Did I Ruin the Eggs?

[LindsayL]

I'm not sure if this question belongs here, but it was the closest I could find. So I heard about rubbing clean fresh eggs with olive oil to preserve the eggs longer. I don't always get to them quickly so I wanted to make them last longer without waste. I have heard about the other technique that needs unwashed eggs, but my girls poo on their eggs too much to do that, so I clean them. Anywho, I took a whole bunch of eggs that I had washed previously that were in the fridge and some that I had freshly cleaned, and put a light covering of room temperature olive oil all over each egg. I then put them all (back) into the refrigerator. After the fact, I learned the oil needed to be hot and the eggs a certain temp too or else bacteria can get in. Did I ruin the eggs? How can I tell if I did? Will the water test work to know? Thank you for any advice!

 

[kerbotx]

I've never heard of that method, but there is no way to tell if the eggs were contaminated in the process, especially if this is something you just did. The float test can only indicate how fresh/old an egg is, not if it is actually safe to eat. I can understand if you are just absolutely counting on these eggs for your main nutrition/source of income - but when in doubt, throw it out. Maybe - maybe - boil them ASAP & feed them back to your chickens. Hopefully, someone with experience with the oil method will chime in with better advice.

 

[LindsayL]

You might be right to just throw them out. I do have more from our lady birds and I think this was a lesson to not do something I haven't fully researched haha. Especially not so many at a time.

 

[ladybrasa]

Maybe feed back to your chickens? (After cooking) I can’t imagine they’d be bad already after a day. I’ve heard that you can also freeze eggs - crack into ice cube type trays and freeze. Or make quiche - those freeze pretty well.

 

[LindsayL]

I did this about a month ago. I don't get around to cooking eggs super often so I was trying to make them last longer. It just fianlly dawned on me to ask people here who would know better. We also give some of our eggs to anyone who wants some. So I essentially ruined 3 dozen eggs I feel stupid as that is such a huge waste

 

[Compost King]

When I am not sure about eggs I just crack them into a bowl and if the yolk doesn't break they are still good. Then I mix in chicken feed or scratch grains and feed it to the chickens. I will also mix in veggies or leftovers that are safe for chickens but my chickens are reluctant to eat it. Chickens will eat anything covered in egg yolks. Sometimes I have chickens that will not eat worms and I have a plethora of worms spread across my property and its cheap protein for chickens. When I have eggs I do not want to eat and are too marginal in age to sell I will mix worms into a bowl of egg yolks and all chickens will eat the worms covered in egg.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Anywho, I took a whole bunch of eggs that I had washed previously that were in the fridge and some that I had freshly cleaned, and put a light covering of room temperature olive oil all over each egg. I then put them all (back) into the refrigerator. After the fact, I learned the oil needed to be hot and the eggs a certain temp too or else bacteria can get in. Did I ruin the eggs? How can I tell if I did? Will the water test work to know? Thank you for any advice!

Hi there, hope you are enjoying BYC!

Don't toss them, they may be fine. The statement is accurate about what COULD happen.. doesn't mean it DID. Also they need to be "washed" lets be real it just rinsing in water hotter than the egg for the reason you stated.

The water test is crap and only tells you how much air has entered the egg.. or white has evaporated..

If I was going to use and oil.. a light coating of mineral oil would be the best choice, and what's used on commercial eggs.. Olive oil *can* go rancid, defeating your whole purpose... and aside from being pricier is no different than vegetable oil.. as far as I can tell.

Make sure nest boxes are clean and not being slept in and ladies bumm feathers as well may need to be inspected. It's really frustrating when a bird constantly poos on eggs.. and is call for re-homing OR freezer camp at my place.

Roll away nest box inserts might be a helpful option for keeping eggs cleaner if my other suggestions aren't sufficient or relevant for YOUR flock.

Noting in my experience.. unwashed, clean, refrigerated eggs are still as fresh at 6+ months as store bought eggs! I was shocked.

Maybe only wash the ones that need it and store them to be used first in the fridge. With unwashed eggs being stored First in First out, of course but used after washed eggs.

If eggs are too yucky for me.. from the nest.. they usually get washed and fed back to the other animals either scrambled (dogs) or boiled and simply stepped on when put down for poultry.. on occasion only as a nutritious, delicious, highly digestible TREAT (or boost), since they 34% protein, 64% fat, and half the protein plus a lot of the micro-nutrients are found INSIDE the yolk. Noting the protein in eggs is more digestible when cooked, sometimes I will toss a raw egg that accidentally got broke out for them clean up.

Do the sniff test.. can you smell anything funky?

Shine a flashlight through them, candling. Can you see anything, funky?

If not crack into a bowl.. if all looks good and well.. smells normal.. You should be good! OR boil them.. and make some egg dishes.. I bet they're fine.

Of course.. when it doubt throw it out.. Life is more valuable..

It hard to make things go wrong with eggs.. even inside my incubator. They are amazing packages! And not all bacteria are bad.. some support our life!

Absolutely NO reason to feel stupid.. but rather empowered by the lesson and being able to share it with us so that other who come across this thread may also learn.

 

[LindsayL]

Thank you for the advice