thing as water glass.

I would assume that you always chose a nice fresh clean egg to preserve in this way. Am I right ~gd?