How to Preserve Eggs

When you have chickens, you know that there are certain seasons where the egg production far exceeds your family's consumption! Let me show how to preserve eggs for up to a year, without any fancy equipment!

Keep reading to discover how long eggs last, how to preserve eggs for longterm storage and which type of lime is used for water glassing eggs.

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How long do eggs last?

I'm going to give you the official answer from the USDA, and then I'm going to share a more practical answer. The USDA recommends eggs be refrigerated immediately after gathering and consumed within 3-5 weeks. They go on to say that eggs are generally safe to consume for up to a month past their expiration date.

Well... that isn't the way we do it at our house. First, let's talk about the differences between farm fresh eggs and store bought eggs. Store-bought eggs are washed in a solution that "sterilizes" the eggshell and removes the protective bloom coating. The bloom is the eggs natural protection that seals the 6,000-8,000 shell pores.

Store bought eggs with the bloom removed are not going to last as long as farm fresh eggs. Period.

Farm fresh eggs on the other hand, can be stored, unwashed, at room temperature for two weeks and in the refrigerator for up to three months. Honestly, much longer in my experience.

How to float eggs to see if the egg is fresh

Let me explain how to tell if an egg is still fresh enough to eat. There is a process called 'Floating' and it is a way to tell if the air pocket inside the egg is still small, which means the egg is fresh.

Once the egg ages, the air pocket gets larger and the egg will begin to float in a bowl or jar of water. Fill up a jar with room temperature water and gently place the egg in the water. If the egg sinks or bobs along the bottom of the glass of water, it is very fresh. An egg that stands on end or hovers above the bottom of the jar is less fresh (but still edible in my opinion). If the egg has aged to the point of buoyancy, meaning it floats, I generally do not eat the egg. Floating eggs can still be used for feeding livestock, such as pigs, or composting.

What eggs can be used for water glassing?

Only the freshest and cleanest eggs should be used for preserving. I generally fill a glass vessel with lid halfway full with the pickling lime and water solution and then add freshly gathered clean eggs each day until the jar is full. Ideally, I try to fill the jar within several days to prevent opening it over and over again.

How to preserve eggs for long term storage

1. Freeze drying
2. Dehydrating
3. Freezing
4. Waterglassing
5. Mineral oil preserving

what is water glassing eggs?

Water glassing eggs is an age old method that involves submerging fresh, unwashed eggs in a solution of water and pickling lime. If you imagine looking at the egg shell under a microscope, it would have tiny little holes.

The pickling lime squeezes into these holes and essentially plugs them, much like the mortar in between the bricks on a house. These pores allow air to flow in and out of the egg, which is how the egg spoils over time. Plugging the holes slows the natural process!

what kind of lime do you use to water glass eggs?

Pickling lime can be found in the canning section of a grocery or hardware store. The brand I am using today is called Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime. Pickling lime is used for canning recipes such as crisp pickled cucumbers, watermelon rinds and cinnamon pickles. It is food grade calcium hydroxide with no additives or preservatives.

The ratio of pickling lime to water for water glassing eggs is one ounce pickling lime to one quart distilled water. This mixture can be doubled or tripled as needed!

helpful tools for preserving eggs

There are very few supplies needed for preserving eggs. Select a glass vessel with a lid, such as a half gallon mason jar or a recycled pickle jar. Find a jar that has a wide mouth and you can easily reach your hand in.

To accurately measure the pickling lime, you will need a kitchen scale. I use this digital scale for everything from weighing flour for bread making to weighing spices for seasoning sausage.

You will also need a whisk to mix the lime mixture and a glass bowl to make it in.

can you water glass store-bought eggs?

No! Let me explain why it is NOT possible to water glass store-bought eggs. Eggs that have been washed, like store-bought eggs, no longer have the protective cover known as 'bloom.' The bloom is what keeps the eggs fresh and is a necessary component of preserving.

The second reason why store-bought eggs can not be preserved with pickling lime is that they were not laid by the hen that same day. Only the freshest eggs can be used for preserving by water glassing.

what is the best type of jar for water glassing eggs?

I use any jar that has a lid with a tight seal. It can be a mason jar, recycled jar or anything in between. My favorite are the big pickle jars like the one in the image below. The pickles are inexpensive and always a hit with kids, then the great big jar is perfect for preserving a larger quantity of eggs!

The jar does not need to be sealed with a canner or vacuum sealer. Simply tighten the lid and store the jar somewhere dark where it can remain undisturbed until you are ready to use it.

how to water glass eggs

1. Prepare the lime water solution by weighing once ounce of lime per one quart of water. I make enough solution to fill the glass vessel slightly over half way full, that way I don't accidentally make too little.
2. Layer the eggs in the jar, pointy end down. If a few of them change position during filling it's okay, but ideally the air bubble in the egg, which is in the bulbous end, should be facing up. You can see that I had a few move in my jar in the images below.
3. Pour the lime solution over the eggs. Make sure to cover the top layer of eggs by a half an inch. Tighten then lid on the jar and put it somewhere cool and dark for storage.

how to use eggs that have been preserved

When the eggs are ready to be used, simply remove as many eggs as needed from the jar. Pickling lime can irritate the skin due to it's acidity, so I usually use tongs to remove the eggs and then run the egg under tap water to give it a rinse before touching it.