Share your egg management tips!

[Demarvell]

Do you wash them on collection day then store in the fridge? Do you wait till you've built up a dozen, then wash and store in a clean carton? Am I overthinking this??

So far I've just been refrigerating immediately, then giving them a rinse before use. Doesn't feel very efficient, especially coming from grocery store eggs where you just crack and go.

Would love to hear what everyone else does

I just use a dry stainless steel scrubber pad to knock off any detritus that might be on the egg. I only wash them if they get real muddy, when the odd egg gets laid in the run.

 

[NatJ]

What do you guys like for cartons?

I've always reused cartons from grocery-store eggs. Those cartons can last a long time.

For any new chicken owners: save all the cartons in the weeks or months that you are waiting for your chickens to start laying eggs. Then you will have a nice supply when you need them. I know that some people ask friends to save egg cartons for reuse.

Mine go straight from coop to a carton in the fridge. The occasional dirty egg gets a quick rinse.

That's how I've always done it too. Dirty eggs that are already dry may get stored that way and washed before cooking, but eggs that are dirty and not dry (fresh mud, fresh chicken droppings, etc) would get washed before storage in the fridge.

 

[CBC]

Do you wash them on collection day then store in the fridge? Do you wait till you've built up a dozen, then wash and store in a clean carton? Am I overthinking this??

So far I've just been refrigerating immediately, then giving them a rinse before use. Doesn't feel very efficient, especially coming from grocery store eggs where you just crack and go.

Would love to hear what everyone else does

I like seeing my egg basket accumulating eggs till it reach the top and then I wash them all and put them in the fridge

 

[Karen Glatz]

Unless they are really dirty, I never wash them. And I don't store them in the fridge.

I store them in a fifo egg box on the counter. You put new ones in the top and they roll down to the bottom opening so you are always using the oldest first. It holds 2 dozen and is fine unrefrigerated if you use your eggs within a couple of weeks. The few washed eggs get used immediately.

It's easier to keep the nest boxes clean then to wash and store eggs.

 

[Stephine]

I never wash clean or cleanish eggs - as long as I can find a nice clean side to crack them on and there’s no thick dirt that could fall off, they are fine, in my book. Really filthy eggs get fed to the dog - don’t wash them for that either, my dog eats chicken poop right as the hens drop it like they are PEZ dispensers… I refrigerate all eggs right after collecting them. Dog eggs go in their own little dish and get fed out asap.

 

[fowltemptress]

I never wash. If there's a spot or smear on the egg, I'll crack the egg on the opposite side. If there isn't a large enough clean spot for me to feel comfortable cracking it, I'll just boil it up, unwashed, and feed it as a treat to the ducks. I also don't refrigerate, and the eggs keep fine for a few months at room temperature.

 

[Rose_adamaj]

I don’t wash mine either. I only refrigerate in the heat of summer when my ac can’t keep the kitchen cool enough.
If I get muddy or poopy eggs I either feed to doggies &/or soak in warm water long enough to get the worst off then hard boil them.
I also sell eggs unwashed & unrefrigerated. Mother Nature knows how to take care of eggs better than I do
Ok. So I’ve been looking at emojis trying to find the best one for what I said. I can’t decide. I hope I’m not the only person who has this problem

 

[The Moonshiner]

Never wash. Store in incubators.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I refrigerate immediately, wash what's accumulated after a week, store what we don't need for our own use in clean cartons and sell or give away the next day or ASAP. For the most part my eggs are already clean bc, as others have said, I keep my nests clean, but since I supply eggs to others I want them to be clean. I don't want anyone to be able to say they got sick from my eggs.

 

[Bonnieboo]

I only ever clean my eggs if they're dirty and not in water, just wipe them over with a damp paper towel then refrigerate. They are used first. Clean ones (99%) go straight in the fridge. I give my eggs away all the time and I've never had any complaints. Until I joined this group, I'd never thought to wash eggs as I know it destroys their "bloom".