What is the best way to prepare eggs to sell? We have brown chicken and white duck eggs that we would like to sell. The chicken eggs are mostly clean, have occasional mud when we have rainy weather. They clean well with a little water. The duck eggs are always a bit muddy even though bedded well and collected every morning. Our ducks play in the yard and drill lots of holes in their yard so it is always damp. No matter how I clean the duck eggs they still have a shadowy cast. I have looked at a sandpaper type egg cleaner and Egg Washer Pro cleaning solution from Meyer Hatchery. Suggestions for cleaning eggs to sell from our home? Has anyone used either of those 2 products? Thanks.
I would wash dirty eggs before I sold them or gave them away. It is your good name at stake. Eggs have a coating on them called bloom that helps keep bacteria out. When you wash them or sandpaper them you remove the bloom. No big deal as long as you refrigerate the eggs after the bloom is removed. They will still keep a very long time. When you wash them, you should wash them in water warmer than the egg. The egg has an air sac in it that is filled with air. If you wash an egg in water colder than the egg, the air sac contracts and creates a suction that can draw water into the egg. Bacteria can come in with the water. If the water is warmer than the egg, the air sac does not contract but expands a bit, keeping water out. The experts say that the water should be at least 10 degrees warmer than the egg, but I just go by feel. If it feels warmer than the egg, I'm satisfied. You can lightly sandpaper them, but there is a chance the brown color will come off the egg. It does not hurt the egg at all but may look a little odd. You can try rubbing them with a dry cloth or a barely damp cloth, but I have trouble getting them clean that way. I usually wash the dirty ones in warm water and refrigerate them.
