Former science technician here: The "fishy aroma" is just the calcium hydroxide formed by the lime water itself. If you've ever left a baking soda solution out long enough you've smelt the same fishy smell, in that case with sodium hydroxide. Nothing to worry about. Another point to remember is to store your bagged lime in a completely airtight container. It won't set like concrete would (unless its "hydraulic" lime rather than "hydrated" lime but you're unlikely to find that at your average builder's merchant), but instead it will react with the C02 in the air and basically becomes chalk powder. Which won't have the effect you need for preserving eggs. Better yet, store your bagged lime in water straight away. If you want to get really clever, you could store up your old eggs shells. Burn them in a kiln and make you're lime water out of lime from the egg shells themselves. Eggs stored in "burnt" shells. Poetic.
Can we use hydrated lime powder to preserve or its just chalk powder and no longer usable for this kind of process? I can find raw limestones at a local store. When I put them in water, an exothermic reaction occurs and mixture start to boil. Which one should I use for preserving eggs? Just powder or limestones mixture after it cools down?
I watched your video about water-glassing eggs 2 years ago. And out off curiosity, I did a small batch and waited 2 years to test them. I wish I had taken some pictures. There were a few in the bottom of the bucket where I believe the shells got too soft to hold up to the weight of the eggs above. But otherwise, those that didn’t crack were fine to use for baking. The yolks were still whole, but the whites were rather thin. I decided they were best for baking an they worked wonderfully! Thanks for all the videos and “old fashioned” techniques for preservation. This year I have already put up about 6 dozen for this winters’ use.
I did a gallon of eggs using your method in 2019 spring. I left them until feb 2020. They came out PERFECT. No issues at all. So this year, did up 5 gallon buckets and they are ready to go for the winter. Thanks so much for your videos
Personally, I believe firmly that our President should appoint you and Josh and your entire family as "USA Homesteading Advisors" ... you all do such a great job !!!
Watched your original video from like 6yrs ago & gonna try this before winter hits since I get way too many in the summer & then run out in the winter. I love old methods. Thank you so much for sharing.
P.s, I did mine in a 5 gallon plastic food grade bucket with a gamma lid. I also kept in my kitchen but away from any heat vents, and still no problem with them at all
The Bible talks about a virtuous woman, I think it's Proverbs 31,I think you are as close to that woman As modern-day will let you. I so enjoy watching you preparing for your family. Have a good day and God bless.
FYI I just finished filling my 5 gallon lime water bucket with medium to large eggs from my hens, and I got 185 eggs into it to the top. Thank you for sharing a great idea from our ancestors. If my husband and I eat one dozen eggs a week during hard times, that's almost 4 months of eggs in just ONE bucket, so 3 buckets would last us 1 year - hooray!!!
@@HomesteadingFamily so could you do a video on this on store bought eggs?? I have a couple videos of doing the same method you are using but they use store bought eggs 🤷
Thanks for the follow up vid. I really love this method and followed your previous vid around 18 months ago. I’m still working my way through the eggs and they are still edible and delicious. I do test them in water every time I come to use them and they still sink just as fresh eggs do. I can’t believe they are lasting so long 😳 🤩 I find the lime water only ever pongs if an egg has broken in the bucket. At which point I just remove all remaining eggs, ditch the smelly water and make new lime water and return the eggs. I too find the yolks are more likely to break. That’s fine though as I’m usually making a breakfast casserole (also courtesy of you xx). I’ve recommended this method to a few friends who have also love it. Spreading the love 😍 Love you guys xx
some will turn there nose up and think you are insane, but those will be the ones asking if you have any extra eggs when times get back. Put up a few extra dozens if you can.
I did this for the 1st time after watching ur video, and had eggs almost the whole winter and would have if had done more eggs. Came out perfect and no problems at all except the lime settling at the bottom. Was still no problem. Will do again this yr but do many more eggs if can get them. I get eggs from the Amish, but many wash before they sell, so have to watch for that. Thank you so much.
Thanks for the follow feedback Carolyn- I usually sell my extra eggs - but now I am definitely going to try this - Home Depot is almost two hours away - next time we are in town - gonna pick up some hydrated lime and get to preserving my extra eggs.
Thank you so much for this “recipe”. I’m presently living in an RV and this is the only homestead preserving I can do at present. My bucket is sitting behind a chair. It seems to be going well.
I appreciate the update. I have 13 dz "glazing" over the past 4 months. I can store 2dz per month. Reading comments I grasped don't use plastic. - Got it - THX team. Over the hot CA / no basement summer I'll move them into a spare fridge.
I did try this with my eggs last year and so glad I did because about a week later all of my chickens were slaughtered by some animal that got in the yard! I’m finding the boiling does not do well so I’ll try the pin hole. Thanks for that info. Some of the yolks are runny and not intact but most were ok to cook with. Some I have thrown out. Will do this again when my new hens start laying! Thank you so much!
Great update. I watched your original video and this follow up was so good to see. I'd love to watch you do a 'lime preserved egg clean, cook, and eat' video. 👍
I am glad you mentioned boiling these eggs. I haven't had as good luck with boiling them, they seem to bust open when I have boiled to make deviled eggs. That's the only thing I don't do. Not all of them Crack open when I boil, but at least 1 or 2 do.
GREAT VIDEO!!! I have watched this video like 100 times! I did this method with 3 dozen eggs in a gallon glass jar on November 1, 2020. I checked them a couple days ago and they are STILL PERFECT! I did understand that this method does NOT work with store-bought eggs. Anything that we can do to put our food away for long-term storage is a win-win. Thank you so much for your channel. This channel has taught me so very much and I am grateful for you and your family. God bless!!
Thank you for this video. "Waterglass" is sodium silicate. "Limewater" is calcium hydroxide. They are used the same way, but the latter is less expensive and more pleasant to work with.
Thanks for this update. I filled a 2 gal. antique crock after watching your original video. We live in the country and not one of the "old" country folks has ever heard of this. I LOVE your videos!
Many people will argue about what waterglassing or liming eggs is. In my part of Western Kentucky, sodium silicate or lime are both called methods of waterglassing. I'm sure every place has or had what they called it. My family used which ever they had. The water in the 'glass' jar is why we call it waterglassing. I had plenty of hydrated lime when I started doing it so that's the path I went. I am well pleased with the method and keep a few gallon jars going all the time; using the oldest first. The only thing I don't use them in is for a couple of recipes that call for raw eggs and I like my fried eggs very soft so I keep a dozen in the fridge for things like that.
Using water Glass (sodium silicate) is waterglassing eggs. Using calcium hydroxide; aka "hydrated" lime, pickling lime, etc is liming eggs. People that don't know the difference are lazy and stupid. www.britannica.com/science/water-glass www.homedepot.com/p/Foundation-Armor-1-gal-Concentrated-Sodium-Silicate-Concrete-Sealer-Hardener-and-Densifier-S20001GAL/205719971
That's great knowledge. I've heard dipping mineral oil reduces biodegration. Please look into that if you already haven't covered it. I'm new to this show. Good stuff!
Carolyn thank you for this video, my wife loved this so much she used this method and have taught others about it. She was wondering if you could reuse the lime water after you empty the bucket for the next wave of eggs? It doesn't smell or appear to be weird in anyway.
According to a Utah State University circular, "Preserving Eggs For The Home", printed in 1917, "Do not reuse the solution. Make fresh preserver every year."
My water glassed eggs have done well... I wear rubber dish gloves to get them out but my bucket is only 3gallon. My egg water smells a little off too, but it is from the lime. We have a window AC in our pantry room... That lime is HARD to scrub out too. I started in a gallon mason jar, poor thing will never come clean... Thanks for teaching me this method of preserving my eggs...
I know your comment is over a year ago, but I'm hoping you will still respond- Did you ever get your mason jar clean? I used a gallon Mason jars to do my eggs then saw your comment 🤔🥺
Thank you so much for sharing! And thank you for answering the settling question at the very end of the video that’s exactly why I was searching TH-cam. You rock and God bless you
Well you just answered my question because I just did my first batch of water glass eggs and I noticed that the lime was settling to the bottom and I mixed it up real good before I put the eggs in but you answered the question thank you very much great job looking forward to trying to see how long they lasts
I find that when I have a cracked egg in the lime water or a seeping egg, that's when the water smells fishy. I preserve mine in very large glass jars, which allows me to see when a jarful is in great condition or when an egg has ruptured, which they sometimes do if a particular egg is compromised. The jars that have a ruptured egg definitely smell bad when I take the eggs out to wash and refrigerate/use. I like keeping mine in GLASS jars so that I can see if all the eggs are still intact or if one has ruptured -- PU! (The ruptured eggs make it stink, but they don't change the taste of the other sealed eggs.) When all the eggs are good, the water is very clear. When there's a cracked egg, the water gets cloudy, so it's a good visual indication.
I did the 1 yr test as well. 6 months in I tested 3 eggs, one was no good and I had to toss it. The other 2 where fine the shell was a bit thin as was the white it was more liquid like and not thick. Then 1 yr test I opened each egg in a separate dish only adding the egg to the others collected if it was still good. Out of the remaining 17 eggs only 2 eggs had to be tossed. So out of 20 eggs and 3 not good it was a win win for us!!! This yr we'll do a 5 gallon bucket full! The yolks for me broke when they hit the hot buttered pan and like I aid the white are more runny but this is a great way to always have eggs. YES rinse those eggs well and handle as if you know the shells re very fragile! The 20 eggs I tested where in a lg glass bottle sitting on the kitchen floor, always in view. They never got special treatment like a cooled basement or dark area. What ever temp the floor and room was is how they sat and they did great!!!
I was thrilled you made this video ! It was your preserving eggs video that helped me find your channel! I love your channel! I did use your method back in October and seeing this video gives me great confidence that mine will be great even up to October ( that's when my year will be!)
I just did a test with eggs that have been water glass preserved for 3 1/2 months. If you want hard boiled eggs for a potato salad or egg salad you can do it with an instant pot. Use a glass or metal container (do not use a spring form pan)that fits inside the instant pot. Spray with nonstick spray, crack eggs in the dish, put 1 cup water in the instant pot, insert trivet/rack and place eggs on top. Cook for 5 minutes, natural release for 4 minutes. Remove from instant pot, turn out on to cutting board and let cool. Cut up and enjoy. No peeling eggs. Can’t wait to try this again in 3 more months.
Carolyn...thank you so much for all of your waterglassing videos!! So fascinating. I have been able to do some since learning from you how to, and I am excited to have them to use later. A couple of questions... Can I also use clean unwashed eggs that have already been in the refrigerator? Or do they have to be left at room temperature on the counter before they are waterglassed? Also...I did mine in plastic containers with lids that hold exactly a dozen eggs. Hoping that it would be easier to bring "a dozen" up from the basement at a time when needed. I filled the container with eggs first, so that I could make sure they were small end down, and then poured the lime solution into the container over the eggs. Do you think that is okay to do? Rather than lower the eggs into the solution? I am greatly hoping that you will have time to answer my questions during this busy harvest season! God bless your family and the heart you have for teaching!
I learned the hard way this past week just how much the ambient temp effects the outcome of waterglassed eggs. We live in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and don’t have a basement or root cellar. I had a 5 gallon bucket totally filled with eggs that I started in mid January 2022. By mid July 2022, the line water solution was getting cloudy and started smelling fishy. But when I cracked open the eggs, every single yolk would crack or break completely simply from the pressure of falling into the bowl. And once cracked, they smelled like they were starting to go off. So instead of risking it, I just composted all 250+ eggs. From now on, I’m going to waterglass them in 2 gallon glass jars and not leave them in my pantry for more than 5-6 months tops. Edit: for reference, my house is usually in the low 60s to mid/high 70s, so that means my pantry is too. Outside in the summer, our average temp is in the low 80s but can sometimes get up to the low 100s. Thankfully we have air conditioning that I use on those hotter days.
I appreciate the follow up!! I just put my eggs in a gallon glass jar- 1oz pickling lime to 1 quart well water. My lime gas settled to the bottom. So now my solution is not consistent throughout the jar!!!
Just out of curiosity, what can you do with the lime water once you’re finished with it? Would be nice to know what plants might benefit from lime water with eggshell residue.
Lime is used in farming to sweeten the soil - make soil that is running acidic more neutral which is better for most plants ( not all, for instance potatoes, blueberries, and azalea). An inexpensive home soil pH test would be a good idea. In the northeastern US, where soils run slightly acidic, grass lawn that is thin generally needs to be limed.
In new england you can never overlime your garden...I would dilute it and just spray it on being careful to try and keep it off the leaves. If you do get some on the leaves you can just wash it down with fresh water.
Hi there. Last year in September I started a crock container with your preserving mixture. It has now been 11 months. Yes, there is a distinct odor and i washed the eggs as I do my daily eggs. We do notice a slight odd flavor when we are eating them. I can definitely tell fresh from the preserved ones. That worried me the first few times eating them, but none of us felt sick after eating them. It is different than our fresh eggs but to keep a supply for winter, we can endure the little change. I hope this helps someone. Thanks
I just made a bunch of Christmas pies and breads using slaked lime eggs from 13 MONTHS AGO!!! Out of 48 eggs, I only had to throw ONE away! Wow! We already devoured 2 pecan pies and no-one died or got sick. Amazing! I rinse the eggs (in water warmer than the air) AND do the water test before cracking open. If it floats.. I toss it. QUESTION: I CAN'T FIND AN ANSWER ANYWHERE. How do I DISPOSE of the left over lime water? Some say it's bad for the pipes & septic; others say no big deal? Can I put it in my compost or should I toss on the far side of the property? Another thought on the fishy smell... Was that olive oil on top of your lime water? Could it just be rancid oil? Although, mine didn't smell at all and I used olive oil, too. Love your channel and God Bless you!
Thank you so very much for doing this follow up on this subject. I was so impressed when you originally did the first one. Only reason I haven't done this yet myself is I still haven't gotten my chickens but that will eventually happen so again, thank you. Have a great day. 🥚🌞🥚🌞🥚
Yes, the lime does separate, almost as soon as you stop stirring. I have no basement, and there's just two of us, so I store my chicken and duck eggs in 1 gallon glass jars and I keep them in the back hall closet. We just finished the first jar that was put up 7 months ago. Had one egg that broke in there (not a nice smell at all), and one egg was bad. But out of 2 dozen eggs, I'm sold and we are starting another jar. Side note: The lime water does sort of ruin the jar for anything else. Major calcium-type buildup. So now I have 2 dedicated "Water-glassing jars".
Did the broken egg give a rotten egg smell? I opened my bucket the other day and it made the whole pantry reek of rotten eggs, but I didn't have time to dig through and find the source.
@@edibleabundancehomestead2674 It did smell, semi strong and bad. Being new to this, I was intending to break each egg individually into a small bowl first. The broken egg wasn't on top, so I used about 6-8 eggs over several days before I got down to the broken one. It came out in two pieces and from then on, the smell was still a little unpleasant but milder and every egg but 1 was perfect and good. This was a couple weeks ago and we are all still alive. Mind you, that is what I did, not recommending anything just telling of my experience.
I really enjoy your videos. I'm learning so much I actually starting to feel like a small time farmer. QUESTION my hens lay eggs for me but I was placing them in the refrigerator until I discovered water glassing. my question is, can I place these refrigerated eggs into the water glassing method? my eggs haven't been washed they are just cold. thank you for your help
I have some water glasses eggs. I bought them at an egg farm. I got them freshly laid, with the bloom intact, unwashed. Every month I cook some to see how they are. I put these in a bucket of water, with enough to fill it up with the eggs. Then stirred in some Hydrated Lime. THEN I carefully dropped carefully into the water, keeping the water over the eggs. I covered the bucked and put then in a closet. I just now tried one, which I do every month. Today, the whites are a bit thin and the yolk is somewhat flatter than normal. but it tasted good with no funky taste. It was fine. I put six dozen away in March 1st, I ate some every couple weeks until I felt they would last, I have 4 dozen left. Not bad for unrefrigerated 5 month old eggs!
iv also seen people coat the shell with mineral oil or a form of oil and it lasts 12 months and longer as well i would proberly use olive oil since i usually cook with it
I learned this from you and tried it a couple of years ago. It worked great. Just fyi, don't take them out of the lime water and put them in the fridge. I have a question. I can no longer get unwashed farm eggs. Do you think I could combine two methods, oiling and lime water?
I hope this video helps answer your question about doing both methods. I haven’t watched it all, but I’m pretty sure the answer is No... the oil and the lime do not work well together. th-cam.com/video/hO8eyPDIY1c/w-d-xo.html
HELP please!! Can I eat my eggs which have been glassed but have been sitting in rotten egg-water? I followed your instructions exactly after reading the article on your website and watching this video. 8 months ago I water glassed 6 dozen eggs and just discovered 6 of them are cracked and floating in the top of the bucket. The water/bucket smells awful and my guess is they have been cracked and rotting for several months. Can I thoroughly wash and eat the remaining eggs that are still whole? My concern is that they have been hanging out in rotten water for months. Thank you in advance for your help!
Yes! I’ve had eggs in my basement since late last spring and they’re still good. I haven’t had luck with boiling the preserved eggs. They don’t break, but I get a bad flavor.
Thanks for the update and letting us know the smell is normal! I was starting to wonder with mine. Quick question! I see the date on your bucket. Is that date from the first eggs you put in or are we supposed to only put however many eggs we have and not add them as we have more? If adding more is alright, is the lime settling okay if we add more eggs in since there is still a good amount of lime suspended in the liquid?
Great update!!! I just cracked open eggs from 12 months ago as well, but the whites were a bit runny. Is this normal? Other than that, the yolks were perfect, and nothing smelled funky.
There are 2 methods of "hardboiling" eggs that doesn't cause them to crack. 1. Place the eggs in a pan of WELL salted room temperature water. Make sure that they are well covered, the more water the better they will cook. Place the pan on the burner and bring the water just up to boiling. As soon as the pan starts to boil, cover it and remove it from the heat. Set a timer for 20 minutes for a just cooked yolk, 30 or longer for a dry yolk. When it rings, cool the eggs completely under cold running water, or by placing them in an ice bath. This method will even hardboil cracked eggs without the egg boiling out of the shell. 2. Bake eggs at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Once done remove from the oven and cool as above. I haven't tested THIS method on cracked eggs, so I don't know if it would work or not. I don't know if you need to change anything for higher elevations, you would have to test it out to see. For reference, I live in Ohio's Miami Valley.
Since eggs have a porous shells, this lime can penetrate and cause problems such as botulism. Botulism is in lime and there is not acid or heat to kill it
I would love to try this but I live in East Texas where temperatures can hit in triple digits...I don't have AC or a basement ... But I do wash and oil my eggs for storage in refrigerator..Some have been frozen and some dehydrated .
Easier to refer you to check out these channels playlists for their videos on dehydrating the eggs.. My half acre homestead (Bev Volfie) and Big Family Homestead..
I put 80 eggs into the waterglass solution 6 months ago. The solution looks the same as the first day. The only difference in the eggs is that the egg white seems to be more watery than store bought fresh eggs.
I don't know what happened to mine. I followed the directions from the original how-to video. My eggs were in the bucket for maybe three months. I just opened it and discovered the water had turned. Now I have a 5 gallon bucket completely full of eggs and putrid water. Maybe my storage location didn't keep a stable enough temperature or something. I'm just glad I finally figured out where that awful smell was coming from. We had scrubbed the house from top to bottom and just figured it was a dead mouse somewhere. I plan on retrying this next spring but I am disappointed that my egg storage is not available now. Fortunately, so far (December 2020) my hens are still laying between 1-2 dozen eggs.
@Heather M: I had the same exact experience but it was due to some of my eggs cracking (maybe when I moved the bucket?). Thankfully the "dead mouse" smell is gone but I don't know if the remaining eggs are still okay to eat because they have been sitting in rotten egg water... ??
@@hartleyfamily5451 I just threw the entire bucketful into the ditch because I didn't want to take the chance of getting a contaminated egg from them soaking in that water.
@@heatherm4621 Thank you for reply, that is helpful information... I am SO frustrated at throwing away the remaining 5 1/2 dozen organic, completely free-range, non washed eggs which were $$$.
@@hartleyfamily5451 It is very frustrating, I completely understand. Did you raise the hens or did you buy the eggs? I sell my eggs for $3/doz, organic, free range....so for us that would be the equivalent of $16.50 in eggs. I'd rather throw that out than spend the extra on a doctor's visit! LOL
I am curious what do you usually do with the lime water after youve gone through all the eggs over winter. Do you reuse the Lime Water solution? Or is there benefits for use in the garden or some other secondary homesteading purpose?
![SAFEPLANET - ดาวเคราะห์ [ THE PLANET ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4X1XL3I_k3c/mqdefault.jpg)
Former science technician here: The "fishy aroma" is just the calcium hydroxide formed by the lime water itself. If you've ever left a baking soda solution out long enough you've smelt the same fishy smell, in that case with sodium hydroxide. Nothing to worry about. Another point to remember is to store your bagged lime in a completely airtight container. It won't set like concrete would (unless its "hydraulic" lime rather than "hydrated" lime but you're unlikely to find that at your average builder's merchant), but instead it will react with the C02 in the air and basically becomes chalk powder. Which won't have the effect you need for preserving eggs. Better yet, store your bagged lime in water straight away.
If you want to get really clever, you could store up your old eggs shells. Burn them in a kiln and make you're lime water out of lime from the egg shells themselves. Eggs stored in "burnt" shells. Poetic.
Aw3some! Ty!
Can we use hydrated lime powder to preserve or its just chalk powder and no longer usable for this kind of process? I can find raw limestones at a local store. When I put them in water, an exothermic reaction occurs and mixture start to boil. Which one should I use for preserving eggs? Just powder or limestones mixture after it cools down?
@@truthandreason8394 slaked lime calcium hydroxide food grade
@Ben Scriven
Awesome info. Many thanks.
Great information. Thanks for sharing.
I watched your video about water-glassing eggs 2 years ago. And out off curiosity, I did a small batch and waited 2 years to test them. I wish I had taken some pictures. There were a few in the bottom of the bucket where I believe the shells got too soft to hold up to the weight of the eggs above. But otherwise, those that didn’t crack were fine to use for baking. The yolks were still whole, but the whites were rather thin. I decided they were best for baking an they worked wonderfully! Thanks for all the videos and “old fashioned” techniques for preservation. This year I have already put up about 6 dozen for this winters’ use.
I did a gallon of eggs using your method in 2019 spring. I left them until feb 2020. They came out PERFECT. No issues at all. So this year, did up 5 gallon buckets and they are ready to go for the winter. Thanks so much for your videos
Personally, I believe firmly that our President should appoint you and Josh and your entire family as "USA Homesteading Advisors" ... you all do such a great job !!!
Except the fact that the president doesn’t want anyone to learn to how to homestead and become self reliant 😂
Watched your original video from like 6yrs ago & gonna try this before winter hits since I get way too many in the summer & then run out in the winter. I love old methods. Thank you so much for sharing.
P.s, I did mine in a 5 gallon plastic food grade bucket with a gamma lid. I also kept in my kitchen but away from any heat vents, and still no problem with them at all
The Bible talks about a virtuous woman, I think it's Proverbs 31,I think you are as close to that woman
As modern-day will let you. I so enjoy watching you preparing for your family. Have a good day and God bless.
Now you know why people avoid you.
I was one of many who watched your video and tried this egg preserving. It works... I’m on 5 & 1/2 months and my eggs are doing well! Thank you!
mine are at almost (April ) will be 1 year and we eat them and bake with them all the time.
FYI I just finished filling my 5 gallon lime water bucket with medium to large eggs from my hens, and I got 185 eggs into it to the top. Thank you for sharing a great idea from our ancestors. If my husband and I eat one dozen eggs a week during hard times, that's almost 4 months of eggs in just ONE bucket, so 3 buckets would last us 1 year - hooray!!!
Loved this follow-up!! And you answered both of my questions, the slight smell, and the lime sinking to the bottom. Thank you so much for this 💗
You are so welcome!
I'm glad that I saw that the lime water will look cloudy
@@HomesteadingFamily so could you do a video on this on store bought eggs?? I have a couple videos of doing the same method you are using but they use store bought eggs 🤷
Started mine this morning 6/24/23.
Thanks for the follow up vid. I really love this method and followed your previous vid around 18 months ago. I’m still working my way through the eggs and they are still edible and delicious. I do test them in water every time I come to use them and they still sink just as fresh eggs do. I can’t believe they are lasting so long 😳 🤩
I find the lime water only ever pongs if an egg has broken in the bucket. At which point I just remove all remaining eggs, ditch the smelly water and make new lime water and return the eggs.
I too find the yolks are more likely to break. That’s fine though as I’m usually making a breakfast casserole (also courtesy of you xx).
I’ve recommended this method to a few friends who have also love it. Spreading the love 😍
Love you guys xx
Love this experiment. I have been telling my friends with chickens about it and they are really excited about it.
some will turn there nose up and think you are insane, but those will be the ones asking if you have any extra eggs when times get back. Put up a few extra dozens if you can.
I LOVE that you are doing another update! I have shown SO MANY people your video/way of preserving eggs,.. so awesome!! 💚
I did this for the 1st time after watching ur video, and had eggs almost the whole winter and would have if had done more eggs. Came out perfect and no problems at all except the lime settling at the bottom. Was still no problem. Will do again this yr but do many more eggs if can get them. I get eggs from the Amish, but many wash before they sell, so have to watch for that. Thank you so much.
Awesome! We remembered the original video and bought lime last week to start storing. Great to know it will work!!
Thanks for the follow feedback Carolyn- I usually sell my extra eggs - but now I am definitely going to try this - Home Depot is almost two hours away - next time we are in town - gonna pick up some hydrated lime and get to preserving my extra eggs.
Thank you so much for this “recipe”. I’m presently living in an RV and this is the only homestead preserving I can do at present. My bucket is sitting behind a chair. It seems to be going well.
Thanks for the update. You answered all my questions. I can hardly wait to see how mine do. Much Love
setting up second jar currently. thanks for teaching
I appreciate the update. I have 13 dz "glazing" over the past 4 months. I can store 2dz per month. Reading comments I grasped don't use plastic. - Got it - THX team. Over the hot CA / no basement summer I'll move them into a spare fridge.
I just filled my first bucket, my husband is very hesitant but I'm very excited to see how it goes!
What's the status?
@Helena Hanabasquet what did your results end up being?
I did try this with my eggs last year and so glad I did because about a week later all of my chickens were slaughtered by some animal that got in the yard! I’m finding the boiling does not do well so I’ll try the pin hole. Thanks for that info. Some of the yolks are runny and not intact but most were ok to cook with. Some I have thrown out. Will do this again when my new hens start laying! Thank you so much!
Great update. I watched your original video and this follow up was so good to see. I'd love to watch you do a 'lime preserved egg clean, cook, and eat' video. 👍
I watched the first video and have water glassed 3 dozen so far. Thank you for sharing!
Would love to see a taste test next time you pull out the older limed eggs.
She has a video she does her husband as a tester or its at the end of this one maybe
Love your videos! Would love to see feedback on how they tasted in different ways you’ve used them ❤️ you’re an inspiration and teacher to many
Been a fan for awhile! Please make more in depth videos on how you use your milk. Making sour cream, cheese, butter, etc. Thanks and God bless ☺👍
Yes!
Can you cann mozzarella cheese? I would love to learn how to make cream cheese and sour cream.
Yes i like to know too
I am glad you mentioned boiling these eggs. I haven't had as good luck with boiling them, they seem to bust open when I have boiled to make deviled eggs. That's the only thing I don't do. Not all of them Crack open when I boil, but at least 1 or 2 do.
GREAT VIDEO!!! I have watched this video like 100 times! I did this method with 3 dozen eggs in a gallon glass jar on November 1, 2020. I checked them a couple days ago and they are STILL PERFECT! I did understand that this method does NOT work with store-bought eggs. Anything that we can do to put our food away for long-term storage is a win-win. Thank you so much for your channel. This channel has taught me so very much and I am grateful for you and your family. God bless!!
Thank you for this video. "Waterglass" is sodium silicate. "Limewater" is calcium hydroxide. They are used the same way, but the latter is less expensive and more pleasant to work with.
You just answered my question about the lime separating. You are amazing with the sweetest personality! Thanks for being you!
Thank you very much for this information. I also very much appreciate you showing what happens after and the fact that it's still good
Thanks for this update. I filled a 2 gal. antique crock after watching your original video. We live in the country and not one of the "old" country folks has ever heard of this. I LOVE your videos!
Really enjoyed this video - very neat technique. Now that home freeze-drying machines have come of age tho, that's the route to go hands-down.
Many people will argue about what waterglassing or liming eggs is. In my part of Western Kentucky, sodium silicate or lime are both called methods of waterglassing. I'm sure every place has or had what they called it. My family used which ever they had. The water in the 'glass' jar is why we call it waterglassing. I had plenty of hydrated lime when I started doing it so that's the path I went. I am well pleased with the method and keep a few gallon jars going all the time; using the oldest first. The only thing I don't use them in is for a couple of recipes that call for raw eggs and I like my fried eggs very soft so I keep a dozen in the fridge for things like that.
Using water Glass (sodium silicate) is waterglassing eggs.
Using calcium hydroxide; aka "hydrated" lime, pickling lime, etc is liming eggs.
People that don't know the difference are lazy and stupid.
www.britannica.com/science/water-glass
www.homedepot.com/p/Foundation-Armor-1-gal-Concentrated-Sodium-Silicate-Concrete-Sealer-Hardener-and-Densifier-S20001GAL/205719971
You are awesome! I absolutely love how you do a project and show us the end product! I learn so much from you!💕
That's great knowledge. I've heard dipping mineral oil reduces biodegration. Please look into that if you already haven't covered it.
I'm new to this show. Good stuff!
Carolyn thank you for this video, my wife loved this so much she used this method and have taught others about it. She was wondering if you could reuse the lime water after you empty the bucket for the next wave of eggs? It doesn't smell or appear to be weird in anyway.
Great question. I hope they answer you back.
According to a Utah State University circular, "Preserving Eggs For The Home", printed in 1917, "Do not reuse the solution. Make fresh preserver every year."
My water glassed eggs have done well... I wear rubber dish gloves to get them out but my bucket is only 3gallon. My egg water smells a little off too, but it is from the lime. We have a window AC in our pantry room... That lime is HARD to scrub out too. I started in a gallon mason jar, poor thing will never come clean... Thanks for teaching me this method of preserving my eggs...
I know your comment is over a year ago, but I'm hoping you will still respond- Did you ever get your mason jar clean? I used a gallon Mason jars to do my eggs then saw your comment 🤔🥺
@@pamelagarnica4415 No. I still am not sure how to get that jar cleaned. I dtuck it on a shelf and forgot about it... Oops...
Thank you so much for sharing! And thank you for answering the settling question at the very end of the video that’s exactly why I was searching TH-cam. You rock and God bless you
My grandparents used this method of keeping eggs for the winter in north east Montana in the early 1900’s.
Mine are going on 9 months!
My friend has eaten them after 5 years!!
Well you just answered my question because I just did my first batch of water glass eggs and I noticed that the lime was settling to the bottom and I mixed it up real good before I put the eggs in but you answered the question thank you very much great job looking forward to trying to see how long they lasts
I find that when I have a cracked egg in the lime water or a seeping egg, that's when the water smells fishy. I preserve mine in very large glass jars, which allows me to see when a jarful is in great condition or when an egg has ruptured, which they sometimes do if a particular egg is compromised. The jars that have a ruptured egg definitely smell bad when I take the eggs out to wash and refrigerate/use. I like keeping mine in GLASS jars so that I can see if all the eggs are still intact or if one has ruptured -- PU! (The ruptured eggs make it stink, but they don't change the taste of the other sealed eggs.)
When all the eggs are good, the water is very clear.
When there's a cracked egg, the water gets cloudy, so it's a good visual indication.
I just Tried my 1 year old eggs from water glassing, yokes broke easy, but tastes great.
Have lime and can't wait to try this once my girls come off molting 😊
I did the 1 yr test as well. 6 months in I tested 3 eggs, one was no good and I had to toss it. The other 2 where fine the shell was a bit thin as was the white it was more liquid like and not thick. Then 1 yr test I opened each egg in a separate dish only adding the egg to the others collected if it was still good. Out of the remaining 17 eggs only 2 eggs had to be tossed. So out of 20 eggs and 3 not good it was a win win for us!!! This yr we'll do a 5 gallon bucket full! The yolks for me broke when they hit the hot buttered pan and like I aid the white are more runny but this is a great way to always have eggs. YES rinse those eggs well and handle as if you know the shells re very fragile! The 20 eggs I tested where in a lg glass bottle sitting on the kitchen floor, always in view. They never got special treatment like a cooled basement or dark area. What ever temp the floor and room was is how they sat and they did great!!!
That is crazy cool.. Thank you so much for the update..
That is amazing! I'm so glad you made this video and the other how-to as well.
Thank you that was very interesting I watch the video when you did your water back on the eggs nice to see how they turned out
I was thrilled you made this video ! It was your preserving eggs video that helped me find your channel! I love your channel! I did use your method back in October and seeing this video gives me great confidence that mine will be great even up to October ( that's when my year will be!)
Great information! The video is well done.
I just did a test with eggs that have been water glass preserved for 3 1/2 months. If you want hard boiled eggs for a potato salad or egg salad you can do it with an instant pot. Use a glass or metal container (do not use a spring form pan)that fits inside the instant pot. Spray with nonstick spray, crack eggs in the dish, put 1 cup water in the instant pot, insert trivet/rack and place eggs on top. Cook for 5 minutes, natural release for 4 minutes. Remove from instant pot, turn out on to cutting board and let cool. Cut up and enjoy. No peeling eggs. Can’t wait to try this again in 3 more months.
Carolyn...thank you so much for all of your waterglassing videos!! So fascinating. I have been able to do some since learning from you how to, and I am excited to have them to use later. A couple of questions...
Can I also use clean unwashed eggs that have already been in the refrigerator? Or do they have to be left at room temperature on the counter before they are waterglassed?
Also...I did mine in plastic containers with lids that hold exactly a dozen eggs. Hoping that it would be easier to bring "a dozen" up from the basement at a time when needed. I filled the container with eggs first, so that I could make sure they were small end down, and then poured the lime solution into the container over the eggs. Do you think that is okay to do? Rather than lower the eggs into the solution? I am greatly hoping that you will have time to answer my questions during this busy harvest season! God bless your family and the heart you have for teaching!
Incredible.
Glad I learned this last year.
I learned the hard way this past week just how much the ambient temp effects the outcome of waterglassed eggs. We live in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and don’t have a basement or root cellar. I had a 5 gallon bucket totally filled with eggs that I started in mid January 2022. By mid July 2022, the line water solution was getting cloudy and started smelling fishy. But when I cracked open the eggs, every single yolk would crack or break completely simply from the pressure of falling into the bowl. And once cracked, they smelled like they were starting to go off. So instead of risking it, I just composted all 250+ eggs. From now on, I’m going to waterglass them in 2 gallon glass jars and not leave them in my pantry for more than 5-6 months tops.
Edit: for reference, my house is usually in the low 60s to mid/high 70s, so that means my pantry is too. Outside in the summer, our average temp is in the low 80s but can sometimes get up to the low 100s. Thankfully we have air conditioning that I use on those hotter days.
That’s just amazing to me!
I appreciate the follow up!! I just put my eggs in a gallon glass jar- 1oz pickling lime to 1 quart well water. My lime gas settled to the bottom. So now my solution is not consistent throughout the jar!!!
Yeah, settles to the bottom within about an hour.
Thanks for the update :-)
Thanks for this update! I just started some 2 weeks ago.
I have some stored and will check in about 2 months to see how they do
I started doing this!
Thank you so much! Also, are you able to activate closed captioning?
Just out of curiosity, what can you do with the lime water once you’re finished with it? Would be nice to know what plants might benefit from lime water with eggshell residue.
Lime is used in farming to sweeten the soil - make soil that is running acidic more neutral which is better for most plants ( not all, for instance potatoes, blueberries, and azalea). An inexpensive home soil pH test would be a good idea.
In the northeastern US, where soils run slightly acidic, grass lawn that is thin generally needs to be limed.
In new england you can never overlime your garden...I would dilute it and just spray it on being careful to try and keep it off the leaves. If you do get some on the leaves you can just wash it down with fresh water.
Thanks, can the lime water solution be re used to waterglass more eggs?
Really good info, .. definitely will be doing this.
Thanks for the update.
You are so beautiful and I appreciate this video..i can wait to have my own chickens next year.
I’m so excited for this video!!
Great vid and I love your kitchen!
Does it effect the taste at all? Thanks for sharing, I really like learning the old ways.
Hi there. Last year in September I started a crock container with your preserving mixture. It has now been 11 months. Yes, there is a distinct odor and i washed the eggs as I do my daily eggs. We do notice a slight odd flavor when we are eating them. I can definitely tell fresh from the preserved ones. That worried me the first few times eating them, but none of us felt sick after eating them. It is different than our fresh eggs but to keep a supply for winter, we can endure the little change. I hope this helps someone. Thanks
I just made a bunch of Christmas pies and breads using slaked lime eggs from 13 MONTHS AGO!!! Out of 48 eggs, I only had to throw ONE away! Wow! We already devoured 2 pecan pies and no-one died or got sick. Amazing!
I rinse the eggs (in water warmer than the air) AND do the water test before cracking open. If it floats.. I toss it.
QUESTION: I CAN'T FIND AN ANSWER ANYWHERE. How do I DISPOSE of the left over lime water? Some say it's bad for the pipes & septic; others say no big deal? Can I put it in my compost or should I toss on the far side of the property?
Another thought on the fishy smell... Was that olive oil on top of your lime water? Could it just be rancid oil? Although, mine didn't smell at all and I used olive oil, too.
Love your channel and God Bless you!
Wow that is amazing and really easy and cheap
Thank you so very much for doing this follow up on this subject. I was so impressed when you originally did the first one. Only reason I haven't done this yet myself is I still haven't gotten my chickens but that will eventually happen so again, thank you. Have a great day. 🥚🌞🥚🌞🥚
Yes, the lime does separate, almost as soon as you stop stirring. I have no basement, and there's just two of us, so I store my chicken and duck eggs in 1 gallon glass jars and I keep them in the back hall closet. We just finished the first jar that was put up 7 months ago. Had one egg that broke in there (not a nice smell at all), and one egg was bad. But out of 2 dozen eggs, I'm sold and we are starting another jar. Side note: The lime water does sort of ruin the jar for anything else. Major calcium-type buildup. So now I have 2 dedicated "Water-glassing jars".
Did the broken egg give a rotten egg smell? I opened my bucket the other day and it made the whole pantry reek of rotten eggs, but I didn't have time to dig through and find the source.
@@edibleabundancehomestead2674 It did smell, semi strong and bad. Being new to this, I was intending to break each egg individually into a small bowl first. The broken egg wasn't on top, so I used about 6-8 eggs over several days before I got down to the broken one. It came out in two pieces and from then on, the smell was still a little unpleasant but milder and every egg but 1 was perfect and good. This was a couple weeks ago and we are all still alive. Mind you, that is what I did, not recommending anything just telling of my experience.
I really enjoy your videos. I'm learning so much I actually starting to feel like a small time farmer.
QUESTION
my hens lay eggs for me but I was placing them in the refrigerator until I discovered water glassing. my question is, can I place these refrigerated eggs into the water glassing method? my eggs haven't been washed they are just cold. thank you for your help
I have some water glasses eggs. I bought them at an egg farm. I got them freshly laid, with the bloom intact, unwashed.
Every month I cook some to see how they are. I put these in a bucket of water, with enough to fill it up with the eggs. Then stirred in some Hydrated Lime. THEN I carefully dropped carefully into the water, keeping the water over the eggs. I covered the bucked and put then in a closet.
I just now tried one, which I do every month. Today, the whites are a bit thin and the yolk is somewhat flatter than normal. but it tasted good with no funky taste. It was fine.
I put six dozen away in March 1st, I ate some every couple weeks until I felt they would last, I have 4 dozen left.
Not bad for unrefrigerated 5 month old eggs!
iv also seen people coat the shell with mineral oil or a form of oil and it lasts 12 months and longer as well i would proberly use olive oil since i usually cook with it
I learned this from you and tried it a couple of years ago. It worked great. Just fyi, don't take them out of the lime water and put them in the fridge.
I have a question. I can no longer get unwashed farm eggs. Do you think I could combine two methods, oiling and lime water?
I hope this video helps answer your question about doing both methods. I haven’t watched it all, but I’m pretty sure the answer is No... the oil and the lime do not work well together. th-cam.com/video/hO8eyPDIY1c/w-d-xo.html
Wow!! Thank you for this.
Love it! I've been wanting to try this.
Every time I see info about preserved whole eggs, I think of the character Timmons in the movie Dances with Wolves. Am I alone?
HELP please!! Can I eat my eggs which have been glassed but have been sitting in rotten egg-water? I followed your instructions exactly after reading the article on your website and watching this video. 8 months ago I water glassed 6 dozen eggs and just discovered 6 of them are cracked and floating in the top of the bucket. The water/bucket smells awful and my guess is they have been cracked and rotting for several months. Can I thoroughly wash and eat the remaining eggs that are still whole? My concern is that they have been hanging out in rotten water for months.
Thank you in advance for your help!
Yes! I’ve had eggs in my basement since late last spring and they’re still good. I haven’t had luck with boiling the preserved eggs. They don’t break, but I get a bad flavor.
But scrambling them or over medium etc tastes fine?
Thanks for the update and letting us know the smell is normal! I was starting to wonder with mine. Quick question! I see the date on your bucket. Is that date from the first eggs you put in or are we supposed to only put however many eggs we have and not add them as we have more? If adding more is alright, is the lime settling okay if we add more eggs in since there is still a good amount of lime suspended in the liquid?
Great update!!! I just cracked open eggs from 12 months ago as well, but the whites were a bit runny. Is this normal? Other than that, the yolks were perfect, and nothing smelled funky.
There are 2 methods of "hardboiling" eggs that doesn't cause them to crack.
1. Place the eggs in a pan of WELL salted room temperature water. Make sure that they are well covered, the more water the better they will cook. Place the pan on the burner and bring the water just up to boiling. As soon as the pan starts to boil, cover it and remove it from the heat. Set a timer for 20 minutes for a just cooked yolk, 30 or longer for a dry yolk. When it rings, cool the eggs completely under cold running water, or by placing them in an ice bath. This method will even hardboil cracked eggs without the egg boiling out of the shell.
2. Bake eggs at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Once done remove from the oven and cool as above. I haven't tested THIS method on cracked eggs, so I don't know if it would work or not.
I don't know if you need to change anything for higher elevations, you would have to test it out to see. For reference, I live in Ohio's Miami Valley.
Since eggs have a porous shells, this lime can penetrate and cause problems such as botulism. Botulism is in lime and there is not acid or heat to kill it
I would love to try this but I live in East Texas where temperatures can hit in triple digits...I don't have AC or a basement ... But I do wash and oil my eggs for storage in refrigerator..Some have been frozen and some dehydrated .
little goatfeathers how did you dehydrate them?
Easier to refer you to check out these channels playlists for their videos on dehydrating the eggs.. My half acre homestead (Bev Volfie) and Big Family Homestead..
I put 80 eggs into the waterglass solution 6 months ago. The solution looks the same as the first day. The only difference in the eggs is that the egg white seems to be more watery than store bought fresh eggs.
I don't know what happened to mine. I followed the directions from the original how-to video. My eggs were in the bucket for maybe three months. I just opened it and discovered the water had turned. Now I have a 5 gallon bucket completely full of eggs and putrid water. Maybe my storage location didn't keep a stable enough temperature or something. I'm just glad I finally figured out where that awful smell was coming from. We had scrubbed the house from top to bottom and just figured it was a dead mouse somewhere. I plan on retrying this next spring but I am disappointed that my egg storage is not available now. Fortunately, so far (December 2020) my hens are still laying between 1-2 dozen eggs.
It shouldn't be temperature, mine were stored in an unheated space for 14 months for a video I did.
@Heather M: I had the same exact experience but it was due to some of my eggs cracking (maybe when I moved the bucket?). Thankfully the "dead mouse" smell is gone but I don't know if the remaining eggs are still okay to eat because they have been sitting in rotten egg water... ??
@@hartleyfamily5451 I just threw the entire bucketful into the ditch because I didn't want to take the chance of getting a contaminated egg from them soaking in that water.
@@heatherm4621 Thank you for reply, that is helpful information... I am SO frustrated at throwing away the remaining 5 1/2 dozen organic, completely free-range, non washed eggs which were $$$.
@@hartleyfamily5451 It is very frustrating, I completely understand. Did you raise the hens or did you buy the eggs? I sell my eggs for $3/doz, organic, free range....so for us that would be the equivalent of $16.50 in eggs. I'd rather throw that out than spend the extra on a doctor's visit! LOL
Thank you thank you thank you!!!
Great video 😀
This is so cool.
I am curious what do you usually do with the lime water after youve gone through all the eggs over winter. Do you reuse the Lime Water solution? Or is there benefits for use in the garden or some other secondary homesteading purpose?
Thank u so much
Great video ! Great info
Hi nice to meet you, where did you get your buckets