What to do with extra eggs? Water glassing eggs or preserving eggs in lime water is cheap, easy way to preserve farm fresh eggs long term!
It’s very common for hens to slow down in egg production or even quit laying altogether in the winter months. This allows hens to rest and replenish. When the daylight hours begin to decrease in the fall, a hen’s pineal gland produces more melatonin signaling her ovary to slow down or stop laying eggs so she can rest. This allows the hen to replenish so she can lay her daily egg in the spring, summer, and early fall and remain in good health.
This natural, healthy, short season of rest can be bypassed by using artificial lighting in the chicken coop during the colder months. Many people go this route so as to have plenty of eggs all year round.
We are fortunate enough to have plenty of space for a very large flock. My laying flock numbers in the 30s-40s at any given time and our girls have true free range of the farm, so they get lots of sunshine all year. So, I don’t use supplemental lighting in the winter because I get enough eggs in the warmer months to tide us over if they stop laying. I also like to allow them to rest so they stay healthy.
This brings us to the topic of this post – extra eggs.
What to do with extra eggs?
There are many ways to use up the abundance of eggs that come rolling in daily in the warmer months. We’re big fans of scrambled, deviled, and fried eggs. I also make lots of tasty recipes that call for many eggs. So we use up a LOT of the eggs we get, but there are always extra. We do give eggs to friends and family, and I have sold eggs before. But one of the most important things I do with my extra eggs is preserving them for us for the winter.
The price of eggs has risen almost 50% in the past year and even mainstream sources are advising people to prepare for possible food shortages this winter (2022). So, preserving the food we have, like our eggs, is not only cost-effective but also very practical for preparedness.
Plus, we have become very spoiled and accustomed to our orange yolks – store-bought eggs are a bit of a letdown now!
There are actually many ways to preserve eggs long-term.
I’m most interested in the shelf-stable methods since I don’t have room in my fridge or freezer for a winters’-long stash of eggs. So that cuts down on my options! Freeze drying is a great way to store eggs for 20+ years, but freeze dryers are very expensive and require electricity to operate.
My egg preservation method of choice is water glassing or preserving eggs in lime water. It’s cheap, quick, easy, and it doesn’t require electric or fancy tools.
Let’s talk about water glassing eggs. But before we do, a quick note: preserving eggs in lime water, which is what I’ll be telling you how to do in this post, is technically not the same thing as water glassing. It’s the same method, but true water glassing uses sodium silicate. Whereas this method just uses lime.
Preserving eggs in lime water/water glassing eggs
The lime used in this method is hydrated lime. Also known as slaked lime, calcium hydroxide, or pickling lime. Yes, the Mrs. Wages pickling lime you get at the store in the canning aisle. However, a tiny bag of pickling lime will cost you about $8. Whereas a 50lb bag of hydrated lime (same thing) from the hardware store costs about $15. I had my husband bring a big 50lb bag home from work (he works in construction) and now I’ve got what I need to preserve enough eggs for a lifetime lolz. Speaking of what you need to preserve eggs:
Materials
- Clean, unwashed, farm-fresh eggs
- Storage container such as a bucket, jar, or crock with a lid
- Distilled or filtered water
- hydrated lime
How to preserve eggs with lime
- Choose a storage container and fill it half full with distilled or filtered water
- weigh out 1 ounce of hydrated lime per every quart of water you added to your storage container, then add the lime into the water
- Place clean, unwashed, farm-fresh eggs pointy side down in the lime water inside the container.
- When finished adding eggs, place a lid on the container and store in a cool, dark, place for a year or longer.
Q & A
Can you water glass store-bought eggs?
- I mentioned this earlier but it’s worth repeating – you can NOT water glass store-bought eggs. This method requires farm fresh unwashed eggs because the bloom (protective layer) is still intact, allowing them to be preserved long-term.
How long do water glassed eggs last?
- The success rate at 8 months is 100%, so you can be sure your eggs will still be good at that time. After 8 months, the success rate starts to decrease very slowly. Generally, water-glassed eggs last for 12-18 months. Just check each eggs by cracking it into a small bowl before using it. Bad eggs will have very runny, watry yolks and may smell bad too.
What kind of lime for water glassing eggs?
- Hydrated lime is used for water glassing eggs, but it goes by many names. It’s also known as pickling lime, calcium hydroxide, and slaked lime.
What kind of container should I use to water glass eggs?
- You do not have to use a clear container, you can use a 5-gallon bucket, a glass jar, a stone crock, etc. I like using clear gallon jars because I think the colorful eggs look so pretty preserved that way!
Do you have to use distilled water?
- It’s best to use water that’s fluoride and chlorine free – so definitely avoid city water. Hard well water is better than treated water but filtered or distilled water is best! I use my Berkey to filter water for preserving eggs.
Water Glassing Eggs
preserve eggs in lime water so they're shelf stable for over a year!
Materials
- farm fresh eggs
- distilled or filtered water
- hydrated lime
- storage container (bucket, jar, crock, etc.)
Tools
Instructions
- Choose a storage container and fill it half full with distilled or filtered water
- weigh out 1 ounce of hydrated lime per every quart of water you added to your storage container, then add the lime into the water
- Place clean, unwashed, farm-fresh eggs pointy side down in the lime water inside the container.
- When finished adding eggs, place a lid on the container and store in a cool, dark, place for a year or longer.
Notes
You do not have to fill the storage container with eggs right away. Just add them in as you have them.
Recommended Products
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Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime (1-Pound Resealable Bag), Green -
Delove Canning Funnel with Strainer for Wide and Regular Mason Jars - Wide-Mouth Funnels for Kitchen Use - Canning Supplies Kit - Stainless Steel - 3 Pack (Small and Large) -
Wide Mouth 1 Gallon Glass Jar with Lid - Glass Gallon Jar for Kombucha & Sun Tea Gallon Mason Jars are Large Glass Jars with Lids 1 Gallon for Food Storage - 4pk Large Jars with Airtight Plastic Lids
