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?

 

[TooCheep]

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

The cost turns away most people, however there are some situations that might help you justify it (I have no personal experience with these):

• You could buy it as part of a group to greatly cut down costs. Most people would only use it occasionally, so this is possible.
• If you have a large family, it is easier for it to pay for itself as you can buy many things in bulk on sale and then freeze dry them for long-term storage.
• Commercial freeze dried products are often quoted as storing 25-30 years. You can match this if you take the proper steps when packaging them.
• If you have an entrepreneurial bent, I've heard that freeze dried candies are popular and you could turn it into a small business to pay off your freeze dryer.

 

[Sally PB]

The attraction of a freeze drier for me personally is the ability to preserve what I'm growing. More self sufficiency, in other words.

The turn off is the price, for sure. That's why I don't have one. (Yet.)

 

[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.

 

[Alasbabylon1]

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

We have a freeze dryer, and it was worth it! We freeze dry everything g. Leftovers, whole meals, candy, literally hundreds of meals for a large family. If you are planning on buying a large amount of freeze dried food, I’d say do it. If not, probably not worth it for you.

 

[Sally PB]

If you are planning on buying a large amount of freeze dried food, I’d say do it. If not, probably not worth it for you.

I don't buy freeze dried food. I'd be looking at freeze drying my own, not as a way to save money over buying the premade food, but as a way to preserve food that I grow/harvest.

So I'm not thinking of it as a savings tool, but as an investment in self sufficiency.

 

[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'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.

 

[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 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?