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When I first started homesteading in Oregon, I didn’t keep chickens. It wasn’t until several years into my homesteading journey that I inherited my first flock of chickens from a friend who was moving from the area. Another addition to the flock came about a year later, and it didn’t take very long before I had more eggs than I could use or give away.
Healthy laying hens will live for about 6-8 years, and their peak of productivity is on the average of 3-4 years. There are exceptions to this, of course, but this is the norm for laying hens specifically. During their peak of productivity, they are laying daily. If you collect all of these eggs during peak times, you will get a lot.
Chicken math is tricky, because they don’t always lay daily, though some are uber-reliable layers. When days get shorter and during the molting season, they do slow down,and some will even stop laying.
You have the option of rigging their nest boxes with lights to artificially simulate a longer day, but that generally will mean that your hens production will end sooner. They are meant to molt, and use that approximately 3 months of winter to regrow their feathers and rest from producing eggs.
So now, let’s say that you have been collecting a dozen eggs a day or so for the entire year, and Winter production is practically nil. This begs the question, “What should I do with all these eggs?”
Water Glass your eggs!
There is a process of preserving eggs without boiling or pickling them, known as water glassing. The process is quite simple, and barring any problems or contamination issues, you can save up enough eggs during peak production times to eat all winter long until the hens start back up again.
What is Water Glassing?
Water glassing or “Liming” eggs is a process of storing and preserving fresh eggs. There are many differing opinions on things like the size of your container, and how many you should attempt to preserve at one time, but the method is exactly the same, no matter what size container you chose to use.
Eggs that are water glassed can be preserved anywhere from 6-12 months and while the texture of the eggs change slightly due to the nature of their porous shells, they should come out of the container smelling and tasting just like a farm fresh egg.
This process has been around since the 18th Century and is currently making a resurgence in popularity with homesteaders and those living off-grid because it doesn’t need modern refrigeration. All you need is a cool, dark place and time.
What you’ll need:
You will need a clean container with an airtight lid. Experts recommend 1-2 gallon size, but you can also use a food safe 5 gallon bucket.
Obviously, the quantity will vary; With a 1 gallon jar able to hold 3 dozen eggs, and a 5 gallon up to 200.
The main complaint with the 5 gallon bucket is how heavy it becomes, and with that large quantity stacked in there, you risk breakage which can ruin just a few of the eggs, or contaminate the entire batch. Nobody wants to throw away 200 eggs!
Next you need a bag of Calcium Hydroxide, also known as pickling lime. Your ratio of lime to water is 1 oz of lime per 1 qt of water.
The next thing is your eggs. Use clean and fresh unwashed eggs, preferably on the day they are laid. This gives the eggs the freshest taste after preservation.
Simply pack your eggs in the lime solution and fill the container so that the eggs are completely covered. Close up the container and store in a cool dark place.
Avoid storing where they will freeze, and keep them out of high traffic areas where the container might get bumped or jostled.
You’re done! These eggs can sit in storage from 6 months up to a year. When you’re ready to get them out, do so carefully. Make sure you give the eggs a good washing before you crack them or you may taste some of the pickling lime in your egg.
How do you know if my water glassed eggs are good?
Use your senses:
Smell: You should not detect any odor beyond that of the pickling lime.
If it smells like rotten eggs, you’ve got a problem!
Sight: Does the solution look clear or cloudy? If it’s cloudy, beware!
Do you see any cracked eggs?
Touch: Break one open. You’ll be able to see if it’s bad.
There are two schools of thought for a “bad” batch:
One is to pick through and discard the cracked ones, then break the remaining eggs open and use your nose to determine if they are fresh. If they don’t smell bad, you can compost them or cook the good ones for animal consumption.
The other is to discard the entire batch. Eggshells are porous, and there’s a very good chance that all eggs in the container were contaminated by the cracked and rotten eggs. If your compost is far enough away from your house, you can compost the bad batch. Just be aware that it’s going to smell like rotten eggs for a while!
I tend to lean toward the “when in doubt, throw it out.” school of thought. The choice is up to you.
The risk of breakage is increased with the amount of eggs you are preserving, so starting out with the 1 or 2 gallon container is recommended.
If you’ve got space to store the containers, you can water glass eggs throughout the summer, when you have a surplus, and enjoy them all winter long.
Can you reuse the solution ?
The simple answer is no. Once you’ve used the eggs in your container, discard the solution. Once you’ve opened it to the air and put your hand or a spoon inside repeatedly, it’s no longer safe to use again.
Be aware that the texture of water glassed eggs is a bit different from fresh farm eggs. This might render them a bit difficult to use for fried or poached eggs. The whites of the eggs are runnier, and the yolk may break when you open the egg.
These eggs are perfect for scrambling or to use in baked goods, they just don’t make a great presentation as a whole egg unless you like an “over hard” egg with a broken yolk.
While this method is not entirely fool-proof, it does give you a fairly simple and inexpensive way to preserve large quantities of fresh eggs for up to a year.
Photos courtesy of Pexels.com and Pinterest.com
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