Have chickens? Ever wonder what to do with all those extra eggs? This little eBook shows you a number of ways to preserve them: freezing, pickling, dehydrating, larding, and water glassing. Also discusses shelf life, off-grid methods of preservation, and how to have fresh eggs all winter long. An excellent addition to every homestead and preparedness library.
Chapters: General Comments and Precautions
Fresh Eggs
How To Freeze Eggs
How To Pickle Eggs
How To Dehydrate Eggs
How To Water Glass Eggs
How To Lime Eggs
How To Lard (Or Oil) Eggs
How To Have Fresh Eggs All Winter
Off-grid Alternatives to Refrigeration
Another Possibility
Wrapping It Up
I give this book 10 out of 10 acorns. How to Preserve Eggs by Leigh Tate is another of her books in the series "The Little Series of How - Tos from 5 acres and a dream
This 33 page book is full of ways to keep eggs, especially when the girls are off the lay. This is the updated Sep 2020 version, being originally published in 2014.
Practical is the first word that comes to mind about this book. It is logical and easy to read, firstly as a whole book but then very user friendly as a reference book down the track.
Leigh makes a point of safety with respect to handling eggs, what to look out for as well as safe storage. Eggs for some time have been known as a source of food poisoning but IMO, this has been well addressed.
It was amazing to find out that unwashed eggs can keep in a refrigerator for seven months. This is certainly a way to over winter an assured egg supply. The key parts are how, why it works and then recipes for using the eggs. For someone seriously thinking about off grid living or being a homesteader. This is the egg book of egg books and a must have on the shelf book.
Congratulations Leigh of another fantastic reference book
Failure is a stepping stone to success. Failing is not quitting - Stopping trying is Never retire every one thinks you have more time to help them - We have never been so busy
WOW! Absolutely fascinating. Who knew!? Thank you for an in-depth information/explanation .
Funny thing about eggs is that as a child, I, among other kids, used to poke 2 holes at opposite ends of an egg, in a freshly laid chicken egg and suck out still warm gooiness out of egg.
No one ever mentioned salmonella or such. The idea was to just wipe the egg on a sleeve, or on the pant leg LOL
Weird how times have changed, or perhaps....back then, it was just a fluke no one got sick from "drinking fresh eggs" Hmm.....
Paul Fookes wrote:It was amazing to find out that unwashed eggs can keep in a refrigerator for seven months.
Here in eastern Europe eggs sold everywhere are not washed and naturally shelf stable for up to a year.
Education is a state controlled factory for echoes. -Norman Douglas | History is a vast early warning system. -Norman Cousins
There is thinking about how to do something, and there is doing it. Eighty percent of the time one or the other is overlooked.
@Leigh Tate Found the information to be very helpful and interesting. Was wondering if you could help my little confusion about the need to do the float test if the eggs are submerged in liquid for preservation either by water glassing, lime or covered in lard. My thinking is, if submerged or covered in lard, how will the egg "evaporate over time"? And why would I eat the freshest eggs first? Shouldn't I find a way to use the oldest first, so that these older ones don't get older and older? They may sit there for 6 months without being touched....I always rotate and use the older eggs first -that are sitting on my counter. Never have more than 3 dozen sitting at a time and I use one or two a day. Curious to hear how that works. Thank you, Monica
Monica, if you have certainty about the freshness of your eggs and are comfortable with that, you likely wouldn't need to do the float test. I occasionally find eggs my chickens or ducks have hidden, so I will use it on those. A person who doesn't have chickens and sources their eggs from elsewhere may want to do it. If there's any question, it will help determine the age of the eggs and sort them for deciding how to use them. I recommend using only the freshest eggs for liming, water glassing, or larding for longer shelf life. For eating and cooking, use the oldest eggs first.
@ Leigh. Thank you for helping me understand that better. I understand now....for water glassing, liming or larding to only use the most freshest eggs as one accumulates them for preserving, if in doubt , while in the action of collecting eggs for preserving, do float test, but wouldn't that go against the directions to not wash eggs for one of the preserving methods above? I think if preserving, if not sure of the egg freshness, one would not use at all for preserving, that way the "bloom" would remain intact for the ones that are being preserved.....Sorry...as I was writing another question popped up....
Monica, like you, I try to keep track of my eggs, but if I have to float them, I either use them immediately, hard boil, freeze, dehydrate for egg powder, or refrigerate them. I'm not certain that the float test completely removes the bloom since the eggs aren't scrubbed, but I think it's better to treat them for safety. I don't worry so much if the eggs are to be water glassed, limed, larded, or oiled, because the preservation treatment will replace the bloom anyway.
Wow! I knew about freezing eggs but not about the myriad other ways available! Thank you for this little book...now, a permanent addition to my collection!