How to Store Fresh Eggs: Keep Eggs Farm Fresh Longer Jenny Graham, December 12, 2023December 12, 2023 Now that you’ve got backyard chickens, you may be wondering how to store fresh eggs. Here, we will look at the best way to handle, store, and preserve those farm-fresh eggs. Jump to How To Store Fresh Eggs Collecting & How to Store Fresh Eggs From the Chicken Coop When it comes down to how to store fresh eggs, it all starts in the chicken coop. Collect farm fresh eggs on a daily basis. Check your eggs for any cracks or unusual odors. Cracks in eggs are a perfect place for bacteria to enter. Toss those eggs out immediately. The Protective Bloom Store fresh eggs with the protective coating or bloom. The protective bloom is a natural protective layer that is on the egg. It serves as a barrier on the porous eggshell to keep bacteria and other contaminates out of the egg. As an added benefit, the natural bloom also helps prevent moisture loss within the egg, keeping it fresher longer. Washed or Unwashed Eggs: What is the Best Way? Washing eggs removes the protective bloom. Once eggs are washed, you must refrigerate them to slow bacterial growth. Store-bought eggs are washed to meet sanitation requirements. However, that is not necessary with farm-fresh eggs that have been collected in a timely manner. When to Wash Fresh Farm Eggs Backyard chicken eggs aren’t always the cleanest. You may come across a time when those eggs are just dirty. Perhaps an egg broke in the nest box or you weren’t quite diligent on collecting those eggs. Trust me, it happens. If you find a number of eggs extra dirty, it may be a good idea to wash them. How to Clean Dirty Eggs The best way to clean dirty eggs is to run them under a little warm water. Be sure to not use detergents as that will strip the protective coating completely off the eggs. Again, once you have washed your eggs, they must go into the refrigerator to slow the growth of harmful bacteria. How to Keep Backyard Chicken Eggs Clean Keeping your nesting boxes clean is the first step. Clean nesting boxes and collecting eggs on a daily basis will help ensure that you are bringing in clean eggs. These two key points will help you store fresh eggs successfully. How to Store Fresh Eggs: Short Term Now that we have the basics out of the way, let’s talk short term storage. There are two basic ways. You can store unwashed fresh eggs at room temperature or you can refrigerate your raw eggs. Farm-Fresh Eggs Shelf Life When it comes down to how to store fresh eggs, the shelf life will depend on how they were handled. You can store fresh eggs in egg cartons. If you store them pointy side down, it keeps the air sac in the egg at the top of the egg, away from the yolk, which will keep it fresh for a long time. Unwashed eggs that have the protective coating or natural bloom intact will also have the longest shelf life. Shelf-life will also depend on if you store fresh eggs at room temperature or with refrigeration. Store Fresh Eggs at Room Temperature You can store fresh eggs at room temperature, as long as they are unwashed eggs. Collect eggs on a daily basis to ensure they are fresh and not cracked. Store them in a cool, dry place, out of direct sunlight. You can store fresh eggs in an egg skelter, which will have you using the older eggs first. How Long Can You Store Fresh Eggs at Room Temperature? Unwashed eggs that are fresh and stored at room temperature can usually last up to three weeks on the countertop. If ever you are questioning the freshness of your eggs you can always crack then into a separate bowl as needed or do a float test. How to Tell if Backyard Chicken Eggs Are Fresh? The Float Test is the best way to check for freshness of raw eggs. Fill a bowl up with water and gently put an egg in the bowl. If the egg sinks to the bottom and lays flat, it’s fresh. While eggs that stand up on end, are a little older. If you have an egg that floats you can consider it 100% bad. You’ll want to toss those eggs that float. Store Fresh Eggs in the Refrigerator? As mentioned before, once you wash a dirty egg, it must be refrigerated. However, you can also refrigerate unwashed eggs. Refrigerating unwashed eggs will make them last for months. Again, if you are questioning the freshness when you are ready to use them, do a float test. How to Store Fresh Eggs for Long-term Storage If you are looking for how to store fresh eggs for long-term storage there are several egg preservation methods that work well. Let’s take a closer look on how to store fresh eggs for a long time. Egg Preservation Methods We Will Cover Water Glass Fresh Eggs Freezing Your Farm-Fresh Eggs Dehydrating Raw Eggs Freeze Dry Your Eggs Salting as an Egg Preservation Method Mineral Oil To Preserve Eggs Thermostabilized Eggs Water Glass Eggs for Long-Term Storage Water glassing eggs is a great way to store fresh eggs on a long-term basis. Only water glass your cleanest, unwashed fresh eggs. I like to use a half gallon mason jar for water glassing eggs. Stack your clean, unwashed eggs that are free of cracks, in a clean mason jar. Then, in a separate jar, mix 1 ounce of hydrated or pickling lime to a quart of non-chlorinated water. Mix it well and pour the lime water over your eggs in the half gallon mason jar. You’ll want to completely cover the eggs in the pickling lime water. Since oxygen is the enemy in food preservation, be sure they are covered in the lime solution and in an airtight container. Water glassing eggs can preserve eggs on the shelf for 12-18 months. While some people say up to two years. Only water glass eggs that have the natural bloom intact. For this reason, you cannot water glass grocery store eggs. How to Freeze Backyard Chicken Eggs Freezing whole eggs is a great way for long-term storage of fresh eggs. They will stay fresh for about a year or more in a deep freeze. Using Silicone Muffin Pans to Freeze Extra Eggs I like to use the silicone muffin pans for this. The frozen eggs pop up easily. Simply crack one egg in each spot, scramble, add a pinch of salt, and freeze. Once frozen, they can be popped out and put into a gallon freezer bag to be stored safely in the freezer. You could also scramble eggs in a bowl first and then pour then into ice cube trays, for smaller portions. Store Fresh Eggs by Dehydrating Raw Eggs This method is debatable in my opinion. Some folks say you can dehydrate raw eggs, while others say you must cook eggs first and then dehydrate them. Dehydrated eggs, if done properly, can be ground into an egg powder and used for baking. Many people claim that they do not re-hydrate well enough to use for something like scrambled eggs or omelets. Dehydrating can be done in the oven, if your oven reaches temperatures low enough or in a dehydrator, if you have the proper treys. For me personally, dehydrating eggs isn’t worth the time that it takes, which can be up to 12-15 hours. Further more, the end product isn’t that great. Safe Temperature for Dehydrating Eggs The other issue is salmonella. Most dehydrators don’t reach a temperature high enough to kill salmonella. It is recommended to have a temperature of 145-165 degrees to kill salmonella. However, are all eggs contaminated with salmonella? No, they aren’t. Moving on. How to Re-hydrate Eggs If you do use the dehydration method to store fresh eggs you’ll need to know how to re-hydrate them. Use 1 tablespoon of powdered eggs to 1-2 tablespoons of water to re-hydrate eggs. How to Freeze Dry Eggs The major problem with this is the cost of the freeze dryer. With that having been said, freeze drying is still a great way to preserve eggs. Simply crack eggs into a larger bowl and scramble them up. Pour into the freeze drying trays and freeze in the freezer for 2-3 hours. Once frozen, run them through the freeze dryer according to the manufactures instructions. Once they are completely dry, you can grind them up into an egg powder. Surprisingly, Egg powder will keep for multiple years if done properly and stored in a Mylar bag with an oxygen absorber. Store Fresh Eggs by Salting Egg Yolks Salt cured eggs yolks are quite the delicacy. In a glass baking dish, put down about a half inch of salt, covering the bottom of the dish. Carefully separate egg yolks from the egg whites. Place the egg yolks on the bed of salt, evenly spaced, and cover with another 1/4-1/2 inch of salt, until you cant see the yokes any more. Store the container in a cool, dry place, ideally around 50 degrees. You can use the refrigerator if needed. Let the salt cure work its magic for about a week. Take the yokes out of the salt and brush the salt off. Place them evenly spaced onto cheese cloth or any other breathable fabric. Keep them covered and drying until they are firm but not rock hard. You can then use them grated up as a cheese substitute or to add extra richness to any dish. How to Store Fresh Eggs in Mineral Oil Preserving eggs in mineral oil, or even lard, has been done successfully for years. Just dip the unwashed eggs in the mineral oil or lard and store them pointy end down in an egg carton. The mineral oil will further help the natural coating of the protective bloom seal up the porous eggshell, keeping harmful bacteria out. This egg preservation method will store fresh eggs for a couple months at room temperature or 9-12 months in the refrigerator. Store Fresh Eggs in Salt Storing eggs in salt is also another egg preservation method that has been done for years. There’s two different methods. The first method starts with dipping unwashed eggs in mineral oil or lard. as mentioned above. You can then take a five gallon bucket and cover the bottom with a layer of salt. Put the oiled eggs pointy side down in the salt, not touching each other and then cover them with more salt. Continue with that layering of oiled eggs and salt until your airtight container is full. Put a lid on the bucket and store the airtight container in a cool dry place. The second method is just storing eggs in the layers of salt minus the oil dip. These egg preservation methods were popular before refrigeration. It is said that these methods will store fresh eggs for a year or more, although I haven’t tried these methods. Store Fresh Eggs by Thermostabilizing Thermostabilizing involves heating eggs to 130°F for 15 minutes. This process kills bacteria and slightly cooks a layer of egg whites near the shell, further helping seal up the porous eggshell. Thermostabilized eggs can last for about 2 weeks at room temperature or up to 8 months at 34°F. Pickled Eggs as a Reservation Method Pickled eggs are hard-boiled eggs that are cured in a vinegar or brine. This was originally a way to store eggs before we had refrigeration. This is a great pickled egg recipe. Why Should You Store Fresh Eggs? Chickens have a natural cycle for egg laying. When the days are long, in the summer months, you’ll find you have an abundance of eggs. On the other hand, when daylight lessens in the winter months, chickens will drastically slow down or stop laying eggs all together. Finding your favorite way to store fresh backyard eggs can help fill in the gaps in the winter months. So, gather those abundant unwashed eggs and start putting eggs up on the shelf. Your Flock of Backyard Chickens If you are interested in growing your backyard flock, there are many breeds of chickens that are well known for egg production. Add to your flock today to have an overabundance of eggs so you can store fresh eggs now. Chickens are always an excellent sustainable food source to add to your homestead. Happy Homesteading & Preserving, Jenny @ The GrahamStead Family Farm Jenny and her family have been homesteading for over 20 years. They are currently farming on their 10 acre Florida farm, that they built from the ground up, 8 years ago, growing 100% of their meat and a lot of their vegetables. From their small herd of Aberdeen Angus Cattle, Pastured Poultry, Sheep, and seasonal pigs, they are able to raise enough meat for the family while selling extra to the community. All the while, striving to butcher at home, as much as possible, and use the bits and pieces of their harvest by preserving food, making bone broth, and (Jenny’s favorite) tanning all kinds of hides! Chickens Homesteading Preserving the Harvest