One of the most exciting things about raising your own chickens is collecting fresh eggs.Once you have tasted fresh chicken eggs you will never want to go back to eating store bought eggs. However, because your freshly laid eggs are processed differently than commercial eggs, they also need to be stored differently. Unfortunately lots of people skip important steps between collecting and eating their fresh eggs.
Freshly laid eggs are good for up to 3 months starting from the day they have been laid. However, the freshness of your eggs is only as good as your storage method.
Your freshly laid eggs should be stored differently than those you might buy at the grocery store. Eggs you buy from the store can be up to 8 weeks old when purchased and only remain fresh for around a month if they are refrigerated.
Fresh backyard eggs on the other hand are not typically put through a washing process like store bought eggs, so they still contain their natural protective coating. These eggs can be kept on the counter at room temperature for around 3 weeks given the weather is not exceptionally hot. After three weeks the eggs should be placed in one of several various storage methods.
- Fridge: Refrigerating your fresh eggs will give you an additional 3-4 weeks in terms of freshness. Although your eggs will keep for much longer than 4 weeks, you can expect them to dry out and lose some taste.
- Cold Storage: Those who cannot access or do not have room to refrigerate their eggs can revert to cold storage. Cold storage consists of keeping your fresh eggs at a temperature of around 50°F. The area in which you store your eggs should be as dry as possible. This method allows for up to three months of storage.
- Freezer: Do you want to keep your eggs fresh past 3 months? Try a freezer. Because eggs are more prone to cracking under frozen conditions, eggs cannot be frozen inside of their shell. You will need to either mix or separate your yolks from your whites before pouring them into ice trays. Eggs kept in the freezer can last for around one year.
- Water Glassing: This is a cheap and often successful method of egg storage and preservation that is becoming increasingly popular with homesteaders. As long as your fresh eggs have an intact bloom and you have access to sodium silicate or calcium hydroxide, you will be pleasantly surprised with the storage life of your fresh eggs.
- Pickling: One of the most popular methods of preserving fresh eggs is pickling. This easy method of preservation includes hard-boiling and then pickling using whatever recipe sounds best to you. It preserves eggs for up to 4 months but the pickled flavor may not be popular with everyone.
- Dehydration: This is an especially useful form of storage if you have lots of eggs and not enough space. You can dehydrate your eggs to create a powder for the winter months when you won’t have as many fresh eggs.
Washed vs Unwashed Eggs
Fresh and store bought eggs have a different shelf life and need to be stored differently. Why? As a hen lays an egg she will deposit a natural coating around the outside of an egg’s shell. This is known as the egg bloom or cuticle and it acts as a protective layer for the porous shell.
The bloom acts as your fresh egg’s first line of defense against harmful bacteria and contamination. This protective coat is the hen’s way of protecting her chicks during the egg’s development. If it can keep a growing chick safe, you can be sure it will keep your unfertilized eggs safe for consumption.
When a fresh egg is cleaned, the bloom is washed away which leaves the egg more susceptible to contamination and spoilage. The bloom can often be felt as a waxy or wet coating. You can usually feel the bloom of your egg(s) coming off as a slimy residue when rinsed under warm water and soap.
Commercially sold eggs are required by the USDA to kill any existing pathogens. In this process, it eliminates the shell’s bloom. This is why commercial eggs need to be stored in the refrigerator. Only eggs with their bloom in tact can be stored at room temperature. So when you gather your fresh eggs, if you want to store them at room temperature then you should not wash the eggs.
Dirty eggs can be cleaned without damaging the precious bloom by dry cleaning. You can brush or rub your dirty egg(s) with a sanding sponge, or paper towel in a gentle rubbing motion. Make sure to keep your hands as clean as possible especially around clean/cleaned eggs to avoid contamination.
How To Test If An Egg Is Fresh?
The egg float test is a fool proof way to test an egg’s freshness. All you need to do is fill a bowl about 4 inches high with cold water and gently drop your egg in. Any eggs at the bottom of your bowl are fresh enough to eat. Eggs that have floated to the top are very old and likely rotten. These eggs should be discarded right away. Remember that as more time passes, the more time air has to enter your egg through the shell’s pores. This is why those old eggs float because they are full or air. Fresher eggs have less air in them which is why they do not float.
Summary
By now you should know exactly how to store and clean your fresh backyard eggs. Fresh eggs should not be washed until they are about to be used as removing the egg’s bloom can result in contamination if left unrefrigerated. So you should only wash heavily soiled eggs and this should only be done in warm water.
Unwashed eggs can last up to 3 weeks at room temperature and 3 months in the refrigerator. Washed eggs can last up to 3-5 weeks though the iconic fresh egg taste will have most likely long disappeared by that point. And remember if you are unsure about the freshness of your eggs, do the egg float test.
Although farm fresh eggs do not usually hang around long enough for owners to have to worry about the freshness of their eggs, it is important to keep in mind preservation dates and methods as well as safe forms of washing and maintaining your freshly laid eggs.