Water Glassing: Egg Preservation Experiment!

[TooCheep]

Would it be detrimental to pencil dates on the eggs? I pencil on the week number my eggs were laid to keep track of how old they are, should a carton get shuffled back of the fridge.

Probably bad if you are talking about water glassed eggs as it will scratch off the bloom. It is important that you not wash water glassed eggs as the bloom is a waxy coating the keeps the lime water from soaking into the egg (yuck).
Probably not a problem if you just put them in the refrigerator. Washed (no bloom) eggs are fine there.

I wonder if an ice cream bucket could work for you. Does anyone know if it has to sit in a certain material, such as glass or tough plastic (5 gal nucket)?
I would also like to try this but have the same issue with containers?

I doubt it. I've seen it work in glass, plastic and ceramic containers. The main thing you want is to make sure that it is clean, water-tight and hasn't been used to store chemicals previously.

 

[AgnesGray]

Nice! I'll be happy to follow along with you on this. I did about 4.5 dozen a few weeks back for the first time and hope to not have to buy eggs this winter either.

Just about every person I know that knows I have chickens shared a post about this on Facebook to my timeline. haha Probably due to this viral post that it wasn't easy to find the pickling lime, but I did eventually find some and am happy to see how it goes.

 

[KarynVA]

The ice cream bucket is a good alternative for a container for my case. Thank you.

As for putting a date on the eggs, besides harming the bloom, I doubt it would remain legible after several months to a year in lime water. Since the purpose of this method is to store eggs for very long periods, I simply place a piece of masking tape with "Nov. 2020" on the jar. No need for exact dates on each egg stored this way, IMO. I guess if one were storing them in a 5 gallon bucket, but even then, can you imagine selecting eggs amongst so many eggs in a bucket and finding the dates on each one before determining which one to remove and use? Not very practical. Month and year (or span of same "Sept-Dec 2020") will work.

 

[TooCheep]

Just about every person I know that knows I have chickens shared a post about this on Facebook to my timeline. haha Probably due to this viral post that it wasn't easy to find the pickling lime, but I did eventually find some and am happy to see how it goes.

The pickling lime was in greater demand this year due to Covid and more people trying to grow/preserve their own produce. The good news is that it the same chemical is actually available in larger quantities at very reasonable prices.

It can also be found as:

• Horticultural Hydrated Lime, generally 2-5lbs, enough for multiple years- example at Amazon, I bought at my local garden center.
• Hydrated Lime, generally 50lbs in the construction area of your hardware store- probably more than most people will want to deal with- example at Lowes

 

[TooCheep]

FYI- The woman who produced the video in the original post also created two follow-up videos you might want to watch.

 

[AgnesGray]

The pickling lime was in greater demand this year due to Covid and more people trying to grow/preserve their own produce. The good news is that it the same chemical is actually available in larger quantities at very reasonable prices.

It can also be found as:

• Horticultural Hydrated Lime, generally 2-5lbs, enough for multiple years- example at Amazon, I bought at my local garden center.
• Hydrated Lime, generally 50lbs in the construction area of your hardware store- probably more than most people will want to deal with- example at Lowes

Ace, Lowes, TSC etc were all sold out of it in a 50 mile radius. Garden centers are a good one... didn't think of them. I ended up picking some up at a RK about 30 miles away while on my way past it for another reason. Couldn't believe my good luck when I found it!

 

[igorsMistress]

I wonder if an ice cream bucket could work for you. Does anyone know if it has to sit in a certain material, such as glass or tough plastic (5 gal nucket)?
I would also like to try this but have the same issue with containers?

OP said plastic is ok. I would just wash anything extremely well if reusing.

 

[drstratton]

I tried this for the first time last year. That same video is what got me started. Worked very well and I'm about to tap into my stash for this year. My takeaways:

• I had about a 90% success rate which another video indicated is pretty typical. A percentage of eggs will either leak out or have a crack, allowing the the lime-water in and spoiling the egg. They are generally obvious, but if you have any doubts, crack the egg into a cup to check it before using.
• The white/yolk are a little softer than fresh. I had a hard time making easy over eggs. They tended to be better for scrambled eggs. The eggs tasted fine- no lime taste.
• I store eggs when the girls are laying most heavily in the spring and they carry me through the winter when they pretty much stop.

I can see why old-time homesteaders used this technique. It works pretty well with no refrigeration. A good alternate would be to freeze scrambled eggs if you have the freezer space.

Thank you for the information! One thing that I didn't do was add the eggs in as they were laid, I kept them on my counter and then when I had 40 I started the experiment! It took less than a week to get enough! Next time I will add them to the lime solution right away!

 

[drstratton]

Following Rene, I’ve never been brave enough to give it a go.

Hi IM!!! I'm thinking that it should work out great as there is so much evidence that shows it's pretty successful! 10 days before I test the first egg!

 

[drstratton]

Thank you so much for this thread. I watched that same video and bought all the supplies a couple of months ago but I've been too chicken (lol) to try it. You've given me the courage to give it a go, and I have a nice little surplus of eggs right now so today's going to be the day!

Good for you! It took me awhile to give it a go. I bought my lime in the Spring! Like I said in another post, I added the eggs all at once...next time I will add the surplus eggs as my girls lay them! Good luck! Please feel free to come back here and share...pictures would be awesome too! The more information on an experiment the better!