Monday, March 12, 2012

Preserving Eggs Without Refrigeration

You can preserve eggs for at least 9 months with no refrigeration. I know, I know, I didn't really believe it either! But I tried it last winter & it works! It was great to take all my extra eggs & have them saved all winter; without filling up my fridge! And for those who don't have chickens, you can still buy eggs when there's a deal, & "put them up" for later. It's also cheap & easy!
All you've got to do is warm up the mineral oil slightly (it spreads easier) and slather it all over your eggs. Put your eggs back in the carton, with the narrow tip facing downwards, and then store them in a cool, dry, place. As an added measure for taste and texture, flip over the eggs every 30 days. It takes very little mineral oil to do this. Another option: Store the eggs in a finely ground preservative such as salt, bran, or an equal mix of finely ground charcoal and dry bran or finely ground oats. You can store the eggs layer upon layer, so long as you they don't touch each other, metal, or wood. Be sure you have enough finely ground preservative to pack them in. ************** Michelle is one of our fabulous guest posters! She believes what one woman can do... anyone can do! She is a wealth of information for family preparedness and just all around neat tips! You can find her at http://singlemompreparedness.blogspot.com Happy Parenting! JL~

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello, am most interested in this article on perserving eggs with food-grade mineral oil. have you done this and do you like the results? thanks for your time and great info on the web. Tammi

jl said...

Tammi- that's a great question! I've forwarded it on to Michelle who wrote this post and is the expert! :) Happy Parenting! Love, JL~

Michele said...

I've done it 2 winters now & loved it! It was quick & easy, & they really did last 9 months. I had 1 egg (out of about 8 dozen) that I didn't cover well enough, but it was easy to tell that I hadn't, which reassured me that I won't be accidentally eating bad eggs.

Anonymous said...

I did this and worked great. I was very sceptical - believe me and so I had to be the first to try them. I made egg salad with 5 month old eggs and it tasted great and I didn't get sick. A good trick to tell if the egg is bad too is if it floats in water than don't use it. Your nose will also tell you. lol.

Consumer Goods Market said...

Your post really helpful for my Refrigeration Appliances market research and development.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting. It's amazing how long fresh eggs will actually keep!

If you're interested, you can find a full (very thorough) report on various ways to preserve eggs here: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1977-11-01/Fresh-Eggs.aspx

KirknesS said...

Wow! I never thought someone could have this kind of idea it's very useful. You have a very informative and useful blog. Please keep posting good post I will bookmarked it.
Regards
Commercial Refrigeration in Los Angeles

Jean Beardsall said...

Mineral oil is harmful - what if it penetrates the egg? We used to use Ovaline when I was a child - dont know what it was made from but it looked like thick vaseline

Susan Case said...

This was very interesting. We have chickens and I had no idea - but we live in Texas so not sure it would be cool enough all winter to store in our barn. But great to know. So happy to find your blog (through True Aim linky today). I'm LDS too.

Debbie said...

Where do I find this kind of mineral oil? All I think about when you say "mineral oil" is baby oil?

Unknown said...

Most people think that eggs need to be refrigerated and even coating them in mineral oil is odd. Truly fresh eggs will last months. In fact, the eggs you buy from a grocery store are already months old. No mineral oil and slippery eggs required.

Desert Fox said...

I tested this last year. I don't remember if I used mineral oil (which I don't think I had) or olive oil. I got fresh eggs from a farmers' market (unwashed) and stored in a cool closet (40-50 degrees). I almost forgot about them...when I found them again at 8 months, I used a few to make scrabled eggs...they were a little runny but tasted great...I left the rest for another four months and when I took them out, they were bad. My conclusion is...they will be perfect up to eight months. The best way to do it is to do the rotation method as with other food...replace them with fresh ones as you use the oldest ones. I will experiment and use olive oil in one dozen and mineral oil in another dozen...and we'll see the results.