So, everyone is beginning to receive eggs from their spring Cluckers, well almost everyone! :) Hang tight, its almost your time! How are you planning on storing your eggs? Will you be refrigerating them? Leaving them on the counter? Washing them? Leaving the bloom intact? Will you be using mineral oil for longer storage, have used it before? Do you know what we mean when we refer to the bloom? Season Clucker keepers feel free to chime in! Im going to start with the process here in in our homestead. We gather eggs roughly 3 to 4 times a day, depending on how often A Farm Guy and I are out working around the property. I often find myself checking for eggs when I need a break doing whatever I am doing. Collecting eggs often also keeps your eggs from getting dirty or getting poop on them. It can also stop egg eating Cluckers the opportunity to have a nice little snack; no egg in nest, no snack. Once we collect our eggs, they go into a pretty basket inside our home. Yes, I LOVE to look at our pretty eggs! Once the basket is full (currently every 2 days for us, but eventually we will need to rotate them every evening due to have a flock of 27 Cluckers and 6 Duckers) we rotate the eggs into the fridge using egg cartons, never storing them on the door but on the shelves; keeping eggs in a carton vs. a plastic refrigerator storage container will keep the eggs fresher longer, helps to eliminate the smells of your fridge from entering the egg, and protects them from shifting around to much causing them to crack. All eggs should be placed pointy side down, allowing for the air sac to be at the blunt end, which keeps additional moisture from escaping. We only store eggs in the fridge that we are selling. We DO NOT store the eggs that we are consuming as a family in the fridge. WE DO NOT WASH OUR EGGS. If there is a customer wanting them washed I explain why I wouldnt, and if they insist, then I will. Washing your egg will remove the natural bloom from the egg. A egg is laid with a protective covering called a bloom. The bloom protects the egg from allowing air and bacteria from entering the egg. Intact bloom equals fresher safer egg...why ruin/risk that? If you have an eggs that has poop on it, I personally would suggest you wash the egg immediately, feed it back to your Cluckers, Duckers, dog, or store it in the fridge to be used right away. You have washed the bloom which has opened it. If you are needing to wash your eggs, use warm water, a vinegar -water solution, and I have even heard of some people using a diluted bleach water mixture; a tiny bit of bleach to a pot of water (I dont, but some do, its their house their rules). If you simply want to clean an egg but dont want to wash it, use a dry vegetable brush, a dry sponge, and even a VERY light grit sandpaper, and give it a light scrubbing. So everyone knows where we stand in regards to refrigerating your egg (prepare yourself, this is my soapbox moment). We do not feel that eggs need to be refrigerated IF YOU ARE RAISING YOUR OWN FLOCK. If you purchase store bought eggs from a grocery store I would STRONGLY ADVISE THAT YOU STORE THEM IN THE FRIDGE. Salmonella risk is HIGHER from a factory egg produced than from a backyard breeder. This INCLUDES EGGS THAT ARE MARKED FREE RANGE, ORGANIC, VEGETARIAN, CAGE FREE; if it comes from a grocery store in the US then put it in the fridge. I hate to inform you that those are factory eggs, no matter how you look at it. The US requires eggs sold in the store to be washed due to risk of salmonella. Gee, I wonder why.... Many countries across Europe and Asia do not refrigerate their eggs, they consume more eggs than we do, and are living longer, healthier lives. From NON-REFRIGERATED eggs. My method for knowing which eggs need to be used first once they have been stored in the fridge? I store left to right, double high, moving in a zig zag formation. Doesnt work for you? :) Then figure out the best way, just make sure to use the oldest carton first. Using mineral oils on eggs...this is a touchy subject for some. There are individuals who consider mineral oil toxic and unsafe to consume. Which to them means that if you wash your egg and then rub with mineral oil, the oil leaks through the shell and into your egg. People who wish to store eggs in their whole form for the winter months will often use mineral oil. If you do not wish to use mineral oil, but wish to preserve your egg consider freezing them. NOT the entire egg, but crack them, scramble them up, fill ice cube trays, and pop out once they are frozen; placing them into zip lock bags. We have used mineral oil to store our eggs. But, do not use those shells to feed back to our girls to consume as a form of calcium. Once an egg has been rubbed with mineral oil, the shell goes into the garbage once we use it. Fresh Eggs Daily shared that for every day an egg is left out of the fridge ages it by a week. If you are ever unsure whether an egg is good or not, perform the float test. If it sinks, its fresh, if it floats...not good and trash it.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 22:00:01 +0000
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