Preserving eggs in oil

[Areyoucluckingme]

I am wondering if anyone has specifically preserved eggs by submerging them completely in olive oil? I know the mineral oil trick of rubbing them down with mineral oil but I don't want to use mineral oil for my own personal reasons, and I would rather use food grade oil any way. It seems to me submerging them would be safest too so there is no risk of missing a spot on the egg. Anyone done this? I also know about the lime method as well, but like the idea of oil.

 

[Debbie292d]

I am wondering if anyone has specifically preserved eggs by submerging them completely in olive oil? I know the mineral oil trick of rubbing them down with mineral oil but I don't want to use mineral oil for my own personal reasons, and I would rather use food grade oil any way. It seems to me submerging them would be safest too so there is no risk of missing a spot on the egg. Anyone done this? I also know about the lime method as well, but like the idea of oil.

I went looking and found one here: Preserving eggs with olive oil. And another if you scroll down 21 ways to preserve eggs. I read that "...when coated in oil and stored this way, the eggs are no longer usable as a leavening agent when making cakes."

 

[NatJ]

If the oil blocks all air, I wonder if botulism would be a danger? I have read that it is a danger with some other foods stored in oil.

 

[Areyoucluckingme]

isn't the point to block out all air?

 

[NatJ]

isn't the point to block out all air?

Blocking the air probably is the point, but you really don't want botulism. It is deadly (literally), and it only grows that way in an environment with no oxygen.

Botulims is the biggest danger with home-canned foods. For canning, the solution is to either cook it enough to kill all the botulism spores, or have the food be acidic enough that botulism cannot grow. I don't think either of those would work with raw eggs packed in oil.

Oil itself is not a botulism risk, because pretty much nothing (including botulism) grows in plain oil.

I have read that garlic cloves stored in oil can be dangerous because of botulism, and that herbs in oil can be dangerous for the same reason.

So I just do not know whether raw eggs in oil would be a botulism risk or not. Unfortunately, I can't think of where to look it up either. (Google was not helpful about eggs.)


Examples of warnings about botulism from things stored in oil:
https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/Can-you-get-botulism-from-garlic-in-oil
(usda warning)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2240308/
(Abstract of a scientific writeup about garlic-in-oil that was found to have botulism in it, and three people ended up in the hospital because of it. They were lucky: they lived. The page has a link to the full text.)
https://extension.psu.edu/how-to-safely-make-infused-oils
(Page from Pennsylvania State Extension, about how to make herb-infused oils safely, with specific mention of the dangers of botulism.)

Again, I really do not know if this is a danger with eggs. But botulism is deadly enough that I would rather err on the side of over-caution. I am trying to think of who would even know the answer-- not anyone I know personally, or that I know how to reach