To wash or not to wash.......

[jjdward]

eggs that is. I am starting to sell my eggs and I was wondering if I should wash them or not? The eggs aren't really dirty but they sometimes have "natural" material on them. When they do I take a clean dry cloth and rub them clean. Do the eggs need anything else or are they fine? Some times the white eggs show more stains more but I only have three white egg layers. Soooo, what do you think?

 

[bigtooks]

i wash mine with luke warm water even if they arent dirty

 

[okiron]

I read the if you have to/really want to just make sure the water is warmer than the egg.

I would personally wipe it off with a towel if it's noticeable to the customer but besides that forget about it.

 

[Uppity Peon]

My understanding is that washing them removes some of the protection off of them and they will not last as long.

But if they are more marketale washed, then by all means wash them. How are we going to pay for our chicken feed is we don't get the eggs soldl?

Paint them pearly white even! No, jk, don't paint them.

 

[gritsar]

I've experimented with every which way. For the eggs we keep for our own consumption I do not wash until I get ready to use them. I have two customers that insist I wash their's. I do a quick wash in water as HOT as my hands can stand it.
For most though I just keep a clean rough textured towel handy and give it a quick rub. That's my favorite way of dealing with them.

 

[TcherDawn]

I have a microfiber cloth. It feels grabby to the touch. It does a great job and gets off most of the organic material, but some eggs are too much for it. I would think that if I sell them, I would have to wash them to make people want to buy them. I was mine just before I cook them to keep the "bloom" protection that I read about on.

 

[jjdward]

So if I do wash them, do I just need to use water? Or something else?

 

[Judy]

Just water is fine. As Gritstar indicated, be sure the water temp is warmer than the egg. This encourages bacteria to move out of the egg, instead of into it.

 

[Scoop]

I always wash mine so no one would get all freaked out. I once opened up a dozen brown "free ranging" eggs in a Mennonite store and they were so filthy I had to wonder how clean the coop itself was! Ick!

So if I had that reaction, how would someone who doesn't raise chickens react?

 

[TerryT]

How to wash is a great question. The problem with my ladies is I have not been able to teach them to wipe their feet off when they get in the nest.....so if they have played in the wet dirt, I do have to wash. They have a large chicken house with the door open into a pen that has a roof over 1/2 of it, but they love to play in the uncovered end. I have been rising them off with cold water. I thought warm would be bad for them. Is warm better? It would make my hands happy to use warm water, instead of cold.

TerryT