How do YOU store your eggs?

[BigBlueHen53]

Washed, refrigerated eggs should be good for 100 days. Sorry it's past my bedtime and I can't cite the official site I read that on. Give me a minute.

USDA. They're the only ones, IMO, that really matter. Otherwise all that's being said is just a big echo chamber of us repeating our own oponions.

 

[countrybumpkin5]

christ. that’s wild.

props to you for owning it though.

i don’t think you and i could be further apart here haha

Basically the same here with me. SW Missouri. AC is really not natural anyway and not a good way to live day to day, but I understand that when all businesses and vehicles (not my truck though) have AC people get conditioned to it and don't do well in the heat. When you grow your food and meat and are pretty self sufficient you need to be conditioned to the heat and the cold. It's just smaller scale farming, the way farming used to be. I grew up farming and most don't realize just what it entails. Each to his own, however.

 

[Happy Novogens]

A/C may not be "natural" but it sure makes life livable in Phoenix heat. There's good reason the population didn't grow significantly here until the advent of A/C. After living a couple weeks straight in 120F, few would disagree.

 

[countrybumpkin5]

A/C may not be "natural" but it sure makes life livable in Phoenix heat. There's good reason the population didn't grow significantly here until the advent of A/C. After living a couple weeks straight in 120F, few would disagree.

I'm familiar with Phoenix temps. I lived in Tucson for 13 years with no ac. Lived in a double wide for a while and then just an rv out on 4 acres, and spent essentially all day every day outside working both on the property and building high end custom welded fencing for customers. It's really what you get used to, and what your health determines. Not to mention here in SW MO the humidity makes the 95 and 100 plus degree temps very miserable, much more so than in southern AZ, and that's from a lot of years experience.

 

[Happy Novogens]

I'm familiar with Phoenix temps. I lived in Tucson for 13 years with no ac. Lived in a double wide for a while and then just an rv out on 4 acres, and spent essentially all day every day outside working both on the property and building high end custom welded fencing for customers. It's really what you get used to, and what your health determines. Not to mention here in SW MO the humidity makes the 95 and 100 plus degree temps very miserable, much more so than in southern AZ, and that's from a lot of years experience.

Yes. Tucson is more tolerable. We were there just last weekend enjoying the cooler temps away from Phoenix.
Humidity is no stranger to us either as we lived decades on the east coast before moving here. My husband can't tolerate humidity. A/C is a wonderful thing in my book. Easier than building a house below ground like on Tatooine!

 

[Trazom]

I’m experimenting with water glassing. I put our unsoiled, unwashed eggs in a solution of 1oz (by weight) of picking lime (calcium hydroxide) to 1qt of filtered water. So far, I have 8 dozen eggs stored this way in a food-grade, five-gallon bucket with lid.

 

[DickMidnight]

Basically the same here with me. SW Missouri. AC is really not natural anyway and not a good way to live day to day, but I understand that when all businesses and vehicles (not my truck though) have AC people get conditioned to it and don't do well in the heat. When you grow your food and meat and are pretty self sufficient you need to be conditioned to the heat and the cold. It's just smaller scale farming, the way farming used to be. I grew up farming and most don't realize just what it entails. Each to his own, however.

congrats, i guess, on being tougher than everyone else?

it’s not about not being conditioned to the heat or cold, it’s about having the tools to make yourself more comfortable inside of your own home. if those tools are available, why not take advantage of them?

i don’t know what farming entails, nor do i really want to, but i can’t see the connection between farming and forcing your family to sweat in the living room because you don’t want air conditioning.

 

[Zud]

I generally don't wash eggs. I store them -- depending on size -- in lidded, hard-plastic egg cartons, meant for fridge use, on the counter or, for the super-sized chicken and duck eggs, on an egg skelter, like affacat's.

Sometimes, the duck eggs are just too dirty, and if I have to wash those, they go in the fridge and are used first.

I sell eggs to folks I know, and when they get their first eggs, I give them a printed sheet explaining the how's and why's of storing eggs. I include information about the protective bloom on eggs, why U.S. store eggs are washed and must be refrigerated, and that the Iowa State University Extension small animal specialist is on record saying that unwashed eggs can safely be stored without refrigeration.

Do you happen to have a copy of that printout you share with your friend/customers? I'd love to take a gander at it! I tend to ramble when I start talking to folks about this and it might help to have a bit of a script.

 

[Zud]

I was just looking around on the internet and found this:

"Depending on where you live, farm fresh eggs with their bloom intact can be kept at room temperature on your countertop for up to 3 weeks providing that temperatures are not too hot.
After three weeks your farm fresh eggs should be refrigerated and can be kept in this environment for around 3 months."
https://www.chickensandmore.com/how-to-store-fresh-eggs/

and this:

Freshly laid eggs can be left out at room temperature for at least a month before your need to start thinking about moving them into the fridge. We like to make sure we eat ours in under two weeks (because they tend to taste better), but so long as the egg is eaten within one month of it being laid, you will be fine.
https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/how-to-store-your-chickens-freshly-laid-eggs/

and this from this forum:

Freshly laid eggs will be quite fine sitting out on the kitchen counter for up to a month, depending on the temperature in your kitchen, but after two weeks the quality will have dropped noticeably. For longer storage and for washed eggs, storage in a cool place, like the fridge, is recommended. Eggs will stay fresher even longer in the fridge if stored in egg cartons, which will minimize moisture loss through their porous shells.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cleaning-and-storing-fresh-eggs.66816/

We keep our eggs out and unwashed unless they're soiled, in which case we wash, refrigerate and use first.

We had a blunder with our rotation and ended up with a few eggs in the bottom of the basket we keep on the counter for somewhere close to 8 weeks. We know because among them were our Welsummer's distinctly darker fairy eggs that we'd stamped with a stamp my wife was gifted and we'd only used once. Anyway, we water tested the lot and only a couple had gone bad. I'm not sure if the size of the eggs were at all a factor.

Needless to say, we've made efforts to not have a repeat. We go through them much more quickly than to be concerned, typically.

 

[Callender Girl]

@Zud, this is probably much more than you wanted, but this is what I give new "customers." I don't know else they could possibly want to know -- because I tend to overexplain EVERYTHING. Hope you find this useful!

These aren't grocery store eggs

The eggs you are receiving are produced by a group of happy layers that are sheltered at night but are allowed to free range during the day. They forage and choose much of their own food; consequently, their eggs tend to have deep, rich-colored yolks.

The size of the eggs varies by chicken breed. The tiny Cochin Bantams lay much smaller eggs than the Sapphire Gem, a Czech hybrid known for its year-round productivity. Most of the layers are heirloom breeds, including Salmon Faverolles, Iowa Blues (the only breed developed in Iowa), Blue-Laced Red and Columbian Wyandottes and a Buff Orpington. All lay tinted, cream or brown eggs.

Newer additions are full-sized Cochins, a Bielefelder, Buckeyes (the only American breed developed solely by a woman – Nettie Metcalf in the 1890s), Speckled Sussex and Midnight Majesty Maran. Maran eggs are often described as “chocolate-colored.” One of the Easter Eggers lays light green eggs; her sister lays “normal” cream-colored eggs. That's the chance you take with Easter Eggers. A Prairie Bluebell Egger, house chicken Dottie, lays light blue eggs.

If you are receiving duck eggs, all are produced by Indian runner ducks, which lay white eggs. Duck eggs are generally about one-third larger than chicken eggs and have thicker shells. Duck eggs are higher in protein, a benefit to bakers since it results in lighter, fluffier baked goods. The yolks are proportionately larger than in chickens' eggs, and the eggs tend to be higher in healthy Omega-3 fatty acids.

American Buff goose eggs are available briefly in the spring as Gussie and Golly see fit to lay. They only produce for about five weeks, but the eggs are large enough to make an omelet with just one.

My eggs are not washed like grocery store eggs are. Washing removes the protective “bloom” that keeps bacteria from entering the egg through the shell. Stored eggs are not washed in Europe and are quite safe to eat; they will last for weeks without washing. You can either wash the eggs immediately before use, or you can wash and store them in the refrigerator when you receive them, if you are more comfortable with that. But eggs should be washed at some point before use.

My eggs are not stored in refrigeration, and no one has become ill from eating them. Again, many Europeans don't refrigerate their eggs, and for most of this country's history, neither did Americans. At an Iowa State University Extension poultry workshop in Fort Dodge, the ISU small farms project director agreed that refrigeration of eggs is not necessary, and eggs stored outside the fridge will last for weeks. You certainly can refrigerate them if that makes you feel safer.

Huffington Post ran an excellent article on the differences in egg nutrition and manners of storage on July 7, 2020.

While I am not opposed to using an egg carton twice, repeated re-use of egg cartons can result in a build up of bacteria and should be avoided, say experts. Non-Sytrofoam cartons can be recycled.

Unless you request a specific type of egg, all cartons may be a mix of size and species. In an effort to recoup some of my feed costs, I accept a donation of $1 per dozen eggs. The girls thank you for appreciating their work.

Bonus fun fact: Alektorophobia is the fear of chickens.