Swimming in eggs, can't find customers! Update, pg. 6

[patman75]

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This is the reason why I started raising chickens. I have Ulcertative colitis and over the last two years have been converting to organic diet, removing toxins, etc. I started having intolerance issues with eggs. Then I had my aunt's fresh farm eggs and I could eat them no problems. Now I have my own backyard eggs and next year backyard meaties.

Good idea selling to people with allergies. There is a CCFA support group in Anchorage there might be people there looking for your type of eggs, I'm not sure where you are in Alaska. Here is the link http://www.ccfa.org/chapters/northwest/#groups

 

[theFox]

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If you wish to can such things a pressure canner is required. The temperature at the center of the egg is above the 212 degrees provided by a boiling water bath, what it has to actually hit I'd have to look up in some tables if I can find them, used to help operate a rather large commercial canning retort many years ago and one of the temperatures that sticks in my mind is 235 degrees Fahrenheit. Nothing like high pressure steam to process canned goods with, 4,000 to 10,000 cans at a time.

 

[theFox]

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Canning and hot water bathing are no nos for me.
I lacto ferment the traditional way. Good probiotics are added, no nutriton is lost, and things like sauerkraut last for over a year when properly stored.
Botulism only happens when heat has been used.

You really don't want me to get into the possible issues with fermentation in regards to pickles.

Fermented pickles is almost a lost art form and it has very dangerous consequences if not done correctly.

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

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Canning and hot water bathing are no nos for me.
I lacto ferment the traditional way. Good probiotics are added, no nutriton is lost, and things like sauerkraut last for over a year when properly stored.
Botulism only happens when heat has been used.

You really don't want me to get into the possible issues with fermentation in regards to pickles.

Fermented pickles is almost a lost art form and it has very dangerous consequences if not done correctly.

Well, its not lost anymore. Hundreds of thousands of people do it quite safely.
And, did you know that if a fermentation goes "off", that it will smell so bad that you have to get it out of the house asap?
That does not happen with canned stuff that has stuff like botulism growing in it.
It has its own built in protector.

 

[theFox]

The USDA claims that there is no safe way to home can pickled eggs for shelve storage and that the only safe home made pickled egg is a refrigerator pickle.

They don't say why they are claiming that.

Perhaps none of the home pressure canners can be counted on to deliver botulism a timely death blow given the conditions inside the egg as it gets processed, and that doesn't really make any sense since you can safely can all kinds of low acid foods in a pressure canner.

Fish, meats, including poultry for example.

I'll do a lot more poking around and perhaps talk to a friend in the USDA, that should make for an interesting email exchange with him.

 

[theFox]

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Oh, I've had a blown batch of sour pickles done the old fashioned way. Never had to hurry up and get it out of the house asap, because it never got that bad.

Most pickles that are made these days are not fermented. Even folks that make "sour" and "dill" pickles rarely actually ferment. I do many kinds every year, the only ones that get fermented is a small batch for sour pickles (I also make two other sour pickles, one of which is from a very old recipe, neither of which is a fermented pickle) and several small batches that are partially fermented for a sweet (yup that is correct, a sweet) pickle that everyone in the family likes, the sour pickles wind up in the refrigerator and the sweet ones get further processed and end up in jars on a shelf along with a couple hundred other jars of pickles.

 

[theFox]

I've now spent a bit of time doing some research on why various governmental and food preparation folks are loathe to provide a method of canning eggs for shelve storage.

It appears to be due to how botulism can escape the killing effects of temperature and the acetic acid in the vinegar.

The issue revolves around the use of slightly defective eggs, that is eggs with torn surfaces or punctures that get contaminated by the process of peeling and handling them.

What happens is that botulism spores activate before the pickling solution can kill them by being driven deep into the egg while in the process of peeling the egg.

Once the spores activate, and they are likely to activate because it takes 250 degree temperatures for at least 30 minutes to kill the spores, the toxin gets produced. So while the spores eventually die when the pickle gets to them the damage is already done because the toxin has been produced.

Here is a link: http://www.hi-tm.com/Facts&tips/Pickled-eggs.html .

I guess that is why my grandmother said only pickle fresh non blemished items.

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

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Then refridgerator pickles it is.
For the rest, I will stick with fermenting, as bad batches let you know by sight and smell that they have gone off.
None of the silent deadly stuff for us