Preserve Eggs For Years: Learn How To Keep Your Eggs Fresh For Months To Come

Sometimes it happens you have an overabundance of eggs. In that case, you want to preserve your eggs for future use. Boiling the eggs and using them as snacks with your family is not a good idea if you are one of those who are raising poultry.

If you are a beginner in poultry then you must know that there is a time when egg production decreases or even stops. This is a natural phase and you must be prepared for facing it.

At that time you should have preserved eggs so there is no need to buy them from the market.

You can keep eggs for 5 days at room temperature. After that, the quality of eggs starts to decline. If you store eggs properly then they can last a few weeks in the refrigerator and about 1 year in the freezer.

The quality of the stored egg is not like fresh eggs. As time passes the taste and texture of eggs changes.

When you refrigerate the eggs there is less chance of the growth of bacteria. It means you should refrigerate eggs quickly. it will prevent them from condensation and the growth of bacteria.

You can’t freeze eggs in their shells so to preserve them you must crack them and freeze them for a year or more. When you need these eggs then take out the container from the freezer and move it to the refrigerator. You must use these eggs within one week.

The suitable temperature for storing eggs should be below 45 degrees Fahrenheit or 7 degrees Centigrade. You can store unwashed eggs for up to 6 months in the refrigerator.

Instead of making scrambled or egg salad, you can preserve eggs in various ways. All the ways are very effective and safe for storing eggs.

How To Preserve Eggs For Years?

If you have chickens then you can get fresh eggs from them. Before storing your eggs you should not wash them. If there is any debris on them then you can simply brush it off.

There is a membrane coating on eggs that protects eggs naturally in the nest. That’s why we must not wash them before storing them.

1- FREEZE EGGS

There are two ways of freezing eggs in Your refrigerator. We will discuss them one by one.

ICE CUBE TRAY METHOD

You can easily freeze your eggs in an ice cube tray. There are different sizes of ice cube trays available in the market. You can choose according to your needs. Generally, 1 cube of ice tray is equal to ¼ cup of 1 scrambled egg.

You need a bowl and crack all the eggs in it.
Lightly scramble all the eggs.
Now take ice cube trays in which you want to freeze eggs. It is better to use silicone ice cube trays for freezing purposes. Silicon cube trays are a good choice because 1 cube can easily hold ½ an egg per square. Pour the mixture into the ice cubes and freeze them in your refrigerator.

MUFFIN TIN METHOD

This is another simple and easy way of freezing eggs in the refrigerator. There are different sizes of muffin tins available in the market. Generally smaller muffin tin can hold 3 to 4 tablespoons of scrambled egg.

If you have a larger muffin tin then it can hold 2 to 3 eggs. The method of freezing is similar to the method of freezing in ice cube trays.

Take all the eggs you want to freeze. Crack them into a bowl.
Lightly scramble all the eggs in the bowl.
Pour the mixture into the muffin tin trays.

2- DEHYDRATE EGGS

You can easily dry eggs at home but make sure before dehydrating you must fully cook them. Dehydrating eggs can easily be stored in the freezer for the long term.

For dehydrating eggs, you need a dehydrator to create egg powder.
Take a bowl and crack all the eggs you want to preserve. You need a hand whisk for whisking eggs well. Make sure the yolk and the white of the egg should be blended thoroughly.
Now add scrambled eggs to the drying trays very slowly. Set the temperature according to the dehydrator. You will get all the instructions according to the manual of the dehydrator you are using. Mostly, 12 to 18 hours are taken by eggs for drying in a dehydrator. But it depends upon the placement of the fan.
When you see the eggs are completely dried then place them in a blender or food processor and grind them well.
You can store this egg powder in a glass mason jar. You must use an oxygen absorber and seal the jars to keep the freshness of egg powder.
You can use this egg powder by adding water to it. 6 tablespoons of water are enough for 2 tablespoons of powdered eggs.

3- MINERAL OIL-PRESERVED EGGS

After coating your eggs in food-grade mineral oil, you can preserve them for a long time. The coated eggs in oil should be put in a container. This is a very simple and unique method of preserving eggs because you just need enough mineral oil and eggs.

The following are simple and easy basic steps for preserving eggs in mineral oil. Mineral oil in eggs then eggs will become extremely porous and absorbed. This will create an airtight environment inside the case. Oxygen and humidity stop preserving your eggs for a long time and a layer of oil helps to protect the eggs from them.

After coating the eggs in the oil you should place them in a cool dry and dark environment to extend the storage period of eggs. In case, you don’t have any cool, dry, and dark place for storing eggs and the weather is very hot.

In that situation, it is better to store oil-coated eggs in the refrigerator or a carton. When you store eggs in a carton then they will help to reduce the condensation process and save your eggs from mold. By using this technique you can store eggs for 9 months at room temperature.

4- WATER GLASSING EGGS

This is a traditional method of preserving eggs. If you are using this method then you can store eggs for up to 18 months. The water you are using in this method must be free of chlorine and fluoride.

Make sure you are using natural spring water or distilled water for water glassing eggs. You can also boil the water before using it, but make sure to cool it completely.

You need the following ingredients for this method.

The first thing you need is a 3-gallon bucket. Add 5-ounce hydrated lime, pickling lime, and 5 quarts of natural spring water or distilled water. Mix water and pickling lime very well.
Take fresh and clean eggs, the eggs you want to store should not be washed with water. Now add eggs to the liquid you prepared. Make sure the pointy side of the eggs should be down so it will allow the air sack to remain at the top of the eggs.
Now cover the bucket with a lid to stop the evaporation process.
You should place this bucket in a cool and dark location.

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5- FREEZE DRYING EGGS

I know a freeze dryer is very expensive but when you preserve your eggs in it then it can maintain 97% nutrients with flavor and color. If you preserve eggs by freeze-drying method then you can store them for up to 10 to 25 years.

6- THE SALT METHOD

This method is very old and used when there is no electricity. In the past, when people had more eggs in the peak season they used this technique of preserving eggs.

This is a very simple and easy method. you need a container and salt. Fill the container with salt and bury your eggs in it. In this way, you can store eggs for up to 6 months. These stored eggs can be used for making scrambled eggs or baking your favorite items.

This is not the best method of storing eggs because they can lose their texture. The salt eventually dries out the eggs. When you are using this technique, you must apply a layer of grease on them so they will be prevented from hydration.

For greasing the eggs you can use mineral oil. When you apply oil on eggs then you can store them for up to 2 years without refrigeration.

7- HARD-BOILED EGGS

This method of preserving eggs is not as versatile as frozen raw eggs. if you have chickens at home then sometimes it happens that there is an overabundance of eggs. In such a situation, you want to rep purpose them.

8- PICKLED EGGS

For making pickled eggs, you need hard-cooked eggs and put them in a solution of vinegar, spices, salt, and other seasonings. The solution of pickling is heated for 5 minutes.

After that, you can pour this solution over the eggs. When you pour boiling solution on the eggs the whites will become more tender. For making pickling, you must use small and medium eggs.

Make sure eggs are clean and they have sound shells. It is better to use fresh eggs because of their high quality. You can store them for a long period. You must choose glass canning jars for pickled eggs. Make sure the jars have lids and are sealed tightly.

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How Can You Tell If An Egg Is Still Good?

Sometimes it happens that you don’t know how long your eggs have been in the refrigerator. In that case, there are several ways to tell whether eggs are still good or not.

The easy method is sniff testing just, check the shell of the egg. There must be no crack or a powdery or slimy appearance. In such cases, you can toss the egg.

If everything is good then crack the egg on a white plate. Before using it you should carefully examine any discoloration or smell. When any egg goes bad then it will start giving an unmistakable odor.

If there is no smell and everything looks good then you can use this egg without any fear.

Sometimes it happens that the egg is not good but it is contaminated with bacteria and looks normal. The use of such eggs can make you sick.

For such eggs, you should cook them until the white and yolk are firm. This will help to kill any bacteria. Some people like to eat undercooked eggs but this can increase the risk of foodborne illness.

If your stored eggs are very old but they have not gone bad, these eggs are ideal for boiling. In older eggs, the air pockets get larger so you can easily peel them.

Older eggs can be used in different recipes such as hard-boiled eggs, egg salad, or devil eggs. You can also make an omelet and scrambled eggs with older eggs.

You should avoid making fried and poached eggs with older eggs. Because they taste good with fresh eggs. When you keep your eggs in the fridge for a long time then the yolk and white start to runnier.