Water Glassing: Egg Preservation Experiment!

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This is so exciting! Thanks for sharing all the efforts. I just started saving my eggs in lime water. I have 4 chickens and it's just me and hubby so I'd like to save enough for next winter. The one thing that stumps me is trying to get them pointy end down as Carol from Homesteading Family recommends. Not working well. They tend to fall over as they wait for the next day's eggs to prop them up and then 4 around the jar doesn't fit tightly standing up. So I'm not worrying about that. This is my first full jar from this week and just started a second jar. I only get 2-4 a day and a couple were dirty so we put those in the fridge. View attachment 2729675

A couple of hints. You don't have to put all of the water and lime in at once. You can keep a jar with a proper mixture on the side, add your new eggs and then shake the lime water and add just enough water to cover them. If you want, you can easily keep fresh eggs on the side until you have an even 4 to put in. Holding them for a couple of days before preserving won't hurt them.

I don't really worry about having mine pointy-end down. It keeps the air sac at the end of the egg and I'm not really worried about that as they end up being scrambled anyway. In my experience, water glassed eggs don't really work very well for hard boiled or sunny-side up eggs (the yolk is softer and often breaks).

FYI- I've been using a 2gal bucket for the last 3 years and that isn't really enough for myself for the winter. Your needs may vary.
 
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A couple of hints. You don't have to put all of the water and lime in at once. You can keep a jar with a proper mixture on the side, add your new eggs and then shake the lime water and add just enough water to cover them. If you want, you can easily keep fresh eggs on the side until you have an even 4 to put in. Holding them for a couple of days before preserving won't hurt them.

I don't really worry about having mine pointy-end down. It keeps the air sac at the end of the egg and I'm not really worried about that as they end up being scrambled anyway. Water glassed eggs don't really work very well for hard boiled or sunny-side up eggs (the yolk is softer and often breaks).

FYI- I've been using a 2gal bucket for the last 3 years and that isn't really enough for myself. Your needs may vary.
Thank you!!!! I was wondering why I could't have started with a couple of days' eggs and gotten a good start in the beginning so now it's just a couple of eggs a day. But if I can get a layer together before putting it in, that would be so much better.

Yeah, I started using the jard because I didn't have a larger bucket with lid, I started out just as it got really hot and the chickens started laying a bit less, and we have a place for the jars and not a tub. This is just our first year. I'll get a good start next spring when they are laying more per week.
 
I posted on this thread on November 2020:

Over the past couple of weeks I have preserved a dozen eggs this way. What I really like about it is I can open the jar and add (or remove) eggs at any time and just keep on with the preserving. Whenever I have a surprlus of eggs, I simply start putting them in the preservation jar instead of the fridge or counter.

We have a very cool, dark, storage area where I can keep them. What I really need, though, is some good jars that are large enough for a dozen eggs or so. I think a 5 gallon bucket would be overkill, I'd never have that many surplus eggs.
And now, today, I actually used two of my water glassed eggs that I put in the jar back in November. Here is what they look like in the jar:
water glassed eggs.jpg


And here is what they looked like when I cracked them (a fresh egg is shown on the left and the two water-glassed eggs on the right:
water glassed eggs2.jpg


The eggshells were tough, almost rubbery. It took some effort to crack and open the shells. I smelled the eggs, and the shells, and there was no odor at all. I smelled the fresh egg, then the water-glassed egg and no difference. No odor whatsoever.

The egg whites were a bit runny, and, as you can see, the yolks have a cloudy film around them. Not very appetizing to look at; but no matter, I was planning to use them in a quiche. I served the quiche to my teenager, who is usually the first to say, "Did you do something different?" whenever I make a recipe she knows well (and this, she does; it's one of her favorite dinners). She didn't say anything. She ate two pieces, as did I.

I will let you know in the morning if we survived the experience. 😄 I feel great so far!
 
I posted on this thread on November 2020:


And now, today, I actually used two of my water glassed eggs that I put in the jar back in November. Here is what they look like in the jar:
View attachment 2783439

And here is what they looked like when I cracked them (a fresh egg is shown on the left and the two water-glassed eggs on the right:
View attachment 2783441

The eggshells were tough, almost rubbery. It took some effort to crack and open the shells. I smelled the eggs, and the shells, and there was no odor at all. I smelled the fresh egg, then the water-glassed egg and no difference. No odor whatsoever.

The egg whites were a bit runny, and, as you can see, the yolks have a cloudy film around them. Not very appetizing to look at; but no matter, I was planning to use them in a quiche. I served the quiche to my teenager, who is usually the first to say, "Did you do something different?" whenever I make a recipe she knows well (and this, she does; it's one of her favorite dinners). She didn't say anything. She ate two pieces, as did I.

I will let you know in the morning if we survived the experience. 😄 I feel great so far!
Thank you for sharing your results. It's very helpful. I have five dozen in lime so far from this summer from 4 chickens.
 

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