home raised vs store bought egg😱

[kanami]

was making donuts today, and unfortunately my ladies aren’t producing as many eggs as recently it has been getting darker and gloomier, plus it was raining recently. so we had to buy store bought eggs, embarrassing!! but i cracked in an egg we collected today (top) and a store bought one (bottom) and just look at that color difference!! i must be used to my yolks being darker because it seriously shocked me how yellow the ones from the store are

 

[2ndTink]

I was just talking about this with a nutritionist last night! I remember when our girls first started laying and one morning I fried the last store bought egg along with 3 fresh eggs. The store bought egg was flatter, less color, and you could even taste the difference. My husband said he'd never eat a store bought egg again

We weren't planning on getting chicks this year, but I'm glad we did as they are the only ones laying right now, all my old hens are molting and taking a break.

 

[GreenJay]

This is our first year of chickens and I was amazed at the difference in our eggs from the store eggs. Big perky dark yolks and the taste, so yummy! One of the best compliments my girls and their eggs have ever gotten? "Dang these eggs are rich!" Love it!

 

[TooCheep]

we had to buy store bought eggs, embarrassing!! but i cracked in an egg we collected today (top) and a store bought one (bottom) and just look at that color difference!! i must be used to my yolks being darker because it seriously shocked me how yellow the ones from the store are

I had the same revelation during my first year with chickens. It felt very odd to be buying eggs at the store during that first winter when mine were so much richer and more nutritious. I looked into ways to preserve eggs for use over the winter and found three good solutions:

• Freeze drying- requires an expensive machine ($1,000+), but very effective
• Freezing- uses valuable freezer space, but fine if you have the space
• Water-glassing- an old, inexpensive, pre-electrical technique that stores whole eggs in a container under water with a specific type of calcium that protects them from the elements. I've been doing this for the last 5 or 6 years.

One downside, which I don't mind: All three solutions are really only good for scrambled eggs, which is fine for baking or eating as scrambled eggs/omeletes. No hard-boiled or sunny-side up eggs in the winter...

If you are curious about water-glassing, there is a master thread on the topic. The video in the first post will do a good job of showing you the idea and the rest of the thread has plenty of discussions and questions/answers.

 

[AidKD]

I had the same revelation during my first year with chickens. It felt very odd to be buying eggs at the store during that first winter when mine were so much richer and more nutritious. I looked into ways to preserve eggs for use over the winter and found three good solutions:

• Freeze drying- requires an expensive machine ($1,000+), but very effective
• Freezing- uses valuable freezer space, but fine if you have the space
• Water-glassing- an old, inexpensive, pre-electrical technique that stores whole eggs in a container under water with a specific type of calcium that protects them from the elements. I've been doing this for the last 5 or 6 years.

One downside, which I don't mind: All three solutions are really only good for scrambled eggs, which is fine for baking or eating as scrambled eggs/omeletes. No hard-boiled or sunny-side up eggs in the winter...

If you are curious about water-glassing, there is a master thread on the topic. The video in the first post will do a good job of showing you the idea and the rest of the thread has plenty of discussions and questions/answers.

Another way is to dehydrate them and add a tablespoon of water to rehydrate. I believe you can use them for baking that way.

 

[TooCheep]

Another way is to dehydrate them and add a tablespoon of water to rehydrate. I believe you can use them for baking that way.

I haven't used that method on eggs, but from what I saw in my research, the result isn't as good as the other three methods. I do a fair amount of dehydrating, but generally of fruit and vegetables and occasionally to make jerky.

There are some other methods as well, but they seem to have significant downsides to the three I listed.

 

[Folly's place]

I'd freeze them for baking, having freezer space. Easy and safe!
Store eggs are not as fresh as our home grown eggs, often, usually by several weeks. that flattens the yolks and changes the egg whites a bit. Still safe, just not as fresh. Yolk color darkens due to diet; hens free ranging and eating more than confined commercial birds will produce darker yolks.
And the least expensive commercial eggs come from hens in cages, not humane, IMO.
We don't buy eggs at the store!
Mary

 

[TooCheep]

I'd freeze them for baking, having freezer space. Easy and safe!

If you freeze, then scramble them first and store in freezer bags. Allows you to bring out a limited amount of eggs rather than trying to chip from a large block.

 

[kanami]

I had the same revelation during my first year with chickens. It felt very odd to be buying eggs at the store during that first winter when mine were so much richer and more nutritious. I looked into ways to preserve eggs for use over the winter and found three good solutions:

• Freeze drying- requires an expensive machine ($1,000+), but very effective
• Freezing- uses valuable freezer space, but fine if you have the space
• Water-glassing- an old, inexpensive, pre-electrical technique that stores whole eggs in a container under water with a specific type of calcium that protects them from the elements. I've been doing this for the last 5 or 6 years.

One downside, which I don't mind: All three solutions are really only good for scrambled eggs, which is fine for baking or eating as scrambled eggs/omeletes. No hard-boiled or sunny-side up eggs in the winter...

If you are curious about water-glassing, there is a master thread on the topic. The video in the first post will do a good job of showing you the idea and the rest of the thread has plenty of discussions and questions/answers.

thank you this is very helpful! i remember earlier in the summer thinking.. “maybe i should try to preserve some eggs…. haha later” and now it is november almost december! i work in a place with a freeze drier and i could definitely experiment with that. bookmarking this for next spring! thank you again

 

[fowltemptress]

If you freeze, then scramble them first and store in freezer bags. Allows you to bring out a limited amount of eggs rather than trying to chip from a large block.

You can also crack them individually into ice cube trays, and pop them out and store them in freezer bags after they've frozen solid.