Water Glassing - is this the stuff?

[father0fnine]

So I want to start trying this method of preserving eggs. I looked at both the big orange home improvement big box store and the big blue one. What I found in the slot for “hydrated lime” is something called “type-s lime” at both stores. It seems as if it’s a combination of calcium hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide. Is this what I’m supposed to be using or is pure calcium hydroxide getting harder to find in my area?

 

[AllenK RGV]

So I want to start trying this method of preserving eggs. I looked at both the big orange home improvement big box store and the big blue one. What I found in the slot for “hydrated lime” is something called “type-s lime” at both stores. It seems as if it’s a combination of calcium hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide. Is this what I’m supposed to be using or is pure calcium hydroxide getting harder to find in my area?

wow I haven't heard of this before. I do wish I had more to offer regarding your query.

 

[father0fnine]

Yea, that was the first video I saw and I watched another 4 or 5... read an equal number of websites. But when i went looking for pure calcium hydroxide at the two big home improvement stores, I found that possible mix.

 

[AllenK RGV]

@Kiki @RUNuts ???? this seems cheap and easy so I know Runuts will be salivating. Photos of what you found would also be helpful. Also, I bet Runuts already has the answer he just hasn't shared it with us.

 

[father0fnine]

@Kiki @RUNuts ???? this seems cheap and easy so I know Runuts will be salivating. Photos of what you found would also be helpful. Also, I bet Runuts already has the answer he just hasn't shared it with us.

I know, right? At its peak, I get almost a dozen and half a day but never consistent or clean enough that I felt comfortable trying to sell them. Having a way to store them long term would be so awesome. I just have to make sure I’m using the right stuff.

 

[RUNuts]

Water glass is not slaked lime. You are confusing 2 different methods.

Water glass, also called sodium silicate or soluble glass, a compound containing sodium oxide (Na2O) and silica (silicon dioxide, SiO2) that forms a glassy solid with the very useful property of being soluble in water. Water glass is sold as solid lumps or powders or as a clear, syrupy liquid. It is used as a convenient source of sodium for many industrial products, as a builder in laundry detergents, as a binder and adhesive, as a flocculant in water-treatment plants, and in many other applications.

Then this site said:
NOTE: These are two separate ways to preserve eggs. You can use slaked lime OR water glass, but not both together.
https://vintagerecipesandcookery.com/preserve-eggs-slaked-lime-water-glass/

Slaked/slacked lime is calcium hydroxide. It is made when calcium oxide (called lime or quicklime) is mixed, or “slaked” with water. Limewater is the common name for a saturated solution of calcium hydroxide. Reference – Wikipedia.

Then from Wiki:
The rocks and minerals from which these materials are derived, typically limestone or chalk, are composed primarily of calcium carbonate. They may be cut, crushed, or pulverized and chemically altered. Burning (calcination) of these minerals in a lime kiln converts them into the highly caustic material burnt lime, unslaked lime or quicklime (calcium oxide) and, through subsequent addition of water, into the less caustic (but still strongly alkaline) slaked lime or hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2), the process of which is called slaking of lime.

When the term is encountered in an agricultural context, it usually refers to agricultural lime, which today is usually crushed limestone, not a product of a lime kiln. Otherwise it most commonly means slaked lime, as the more dangerous form is usually described more specifically as quicklime or burnt lime.

 

[father0fnine]

Water glass is not slaked lime. You are confusing 2 different methods.

Not really. The two methods are the same. They just use two different chemicals as a preservative. I am aware of the fact that they are different in the strictest sense. Reading has made that clear enough, but I have yet to come across a term for preserving eggs in slaked lime. Sources that I've come across so far (like the video someone linked in this thread) erroneously(?) refer to using the lime as water glassing. Other sites say you can use either this chemical or that chemical (but not both) in water glassing eggs.

The sources also say you can buy the lime at the like of Home Depot and Lowes. When I went to one of the box stores, the slot that had the placard reading "Hydrated Lime" had this stuff called Type-S Lime that looked like a mixture (if I read the label right) of Calcium hydroxide and Magnesium hydroxide. It also had a bunch of warnings like caustic to skin, use gloves. Therefore, I'm trying to find out if this is what the people who use this "water glassing-like method with lime" buy or if I need to keep looking.

D

 

[RUNuts]

Not really. The two methods are the same. They just use two different chemicals as a preservative. I am aware of the fact that they are different in the strictest sense. Reading has made that clear enough, but I have yet to come across a term for preserving eggs in slaked lime. Sources that I've come across so far (like the video someone linked in this thread) erroneously(?) refer to using the lime as water glassing. Other sites say you can use either this chemical or that chemical (but not both) in water glassing eggs.

The sources also say you can buy the lime at the like of Home Depot and Lowes. When I went to one of the box stores, the slot that had the placard reading "Hydrated Lime" had this stuff called Type-S Lime that looked like a mixture (if I read the label right) of Calcium hydroxide and Magnesium hydroxide. It also had a bunch of warnings like caustic to skin, use gloves. Therefore, I'm trying to find out if this is what the people who use this "water glassing-like method with lime" buy or if I need to keep looking.

D

You’ve done the research. Apologies.

If the reactive lime is what you want, then yes. Hydrated caustic lime sounds like what you are looking for. The hydroxide is the reactive part. I am guessing that magnesium or calcium or a mix wouldn’t matter.

Are both methods just coating the egg to inhibit dehydration?

The little I know about this said the quality of the egg degraded with time. Doesn’t go bad, just gets runnier (less viscous).

I’m interested in your results.

 

[father0fnine]

I believe the pH levels are supposed to keep bacteria away so the eggs don't spoil, too.

I chose to use the lime-method because it *seemed* easier to get pure slaked lime. Nobody (that I read yet) provided any guidance at all for finding appropriate sodium silicate for preserving eggs in. The "water glass" also seemed to be more expensive than the lime.

I'm interested in the outcome, too, and I'll be sure to share the results!

D

 

[FiveFootmama]

@father0fnine
I've run into the exact same question today. How did your preservation with the mixed Calcium Hydroxide/Magnesium Hydroxide go?