weighing, grading, washing your eggs???

[krazeepolack]

Does anyone here on BYC have an "easy/neat" solution for grading/washing, & weighing your eggs?? I'm hoping to come up w/as little fanfare as possible for doing said chore(s) Most of the egg scales I see on ebay are of a vintage type along w/sky rocket prices. Any suggestions for washing w/a DIY system? The scale, I'll buy new from a commercial store. Any instructions for building a homemade egg wash system??

 

[lotzahenz]

I never wash eggs, but a friend washes all of hers with an old-fashioned egg washing device. I prefer to keep the "bloom" and package up the dirty eggs for a friend who doesn't mind to wash them right before use. Look at Murray McMurry's online catalogue, they have something there to wash eggs with.

 

[Dixiedoodle]

I am always amazed at people who state they wash their eggs. I may have to wash 1 egg out of every 100.. I use a pr of kitty litter scoops to clean up any poo on my dropping board and in the nest boxes every morning. I use a lg putty knife to scrap the roost and the little jump board on the fronts of each nest.. I used deep litter in my coop and it helps to keep their feet clean.. Very little time spent to prevent washing, scrubbing, scrapping my eggs.. I think small-xlarge grading is really done by weight and not shape or color.. so an inexpensive food scale could work for that.

 

[Ang]

Quote:
Likewise, I am always amazed at how many people say their eggs are always clean and they never have to wash them. Most of what I clean off of my eggs isn't poop. Its mud from the run that they bring in on their feet. At any rate, I use luke warm water to wash my eggs. I dry them and then weigh them. Its all labor intensive if you do it by hand.

 

[gingerpeach22]

I use a scale I bought for weighing food. Try the kitchen area in Target, etc. On mine, you turn it on, put on a dish or anything to hold an egg so it can't roll off, and then there's a button to "tare" or set the scale at zero weight. Then the egg goes in. I separate the 1.75 ounce eggs from those above that weight. The store which sells my eggs wants them washed, so I just use a damp paper towel and wipe and dry them just before going to the store.

 

[Boo-Boo's Mama]

DH bought a digital scale so I can weigh each egg and keep a record of who laid it...that way I know who is doing what in the flock. Also list weight of the dozen on the carton when I sell them so they know they are getting large eggs (24 oz/carton).

Before the eggs are sold I run them under warm water and dry with a clean cup towel just in case my customer does not wash their eggs before using.

 

[Ohhhdear]

If you have a digital postal scale or anything that weighs in 10th of ounces you can weigh your eggs easily.
In the USA, a large egg weighs 2.0-2.2 ounces. Extra Large is 2.3-2.4 ounces. Jumbo is heavier than 2.4. Medium is less than 2.0 ounces, but I don't remember the bottom end of "medium" because all the eggs my girls lay are 2.0 ounces and more.
Turn it on, put a little dish on the weighing plate, hit "Tare" or "Zero" and then you can accurately weigh the egg. I write the date and M, L, XL, or J on the end in pencil.

There's a good article on Wikipedia about eggs and has the weight scales for several different countries. Canada, Australia, the UK and other countries use different cut off points for the different sizes, and they may be called different titles too.

The article also explains the varying degrees in grades of eggs.

As for washing... if I was purchasing eggs from a local seller I would be unhappy if they had bits of anything stuck to them, no matter what the grower said. Yes, they keep longer unwashed and unrefrigerated. But the gut reaction of 99% of purchasers in the USA would be "Yuck!, it's dirty and full of poo!!" and that would be the last I'd see that customer.
I could explain over and over and over that hardly any other country washes or refrigerates store bought eggs, but that's not going to change Ms. Average American Housewife's instinct. If someone is constantly washing everything with hand sanitizer and spraying her counters with bleach, do you think she'll accept unwashed, dirty looking eggs even if she mentally can accept they're fine? (Btw, I hate how hand sanitizer feels, and I just use plain hot soapy water on my countertops).

I do realize others have different opinions on washing and/or refrigerating eggs. I just go with what my customers want.

 

[greenSearcher]

I don't wash my eggs unless they are soiled, and then only just before selling or giving them away.

In TX, I am required to label my eggs as "Ungraded", and once I get a scale I can weigh the dozen to get an approximate size. If I am selling enough eggs to make a profit, I am not going to make a big deal out of grading, unless I have enough Jumbos to make it worth the effort to sell (same with bantam eggs)

No one has complained that the eggs were not carbon copies of each other, and they get a chuckle when I can tell them who laid the egg. More of that local fresh food aura.

 

[Boo-Boo's Mama]

Quote:
Last week I included two blue EE eggs...these are smaller but I had enough 2.2 oz eggs that the total carton weight was over 24 oz. The customer thought it was so neat. I gotta get me some Maran's next year!

 

[shortstaque]

I could kick myself, after a flood in the basement a few years ago I threw out a Perfection egg grader that belonged to my grandmother. One of the balances was broken off. Now I wish I would have saved it because I'm looking for a scale myself now that I have chickens.