Egg Storage & Care
First and foremost a lot of people don’t know before owning chickens, that eggs are meant to be kept out at room temperature. Only the modern day western lifestyle has gotten us use to having our produce in the refrigerator, and even worse, processed in commercial chicken warehouses before they hit the grocery store shelves. Because the USDA and FSIS have a strangle hood on our current food industry, they have set rules and regulations in order for anything be sold in American markets. This includes pasteurization of eggs and dairy, which can be harmful if not stored properly.
When the hen lays an egg, there is a protective coating naturally on the egg called a ‘bloom’. The bloom protects the pores of the egg, not letting any air in, or out for that matter, as there is also an air sac, present inside the membrane to naturally protect the inside of the egg and keep oxygen in there, as without it the egg begins to spoil. This is important to respect and protect when it comes to egg storage and care. When you do what the USDA does, and pasteurize the eggs, they are being washed and lightly heat treated to ‘kill any bacteria that might be on the surface of the egg’, but if they just practiced good livestock keeping, the chances of any infectious or harmful bacteria or disease getting on the eggs is slim to none. However because these chicken farms are in deplorable conditions, they have no choice but to pasteurize. Keep in mind that this immediately weakens the egg, by destroying the bloom and opening the pores of the egg shell. This also begins to allow oxygen into the egg, and starts to deflate that air sac that’s inside of the shell. Please understand that THIS is how most salmonella or e. coli breakouts happen. You rarely to never find a backyard flock with the same issues that the USDA regulated hens and eggs have, and once again, it comes down to the keeper of the chickens. We’ve also been taught to store eggs with the small pointy end up, which is also incorrect as that smaller end is where the egg sac is, so you want to store them ‘upside down’ to keep the membrane of the egg somewhat suspended. When that egg sac loses air overtime, and all the oxygen depletes the egg starts to spoil, so not only have these commercial processing plants destroyed the bloom, but now they’re shortening the life of the air sac inside. This is all by design so that your eggs don’t last as long as they are intended to, the stores can’t make any money unless you need eggs often. Accountability and responsibility goes a long way, especially when you are providing food to others, our government lacks in both, so your awareness goes a long way, and can even be life saving when it comes to your long term health. Anytime you see a headline saying eggs are bad or too high in cholesterol, know that is a attempt to ignore what they have done to the eggs, including injecting massive amounts of hormones and antibiotics into their hens, they’re right about one thing, store bought eggs can be dangerous. Avoid buying from a commercial supplier as much as possible, do your best to find a small local business or a farm selling organic unaltered eggs.
It’s also important to know that there is no such thing as ‘free range’ eggs on a commercial level. Free range to them just means they aren’t chained down or locked in single boxes, and trust me when I say, there are some places where they are, but these factory farms are still so full, the hen barely moves but a few feet their whole lives, most of them literally live in feces and maggots, like I said, that’s one reason they must clean the eggs. The organic label can be and usually is deceitful as well. Many chickens are fed corn, and much of our corn in the U.S. has been altered, if you’re looking for clean, spend the extra few dollars for NON GMO feed, whole grain, crumble, and pellets. You can definitely tell by the quality of the eggs that such beneficial attention to detail went in the food they consume.
Your eggs will be good up to 3 weeks or so on the counter, once they start rolling in you’ll know how many you usually consume weekly, and you can start storing them for long term use daily. We always have a dozen out on the counter, and the rest go right into the fridge. They usually don’t need cleaning so unless there’s significant dirt or poo on them just a dry towel is good, the only time I really clean them good is when I’m selling them. I’ve seen a lime water mixture that can keep eggs for months on end, and I’ve seen crates of straw or wood shavings to cover the eggs used as well, if I had a cellar that is where they would go. I don’t trust the moisture in our basement, so we have to store for winter in the fridge, which also isn’t easy and takes a lot of room, but they store amazing beings that we don’t pasteurize. This year I hope to last the entire winter on our eggs alone, I go a little baking crazy come holiday season and go through dozens of eggs so that will be my real test. There are also several preservation techniques using lye, or curing the egg yolk, or doing pickled eggs, but everything depends on how many hens you have laying and how many eggs you get daily. Always do your best to date your cartons as you store your eggs, and have your friends save their cartons so you don’t ever have to buy any.
