Eggs, Eggs, and more Eggs!

This "winter" hasn't been much of a winter and our hens have been laying all year. They usually take a little break during the winter months. I am overrun with eggs and have been trying different storage ideas for them so that they don't go to waste. Our family eats a lot of eggs but not enough to keep up with what the hens are laying! Here are some ideas for long term storage of eggs. These tips can be used with store bought and farm eggs so if there is a mega sale on eggs at the grocery store, you can stock pile. :)

Eggs can be stored for up to two to three months at temperatures no higher than 55 degrees F without doing anything to them but the humidity needs to be close to 75%. If humidity is too low, eggs will become dried out and if it is too high, they will become moldy. Select only clean, uncracked eggs to be stored in this way. If you have to clean an egg before storing it, put it in the fridge to be used later in the week. This is because anytime you have to wash or buff an egg, you are removing the protective outer coating which allows bacteria to enter the egg more easily.

There is a craze about mineral oil and it is a good way to preserve eggs but there are a few things to keep in mind. People claim that they last up to 9 months with mineral oil but Mother Earth News did a study on this and found that they last only a good 5 months. After that, the egg starts to get runny and is not as flavorful. You also should rotate the eggs (just by gently turning the entire egg carton upside down) about once a month or so. This is to help keep the eggs longer and keep the yolk from getting runny.

Other than keeping fresh eggs, I have heard that you can freeze eggs in an ice cube tray and use at a later date. I have never tried this but it seems logical that it would work. Simply crack the egg into an ice cube tray and freeze. (I will experiment with this idea and post about how it turned out)

A great idea for long term storage and use is to bake your eggs in a muffin tin and freeze in an air tight bag like a food saver. These are awesome to take out of the freezer and reheated to use for breakfast muffins. Cook your eggs in a 350 oven for about 30 minutes or until the whites are cooked fully.

You can also scramble a desired amount of eggs and freeze them in a freezer bag for use at a later date. Put the bag in the fridge to thaw the day before and fry up as you would normally. You can cook your scramble first and then freeze. If you do this wrap first in freezer paper and then put into a freezer bag or use a food saver. Precooked scramble can last up to 12 months!

More resources on egg preservation.

Mother Earth News
National Center for Home Food Preservation
Off the Grid News