Water Glassing: Egg Preservation Experiment!

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I was so impressed with your results that I now have my first batch of eggs in a crock for water glassing preservation. Hooray, a convert, lol! I did some additional research to be sure I knew what I was doing. I have a two-gallon stone crock which should be plenty for my husband and me. I used rain water we gathered during a recent storm. It was that or our very minerally well water, or that same water, run through the water softener. I opted for nature's best. And I used pickling salt. Recipe called for one ounce per quart of water. Two Tbsp. equals a dry ounce. I only had eight unwashed eggs today, but it's a start! Thanks for this WONDERFUL thread. Looking forward to having "fresh" eggs this winter. Bless you!
 
After watching a video on Water Glassing earlier this year, I decided that I would like to try and preserve my eggs for winter using this method! I plan on pulling an egg out each month to see how well they are holding up! I'm super excited about seeing the results from this process...my husband...not so much...:gig

I will eventually add all of the information of my experiment into an article!

I purchased a 1 gallon glass jar with a lid. I am using Mrs. Wages: Pickling Lime (Calcium Hydroxide) and also some Olive oil as suggested in the video to help keep the water from evaporating! One thing that I think I did wrong from the start was that I didn't get the lime mixed as thoroughly as I should have, so I've been going in and gently spinning the jar left, right, left, right...I will continue to do this until it's fully dissolved!

So the tools & steps I used:
A 1 gallon Jar with lid...glass or plastic works fine
1 oz. Calcium Hydroxide (Lime) (Make sure you use only Calcium Hydroxide with no other additives)
1 quart cool water
40 eggs per gallon seemed to be a good fit
Olive oil

Thoroughly mix your Lime into the quart of water (1oz lime to 1 quart of water is the ratio)(do not do as I did :D ). I already had my eggs in the container (I wanted to have as many as it would hold and decided I would pour the lime mixture over the top...one quart was perfect in my container), but you can mix in the jar and add the eggs after, which is what I will do next time since I now know I can fit in 40 eggs to 1 quart! I then poured some olive oil on top and covered with the lid!

Day 1
I have it sitting on my laundry room counter at the moment...once the Lime is better dissolved I will place it in my storeroom in the basement! It's cooler and has less daylight!
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So, i have a question i hope ya'll can help me with.

I have 75 eggs in my crock waterglassing since June 15, 2021
I have dates on each egg in pencil.
I smell the container each time I add eggs.
9/8 smell is ok.....9/9 is when I smelled the yuck. I remember one of the eggs slipped and fell into the water ...I failed to check.
I found one egg...cracked. eww!
can the remaining eggs be rinsed and salvaged in new solution, or is it all TOAST!?
once removed the smell is gone.
can I rinse the other 74 eggs and place them in fresh solution and be safe.?
 
So, i have a question i hope ya'll can help me with.

I have 75 eggs in my crock waterglassing since June 15, 2021
I have dates on each egg in pencil.
I smell the container each time I add eggs.
9/8 smell is ok.....9/9 is when I smelled the yuck. I remember one of the eggs slipped and fell into the water ...I failed to check.
I found one egg...cracked. eww!
can the remaining eggs be rinsed and salvaged in new solution, or is it all TOAST!?
once removed the smell is gone.
can I rinse the other 74 eggs and place them in fresh solution and be safe.?
This article says if one goes bad, the batch is bad, but I've never taken any of mine out yet, so I don't know for sure. You may want to check around if no one here knows. Old Walsh Farm article

It also says the eggs really need to be pointy end down and mine NEVER stay that way no matter how hard I try, most end up on their sides at least -ish, so I'm hoping for the nest myself. I have six dozen saved for winter since I only started saving in the summer and now they are barely laying with one molting and hot weather.
 
This article says if one goes bad, the batch is bad, but I've never taken any of mine out yet, so I don't know for sure. You may want to check around if no one here knows. Old Walsh Farm article

It also says the eggs really need to be pointy end down and mine NEVER stay that way no matter how hard I try, most end up on their sides at least -ish, so I'm hoping for the nest myself. I have six dozen saved for winter since I only started saving in the summer and now they are barely laying with one molting and hot weather.
I gave up on pointy end down. It is a cosmetic thing to keep the air bubble at the end of the egg, so don't worry about it.

If one goes bad, the batch is bad? That's BS. If it were true, you would never, ever have a good batch. My track record (3 years) is that roughly one in ten goes bad, primarily due to small cracks in the eggs that allow the lime water into the egg. The way to minimize this is to (1) use fresh, non-washed eggs only (2) be careful when setting them down into the water and (3) minimize jostling of the container.

The others are fine. The whole purpose of the lime water and non-washed shells are to cushion them and protect the eggs from air infiltration. One getting cracked does not allow anything into the others.

Mine won't stay pointy end down, either. Hello, they are in water, they're trying to float! Did your water get a crystalline, crispy crunchy layer on top? Is that why it's called "water glassing"?
I can't say if that is why it is called water glassing, but the crystalline layer is perfectly normal.

Floating is not a good thing, however. Fresh and properly preserved eggs should sink and stay down. Are all of them floating? Are they sticking out of the water?
 
I gave up on pointy end down. It is a cosmetic thing to keep the air bubble at the end of the egg, so don't worry about it.

If one goes bad, the batch is bad? That's BS. If it were true, you would never, ever have a good batch. My track record (3 years) is that roughly one in ten goes bad, primarily due to small cracks in the eggs that allow the lime water into the egg. The way to minimize this is to (1) use fresh, non-washed eggs only (2) be careful when setting them down into the water and (3) minimize jostling of the container.

The others are fine. The whole purpose of the lime water and non-washed shells are to cushion them and protect the eggs from air infiltration. One getting cracked does not allow anything into the others.


I can't say if that is why it is called water glassing, but the crystalline layer is perfectly normal.

Floating is not a good thing, however. Fresh and properly preserved eggs should sink and stay down. Are all of them floating? Are they sticking out of the water?
No, I did not mean floating at the top. I just meant like, free-floating in the water. It's not like they are lead weights, pinned to the bottom, staying where you put them. Am I making myself clear? They are submerged, just ... rolling around underwater, like. Sorry for the confusion!
 
No, I did not mean floating at the top. I just meant like, free-floating in the water. It's not like they are lead weights, pinned to the bottom, staying where you put them. Am I making myself clear? They are submerged, just ... rolling around underwater, like. Sorry for the confusion!
The water gives them a certain amount of buoyancy compared to air, so a limited amount of rolling around is normal. This description sounds much better than what the first one sounded like.

In fact, the float test is a well known way to check for fresh eggs. If you find a clutch of eggs that your chickens laid in a hidden area, you can test if they are fresh that way. Put them in fresh water. Those that float to the top are too old. Those that stay on the bottom are okay.
 
The water gives them a certain amount of buoyancy compared to air, so a limited amount of rolling around is normal. This description sounds much better than what the first one sounded like.

In fact, the float test is a well known way to check for fresh eggs. If you find a clutch of eggs that your chickens laid in a hidden area, you can test if they are fresh that way. Put them in fresh water. Those that float to the top are too old. Those that stay on the bottom are okay.
I'm familiar with that test. What would you think of an egg that does not float to the top, but stands up on its end? Questionable?
 

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