Jan 5, 2025

Waterglassing eggs

Our chickens go crazy laying eggs in the nicer months but when the days get shorter, its almost a guarantee that they are going to slow down their laying. That means less eggs right in time for all the holiday baking I want to do. We sell lots of eggs. No matter how fast our chickens lay, we can never keep up with the demand for eggs. When our chickens are laying at full force in the summer, I always put the cleanest eggs aside to waterglass, so that we have eggs all winter long for us to eat and any fresh laid eggs can go to our egg customers.

To waterglass eggs, you need fresh laid eggs, straight from the chicken coop, not from the store. When eggs are laid, they have a protective coating on them called the bloom. It seals the egg and store bought eggs don’t have this. Waterglassed eggs need this bloom. Eggs also need to be clear of dirt and debris. Fresh, clean unwashed eggs!

I fill giant glass jars with these eggs as I collect them and when the jar is full I make my pickling lime solution. Then you cover your eggs completely and seal the jar. You can keep these eggs for 12-18 months, taking out 1, 2 or however many you need at a time. Just wash off the lime solution and use your egg as normal. The only thing you really can’t use the eggs for is hard boiling because the yolks will be a tad runny and the shells will be a bit thinner but the eggs will taste just as fresh as the day they were laid!!

To prepare your pickling lime solution, mix 1 oz of powdered lime with 1 quart water. Pour over eggs. It WILL settle at the bottom. That’s normal. You can get pickling lime here. I use big 1 gallon glass jars that I get from restaurants (they are typically free if you just ask) and I can fit 3 dozen eggs in a jar.