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Last week or so, I happened upon a local woman selling fresh, organic eggs for a great price. $2.00/dozen and since I pay $1.79/dzn normally? I jumped on it and brought home a few dozen. Once I got home, I was thrilled! They’re big, beautiful, brown eggs! These eggs are HUGE and they’re rich and flavorful and oh so good! I have so many good memories of my father because of these eggs…weekend breakfasts together, but since brown eggs are more expensive than regular eggs, they were considered a treat growing up. Anyhow, since I bought so many dozen, I knew that I would need to preserve them so they didn’t go bad before we could use them. Sure, I could freeze them, but honestly? I’m not a big fan of frozen eggs. I’m not sure why, but they taste different to me so I try to avoid freezing them if I can.
Then I remembered something that I learned a few years ago and off I went! The main reason that food spoils is because of air. Bacteria gets into the food from air and soon, you have spoiled food. This is why you can use cheese wax to preserve cheese. Plugging the holes that allow the air to reach the food makes it so that the food your preserving will last a lot longer without spoiling. Eggs especially are really vunerable to that. Each shell has hundreds of microscopic holes in the shells that while you can’t see them, they help your eggs to go bad.
You might be asking why you would want to preserve eggs. There are a couple of reasons. You, like me, may find a great deal on them and want to stock up more than you can reasonably keep in the fridge. You might be preparing for an emergency. Maybe you just use a lot of eggs and are shopping for the last time in a while. Whatever your reasons, it’s a fairly quick and super easy process!
Do ya’ll see how big these were? Seriously there were a couple that were huge and I seriously wondered if the hen was okay after…lol. Anyhow, I gave the eggs a quick rinse, but didn’t scrub them clean. Store bought eggs are sparkly clean when you buy them, but they’re far from clean when when they’re first laid. I worked in an egg packing factory for a while and trust me…they’re not that white or clean…lol. Anyhow, my egg lady had already washed these pretty well so I just gave a quick rinse and let them air dry.
Once I had my eggs cleaned a bit, I tossed some shortening into a post and melted it. I don’t know how much I used, but you can guesstimate from the pic up there. Turn it onto a low heat and let it melt. You can use any brand of shortening. It doesn’t have to be Crisco. I actually think mine is a generic Brookshire’s brand.
Next, I pulled out an old ice cream scoop that I keep on hand for things like this. I do it this way because as you can see, the eggs sit really nicely inside of it and it makes them really easy to scoop up out of the oil. Just make sure that your scoop has high sides and the eggs will fit very nicely.
Once the oil is all melted, I poured mine into a mixing bowl. There isn’t really a reason for doing it other than I’m like a t-rex and have short arms. I prefer an easy reach than having to reach something that tops out at chest level for me. (YES! I’m that short!)
Anyhow, gently place an egg into the oil and roll it around to get a good coat on it. Do NOT leave the egg in the oil for very long. You’ll cook the egg and you don’t want to do that. Just give the egg a quick roll around and remove it. I like to lay them on a plastic serving tray so that I don’t make a big mess.
Once the eggs are dipped, leave them be for a bit to allow the oil time to become solid again. For me, this takes about an hour. Now you see why I use the tray. Putting them on the counter would make a mess bigger than I want to deal with and putting them back into the carton would leave residue on it and I don’t wan that either.
Once the shortening is solid again, grab a paper towel and an egg. Now, rub the shortening into the egg. I like to use a circular motion when I do it so that I can be sure I get the entire egg coated. Again, you don’t have to do it this way, it really is a personal preference. Just make sure that you get the entire egg buffed down.
Once you’ve got all of the oil buffed in, your egg will be all shiny!
Now, you might think you’re done, but you’re not. Once you’ve buffed all of your eggs, repeat the process again. Re-dip the eggs, let the shortening become solid and re-buff them a second time. Why?
This is why. Because you’re only leaving the eggs in the oil for a short amount of time, it is VERY easy to miss a spot. Missing a spot could lead to early spoilage. Doing the entire process twice means that there is less of a chance you’ll miss a spot and lose your eggs.
Once you’ve repeated the entire process, put your eggs back in their carton, mark the date you preserved them on the carton and store in a cool, dark place. They’ll now last 6-9 months depending on how cool they’re kept, how fresh they were when you preserved them and how well you got them coated. Yay!
Another good way to make sure that you have eggs on hand is by keeping freeze dried eggs. We love Thrive Life whole eggs and scrambled eggs. They’re delicious and with a shelf life of 25 years, they can last through any emergency.
They also keep well if you don’t rinse off the bloom, which protects the egg from spoilage. The freshest eggs don’t have the blooms washed and can also be kept for months in a cool, dark place.
Thanks for the information! Just one questions, how do you if a egg has spoiled?
Typically, if I have a concern about spoilage, I’ll do the float test.
Wow this is awesome, thank you so much!! One question: you said buffing them is a personal preference, but does it help more with preventing the missed spots? (because you are coating them a second time)? I would really rather not buff them, simply because my neighbor gives me his extra eggs. Sometimes they are quite fresh, other times not, and sometimes he gives me quite a few more than I can use up in one month. I don’t want to spend too much time on buffing them.
Debbie, it doesn’t take that long to buff them, but yes it should be done for the exact reason you named. Coating only can miss areas so the buffing part ensures that they are fully covered. The 2nd coating and buff makes sure that the coating is thick enough to hold if that makes sense?
Can you do this with store-bought eggs?
Laura, It does work with store bought eggs. Most of the time I use store bought. 🙂
Can I use some other kind of oil besides shortening? I have olive oil, coconut oil, grapeseed oil?
Pam, Mineral oil is the only other oil that will work.
Can I dip them wax
Robert, I would not use wax. If you don’t have shortening, you can safely use lard or mineral oil instead.
Well this is genius. Pure genius! I grew up with chickens so I thought I knew all about eggs but apparently not! Thanks for the tips! Also, just to lend my support to the people up above, I was always taught that washing eggs made them not last as long but once they’ve been washed once, they may as well be washed again. It’s the first wash that takes off the bloom. You said yours had already been washed so eh. No biggie.
I have a neighbor that GIVES me 4 or 5 dozen at a time and they wash them before giving them to me. They also store them in the fridge before they give them to me. Can i do this process after they have done this??? I love these eggs but cant use this many before they spoil. HELP!!!!!
Karen, yes, you can still preserve them. Just make sure they’re not spoiled before you do so.
Good method for coating the eggs and you are right in doing them a second time to ensure complete and thorough coverage. When short on time, I use very softened, not melted, vegetable shortening and just rub it over the shells, ensuring they are completely covered while foregoing the buffing. Then place them into cold storage, sometimes inside a barrel of cold, brr, water or right up next to a cold wall and usr an insulating material around and over the exposed top and sides. The oil hardens up and the cool location they are put in keeps them as if in a fridge.
About how long will eggs treated in this fashion last…minimum time?
Usually 6-9 months depending on temperature and light in storage.
Fabulous information! Thanks! I am wondering about your mention about freeze dried eggs. Is that in your book or can that be found elsewhere on your website? Thanks again!
Jo, to freeze dry eggs, you would need a freeze dryer. Harvest Right is the only company that I am familiar with. I’m sure there are others, but I haven’t researched it all that much.