How to Preserve Eggs for Future Use

 

REFRIGERATE

Keeping eggs fresh is not as hard as you might think.  According to FoodSafety.gov you can keep fresh eggs in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 weeks. Personally, I have kept them for up to six weeks without any trouble.  The only thing you need to remember is that the older an egg gets, the less likely it will be to form a peak when it is whipped.  So if you have a recipe that calls for a whipped egg, make sure it is less than a two weeks old.

FREEZE

Have an overabundance of eggs? Did you know that you can freeze them? Crack the eggs into a bowl, whisk the yolks and whites together, pour the egg liquid into an ice-cube tray and freeze! Once frozen, pop out the frozen eggs, transfer them to a freezer bag, or better yet, a Food Saver bag and use the Food Saver machine to remove the air from the bag.  That way they your eggs will be in an air tight container and won’t pick up the smell and flavor of your freezer. BLECH!  Be sure to label and date your  container of frozen eggs.

Eggs can be kept frozen for up to a year if properly packaged.  To use, thaw individual egg blocks in the refrigerator.  Substitute 3 tablespoons of whole, thawed egg for one whole fresh egg.

OILING

Now, let’s say you want to keep your eggs for a really LONG time without freezing them.  What else can you do?  Well… you can oil them.  HUH? What is that?  Instead of me explaining this process in detail, why not read all about it from Kellen Bishop the Preparedness Pro.  She has been preserving her eggs this way for a while now with great success. Be sure to follow her instructions to the letter. Don’t deviate a bit and you will be able to store your fresh eggs (store bought or straight from the chicken) for up to 9 months without refrigeration. Yep, that’s what I said… 9 months without refrigeration.  Check out her instruction here and here.

KE-PEG

If you don’t want to use the food grade mineral oil that Kellen suggests, you can buy something called KePeg, a natural product that was developed during the Depression to preserve eggs without refrigeration.

This is the discription of Ke-Peg from their website:

“KePeg was first developed during the Great Depression when refrigeration was not in wide use. KePeg closes the pores of the eggshell not allowing any oxygen into the interior of the egg. Preventing oxidation which makes the eggs go bad. KePeg contains no chemicals and is completely natural. Eggs can be stored for a recommended one year without refrigeration. We suggest to use this product on fresh eggs. One jar covers up to 40 dozen eggs”.

So there you have it. It turns out that you can keep your eggs for a VERY long time as long as you use proper sanitation and preservation techniques. So stock up and enjoy your fresh eggs!