Preserving eggs?

[Weetamoo93]

I'm looking for means of preserving my egg-cess eggs (I couldn't help myself) for the leaner laying times. One method I was interested in trying is the "water glassing" method using pickling lime. My only concern is that I have a cock with my six hens so chances are high that everything is fertilized.

Does anyone know if this method will still be good? Or should I just stack and rotate in the back of my fridge. I'm in the (still hot) humid south, so root cellaring is not an option.

As an aside, I'll probably try to get another breed that compliments the heavier egg production period of my current Plymouth Rock Flock.

 

[NatJ]

Refrigerator works really well--which is why water glass is much less common now.

Fertilized eggs should not be an issue if they are stored cool enough. Anything below 60 degrees (farenheit) is probably cool enough to keep embryos from developing, although the eggs will keep longer if they are even cooler.

Rotating eggs, so you're always eating the old ones, is good.

You can freeze egg whites, but the yolks tend to get an odd texture if you freeze them. I've read of mixing something into the yolks (salt or sugar) to avoid that, but I've never personally tried it.

Another way to "store" some of the eggs is to cook them into something that you then store--for example, make cookie dough now, and freeze it until you want to bake it. Or even bake cookies now and then freeze them to have for Christmas. (Of course, that requires more freezer space than storing just the eggs, which limits how useful it is.)

 

[Weetamoo93]

I'm limited on fridge and freezer space which is part of my dilemma, and we are just getting into temps of 60° F at night. I guess until I make a cold room or arrange a flock sans cock for laying, I'll have to stick with the fridge. (Maybe I can find a mini fridge used for egg storage )

Thanks, @NatJ .

 

[NatJ]

The cock won't make much difference--if you try storing eggs at 90 degrees, either chicks will start to grow or you will have rotten eggs within just a few weeks anyway.

I'm sure chicks don't grow below 60 degrees, and do grow above 90 degrees, but I don't know exactly what temperature is the actual dividing point. (90 is not right for incubating healthy chicks, but they can grow enough at that temperature that you won't want to eat the eggs.)

If you're short on fridge space--maybe look at whether re-arranging the shelves will help. A fridge tends to come with the shelves at a particular height, but sometimes you can fit more stuff inside if you change them a bit. For my own fridge, the important heights are for gallon jugs of milk, egg cartons stacked either two or three high, bottles of beer, and specific stacked combinations of food-storage containers.

 

[Sally PB]

Maybe you can find some egg-heavy recipes to make that will freeze. Yes, it would take more space than just the eggs, but then you might have a lot of meals/desserts ready. Just a thought.

Ok, I'm jealous. I only have three pullets, and they're slowing down with the shorter hours of daylight. I'm rationing eggs right now, and might have to !!BUY!! a dozen.

 

[Weetamoo93]

@Sally PB, my six have been giving me anywhere from 4 to 6 daily and the average is easily 5. I've gotten 6 two days in a row just last week. I used to get eggs from my mom, but the tables have turned since her girls are old and just went thru molt.

My husband said the cock is going to out himself the day I pick up 7 eggs.

@nati, I'm definitely going to hold off on water glassing for now until I can ensure my hens are not being visited by the cock (maybe separate enclosures next spring?), but the idea of putting away eggs in, say, the back of a cool closet to use in baking come winter is still very appealing to me; then I could reserve my fresh eggs for frying, scrambling, and boiling while not using up fridge or freezer space. I think it's worth experimenting as I'd only plan to store them for six months or so. A year might be pushing it in my climate.

 

[thechickenpeeps]

As far as freezing egg products go, my husband has been making up batches of "breakfast burritos" and freezing them. They turn out great reheated for breakfast or lunch with no fuss.