water glass egg crack

[CigarMan]

Good evening everyone, Tonight I got into my water glassed eggs (from 3/17/23) and I had 3 eggs that only the shell was cracked, the membrane was intact. I have read in a number of places that if an egg is cracked, it ruins the whole batch. The water looked good, there was no "fowl" odor, I even cracked the egg all the way open, it didn't have a "fowl" odor or discoloration. So I did the brave thing, had my wife fry up a good egg from that batch, everything looked good, smelled good and tasted good. Has anyone else ever done that? or do you just trash them? As in the whole bucket to the dogs/cats?

 

[Sally PB]

I had an egg crack in my waterglass bucket. It had solidified in the shell! The rest of the eggs were fine.

 

[Mrely]

I put like 10 or 12 dozen eggs in a 5 gallon pail. On occasion I find a cracked one but I still use the eggs and they seem fine.
Should I be doing smaller containers?

 

[TooCheep]

I've been doing water-glassing for 5-6 years. Minor cracks are expected in some eggs (~10%). When I tried them, they were nasty tasting, but maybe the membranes were also split, so I generally give the advice to toss those. The other, whole eggs aren't affected.

If you do decide to use those eggs, just be careful with them. I recommend cooking them separately, so you don't ruin your baking or omelets. The smell/taste test is a reliable indicator if the egg was harmed, so @CigarMan handled it properly.

In rare cases, the egg cracks badly and leaks material out into the water. In that case, I recommend removing all the eggs (carefully) and moving to another container and fresh lime water due to the decaying organic matter.

@Mrely - 5 gallon buckets are okay, but I use 2 gallon. The lime water greatly cushions and reduces the effective weight of the eggs (not enough for full flotation). I personally prefer smaller in case of the leaked egg situation above, but that is the only real advantage. I've had a bad leak one time.

 

[Mrely]

I've been doing water-glassing for 5-6 years. Minor cracks are expected in some eggs (~10%). When I tried them, they were nasty tasting, but maybe the membranes were also split, so I generally give the advice to toss those. The other, whole eggs aren't affected.

If you do decide to use those eggs, just be careful with them. I recommend cooking them separately, so you don't ruin your baking or omelets. The smell/taste test is a reliable indicator if the egg was harmed, so @CigarMan handled it properly.

In rare cases, the egg cracks badly and leaks material out into the water. In that case, I recommend removing all the eggs (carefully) and moving to another container and fresh lime water due to the decaying organic matter.

@Mrely - 5 gallon buckets are okay, but I use 2 gallon. The lime water greatly cushions and reduces the effective weight of the eggs (not enough for full flotation). I personally prefer smaller in case of the leaked egg situation above, but that is the only real advantage. I've had a bad leak one time.

@TooCheap

I appreciate the response, the other eggs have all tasted fine but the cracked ones I do throw away.

I might try smaller containers. My idea was to store them for 6 months or more but they normally end us gone after 3 months.

I don't raise my own chickens so I buy eggs, chickens and beef directly from the farm.

 

[Mrely]

@TooCheep

I was told eggs that float in the solution were not real fresh is that true?

 

[TooCheep]

I might try smaller containers. My idea was to store them for 6 months or more but they normally end us gone after 3 months.

I don't raise my own chickens so I buy eggs, chickens and beef directly from the farm.

Water-glassed eggs are supposed to keep for 18+ months. I keep them for 9-10 months as I save them during the heaviest laying in the spring and use them over the winter when the hens rest. Commercial egg producers use a very artificial environment with temperature controls and extended light to force their hens to lay in winter.

Buying directly is a good alternate way to get eggs, but be sure to check with the chicken owner if they are "unwashed eggs" if you do water-glassing. Eggs come with a thin waxy "bloom" that protects them from lime water infiltration. Commercial eggs are washed and the bloom removed by law in the US.

I was told eggs that float in the solution were not real fresh is that true?

Basically true. The air sac at the end of the egg grows over time and eventually causes the egg to float in water. This won't be relevant to you, but people who free range their chickens may (rarely) find a hidden nest with a clutch of eggs in a random place on their property. The water test is one way to see if they are too old to use.

 

[Mrely]

Water-glassed eggs are supposed to keep for 18+ months. I keep them for 9-10 months as I save them during the heaviest laying in the spring and use them over the winter when the hens rest. Commercial egg producers use a very artificial environment with temperature controls and extended light to force their hens to lay in winter.

Buying directly is a good alternate way to get eggs, but be sure to check with the chicken owner if they are "unwashed eggs" if you do water-glassing. Eggs come with a thin waxy "bloom" that protects them from lime water infiltration. Commercial eggs are washed and the bloom removed by law in the US.


Basically true. The air sac at the end of the egg grows over time and eventually causes the egg to float in water. This won't be relevant to you, but people who free range their chickens may (rarely) find a hidden nest with a clutch of eggs in a random place on their property. The water test is one way to see if they are too old to use.

@TooCheap,

The farm has been instructed only fresh eggs and they must have the bloom intact.
I remind them each time I get eggs.
I don't like buying from the store if I don't have to and the farm is far enough away I can't drive down weekly to get eggs so I end up using them.

My original thought was to save them in case of bird flu or another run on the stores if something happens so I really need to figure out a system for keeping them as you stated

 

[TooCheep]

My original thought was to save them in case of bird flu or another run on the stores if something happens so I really need to figure out a system for keeping them as you stated

If you are merely looking for a way to store eggs at this point, then there are two other good methods to consider:

• Freeze-drying: Very effective and long lasting. Requires an expensive ($1000+) machine.
• Freezing: Works well if you have the freezer space to spare. Scramble and store in freezer bags so you can thaw them out in batches.
• Water-glassing: A very old, inexpensive, no-energy solution. Has about a 10% failure rate for cracked eggs.

There are other preservation solutions, but they have various problems.

 

[Mrely]

I would love a freeze drier but figured by the time I spend the money on buying one and then the food to freeze dry I could buy months worth of freeze dried food.

Would love others opinions on that