One of the inevitable consequences of having a laying flock and spring time is the seasonal glut of fresh eggs! Water glassing eggs is just one technique for long term storage of your excess seasonal production. If your flock consists of more than just a few hens then you will end up more eggs than you can use on a daily or weekly basis. This is the first year that we tried water glassing eggs on the homestead!
What is water glassing….
Water glassing eggs is an old time technique for long term preservation of fresh eggs. It’s a simple process that consists of three ingredients: eggs, water, and slaked lime! It requires no electricity, refrigeration, or maintenance…..just set it and forget it!!! Water glassing will keep your fresh eggs fresh for up to a year!
How to water glass your fresh eggs!
The first thing you need to know is that lime matters! You need to get pickling, slaked or hydrated lime (all are essentially the same thing) NOT agricultural lime!!! They are two separate and very different things. The lime you’re looking for is basically the same stuff that masons use to make mortar or a lime plaster. It is also they kind of lime traditionally used in the nixtamalization process for corn making it more digestible and also in some pickling recipes. You can get slaked lime at the hardware store or online cooking outlets. You do NOT want the lime that you get at the garden center or from agricultural chemical distributors.
The next thing you need to know is that your eggs need to be fresh, unwashed, and perfectly clean! Fresh unwashed eggs that are clean can last without refrigeration for weeks at room temperature. They contain a natural membrane or bloom that protects the egg from spoilage and dehydration so long as they are not washed off with water or any other type of cleaner. In much of Europe store bought eggs cannot be washed whereas here in the United States all commercially purchased eggs must be washed and sanitized. Do NOT use store bought eggs for this process and ensure that purchased farm fresh eggs are not washed either (talk to your farmer and let them know what you are doing and they will likely set some aside special just for you!)
Beyond that fresh clean water and a water tight container is all you need! We use our household well water and bulk plastic storage containers that we purchased from a local restaurant supply store. If you can only access city water that has been treated you can use purchased distilled water from the store. Clean pure water is key here!
The water glassing process….
I’m not going to reinvent the wheel here so I’ll just share this video that I found that really does a good job showing you how to water glass your eggs at home….
For a little more information on water glassing eggs check out this blog post from the Homesteading Family (https://homesteadingfamily.com/preserved-eggs-water-glassing-eggs-for-long-term-storage/)
Get out there and start preserving your harvest today with water glassing! Let us know how your batch turns out!!!
Can I just wipe eggs off if it’s got dry poop on or will this take off the natural film? Also how soon can I use them?
Wiping the poop off if not best practices here. Ideally you want a clean egg going in for long term storage. That being said if you’re just wiping off the mess and not rinsing or scrubbing the egg down the membrane should remain in tact. I wouldn’t leave those eggs in there for a terribly long time (use them up withing a few weeks). You can utilize water glassed eggs at anytime after they’ve been placed in the solution, no need to wait if you need them use them!