Water Glassing: Egg Preservation Experiment!

[tripletfeb]

Hi everyone! I just found this thread after watching the video the OP linked, found it on youtube when hubby and I were researching food prep. @drstratton and @BigBlueHen53 and anyone else that has tried this, how has it worked? I saw the updates but they were a few months old and I was wondering if it worked well after the 8 months?

 

[roxanne]

I did crack a few eggs open this evening and the yolks look really good. I will scramble them for breakfast tomorrow and see how they taste. I have kept all of the eggs in a dry cool place since the water loss. So, tomorrow, after church I am going to remix the lime and water solution and put the eggs in newer containers, preferably glass. Prayers all goes well.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hi everyone! I just found this thread after watching the video the OP linked, found it on youtube when hubby and I were researching food prep. @drstratton and @BigBlueHen53 and anyone else that has tried this, how has it worked? I saw the updates but they were a few months old and I was wondering if it worked well after the 8 months?

I have not actually eaten any of my water glassed eggs yet! I'll scramble a couple tomorrow morning and report back.

 

[TooCheep]

Hi everyone! I just found this thread after watching the video the OP linked, found it on youtube when hubby and I were researching food prep. @drstratton and @BigBlueHen53 and anyone else that has tried this, how has it worked? I saw the updates but they were a few months old and I was wondering if it worked well after the 8 months?

I've been doing this for three years now. It works quite well. I can see why it was used a long time ago as it required no refrigeration and has a high success rate. I stand by my summary from last year, though I am more careful and lose fewer eggs to cracking now:

Early results for my second year:
Normally, I only make three kinds of eggs- hard boiled, scrambled and omelets. I'm not a baker, so I can't comment on how water glassed eggs work there.

I pulled a dozen eggs from my stash a few days ago. They were all 6-7 months old. One was cracked. I knew from previous experience that one would have a strong lime taste, so I tossed it. I made scrambled eggs and they were fine.

Last year, I only made scrambled eggs and omelets (good) and over easy (burst yolks). This morning, I decided to try hard boiling 5 eggs.

Three of them cracked, two slightly and one ejected a major part of the white and yolk. It was basically a poached egg. Not my favorite form and it really messed up the water with the other eggs, but it was quite edible. I also tried a cracked HB egg. It had allowed in some water and was slightly watery, but was otherwise fine.

My bottom line:
Water glassed eggs lose a bit of structure/strength over time, but that doesn't affect taste. I've had about a 10% loss rate due to cracking and lime infiltration. They work well for scrambled/omelets, but only a percentage will give ideal results for sunny side up/over easy or hard boiled. I believe they would work well for poached and baking, but can't really comment there.

I expect to continue using this system, but will better understand and work within it's limitations in the future.

Edit: The only other long-term preservation system I would consider is freezing. I understand there are also some limitations there. For example: You remove the eggs from the shell before freezing, so there won't be hard boiled eggs. It may or may not have a loss rate, but I don't have extra freezer space, so water glassing is a very good, inexpensive, no energy alternative.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I forgot to use my WG eggs this morning, sorry! Will try again tomorrow. Plan to scramble two and make into an egg burrito.

 

[igorsMistress]

Early results for my second year:
Normally, I only make three kinds of eggs- hard boiled, scrambled and omelets. I'm not a baker, so I can't comment on how water glassed eggs work there.

I pulled a dozen eggs from my stash a few days ago. They were all 6-7 months old. One was cracked. I knew from previous experience that one would have a strong lime taste, so I tossed it. I made scrambled eggs and they were fine.

Last year, I only made scrambled eggs and omelets (good) and over easy (burst yolks). This morning, I decided to try hard boiling 5 eggs.

Three of them cracked, two slightly and one ejected a major part of the white and yolk. It was basically a poached egg. Not my favorite form and it really messed up the water with the other eggs, but it was quite edible. I also tried a cracked HB egg. It had allowed in some water and was slightly watery, but was otherwise fine.

My bottom line:
Water glassed eggs lose a bit of structure/strength over time, but that doesn't affect taste. I've had about a 10% loss rate due to cracking and lime infiltration. They work well for scrambled/omelets, but only a percentage will give ideal results for sunny side up/over easy or hard boiled. I believe they would work well for poached and baking, but can't really comment there.

I expect to continue using this system, but will better understand and work within it's limitations in the future.

Edit: The only other long-term preservation system I would consider is freezing. I understand there are also some limitations there. For example: You remove the eggs from the shell before freezing, so there won't be hard boiled eggs. It may or may not have a loss rate, but I don't have extra freezer space, so water glassing is a very good, inexpensive, no energy alternative.

Thanks for this! It’s very informative. I’m looking to start water glassing our eggs later this year and you’ve answered my questions!

 

[tripletfeb]

I got three new chickens so now I am finally getting enough eggs to try this!

 

[GabrielBernard]

I heard liquid glass/liquor silicium is used in a similiar way and causes less change of taste. And it also does harden the shell instead of destabilizing it.

Anyone got any experience with that?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_silicate#Food_preservation

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I forgot to use my WG eggs this morning, sorry! Will try again tomorrow. Plan to scramble two and make into an egg burrito.

Well, I did scramble two water-glassed eggs, made a lovely breakfast burrito, and forgot to post about it! I'm old, what can I say! On the first egg, the yolk broke as soon as it hit the pan. The second egg fared better and I feel I could have cooked it over easy or sunny-side up if I wished. But as I say, I did scramble them and they were delicious. I would not have known they weren't fresh, if I hadn't known. The taste and texture seemed to me as good as any fresh egg. I feel confident using this method in the future. Be sure to use PICKLING LIME, not pickling salt or any other kind of lime. You can find it easily in the canning section of your grocery store and it is not expensive. Follow safety instructions when handling it. I used a pickling crock and covered it with a Corningware plate. Have fun!

 

[dovecanyon]

Because in the future if someone wants to study this for info they don't need to be wading thru a bunch of chatter. There are chat threads/forums for that.

YOU have caused a LOT of useless chat that I am forced to wade through in order to learn anything about the thread topic...