egg selling questions

[daniel-delarosa]

I was curious how those of you sell eggs do it. I was thinking of starting to sell some of my eggs instead of cooking scrambled eggs for my girls every other morning. Im getting about a dozen a day. I gather them every day, what I dont wash and put in the fridge for my family, I put in a basket on the counter. When the basket gets full(30 or 35 eggs) I cook them and feed back to the chickens. If I was to try and sell them, what is the correct way of handling the eggs? I was thinking of gathering daily as I do now, washing and putting them strait in the fridge. How long can a dozen be stored in the fridge before it is not good to sell? Right now I only keep eggs for a week, what I dont eat in that week I cook for the chickens.

 

[7L Farm]

I just collect the eggs & put them on the counter & sell them. I've read they will last a few months in the fridge.

 

[eagal]

a freind told me that if eggs are colletted ,right off, washed and refrigerated they will last 18 month.
not sure wheir he got his info.

 

[cravenchx]

I will leave mine out in a basket. When someone wants
to buy, I wash and refrigerate. They will last a very long
time without washing on the counter, and I believe, just
as long washed and refrigerated.
The eggs in the grocery store are WAY older than ours!

 

[Fred's Hens]

I will leave mine out in a basket. When someone wants
to buy, I wash and refrigerate. They will last a very long
time without washing on the counter, and I believe, just
as long washed and refrigerated.
The eggs in the grocery store are WAY older than ours!

It is speculated that grocery store eggs can be as much as 2 months old. The computation is something akin to a month to get to the stores and some stores have stock for three weeks, then the consumer holds them in their own refrigerator for another 3 weeks, slowly using them up. It's likely a fair guess.

Our eggs get sold within a week and used within two weeks. Our customers return every week or two, so we know that our eggs certainly aren't very old when consumed.

 

[stcroixusvi]

The eggs are laid with a protective "bloom" that should not be washed off unless absolutely necessary, and then use an egg wash. I sell unwashed, unrefrigerated eggs to colleagues at work and neighbors not in the immediate area - nearby neighbors get eggs for free - they have to listen to the roosters! If I do wash them, I use an egg wash and then refrigerate.

 

[moetrout]

I only wash to most offensive eggs. They all go into the frig and I sell them as I have extras.

 

[dolly85]

I'll spot clean any eggs that need it when I bring them inside and then I put them in the fridge to eat or give away. My neighbors, family and coworkers LOVE getting fresh eggs! We try to use them or give them away within a week, but they last for much, much longer.

 

[Chickadee55]

What does the egg wash consist of? Can't you just rinse them off with water?

 

[kgdubois]

I gather my eggs daily, and when I get several dozen extra I let my coworkers know...I sell a dozen eggs for $3.50 & have no trouble at all finding people to buy them. I also take my eggs to the Farmer's Market to sell or trade for other goods. I never wash the eggs that I sell...any that have poop or other nasty stuff go into the chicken/dog slop bucket to be fed back to the animals. I figure it's not worth getting some nasty stomach bug for one or two eggs with poop on them.

I do not know exactly what is in the egg wash, but I believe the mixture is designed to remove dirt and germs. I don't know if rinsing the egg with plain water would really get the nasties off of the eggs. I've also read that if you wash the eggs you should mist them with food-grade mineral oil to replace the bloom that was removed. It is because of this that I do not wash my eggs, I figure the bloom that nature provides is best I usually refridgerate the eggs that I keep for my family (because they can be in the fridge for about 2 - 3 weeks at a time) but eggs I sell stay out on the counter in a carton. I sell them within 2 - 3 days of collection, and have never had anyone come back to me saying any of the eggs have gone bad. I have one customer who gets two dozen eggs every month...some of those eggs sit on their counter for the entire 30 days before being eaten, and are always good...I'd never leave an egg out for that long, but it goes to show how long they can last, I guess!

Hope this helps!