8/22/18 So two years ago I set up my bucket and stocked it. Last weekend I unpacked it. All the eggs were viable but had cracks where they touched which was filled by lime. The shells were thinning and the insides were more runny than new eggs but about the same as at 6 months. I boiled them up and tested them against 2 week old eggs and they were a bit salty and had a slight pickling lime flavor but all of them were edible. The boiled product was actually smoother and creamier than new eggs. So no rotten eggs after two years is a pretty good amount of time. Definitely useful for overwintering eggs or short term non-refridgerated eggs storage in a cool location. Not tested for warm or tropical environs.
I simply dip my eggs in boiling water for approx. 3-5 seconds. This seals the shell . I then place it back in the egg container and find a shaded area to keep them. I am a world traveler aboard my sailboat and this method of preservation has worked out well for me. The eggs still taste great even after 2 months. Thought some off your subscribers might be interested. Thanks for a interesting video. Vince Roberts
Nowadays the equipment involved in pasteurizing eggs (like how commercial pasteurized whole eggs are produced) is easy to come by. It slightly stiffens the egg, but makes it keep really well. You can also coat pasteurized eggs in mineral oil, which is nontoxic, seals the shell in terms of moisture, and is hostile to bacteria.
I pack fresh eggs in a quart jar, then fill to the neck with water. I use a reusable polypropylene lid I get off Amazon to seal but the metal canning are fine. I then place the quart jars in an ice chest filled with weather and use a sous vide controller to heat everything to 130F for 12 hours, pasteurizing the eggs. Make sure the lids are tight after removing from the ice chest. Store at room temperature in a cool, dark location but refrigerator is not required. I’ve used eggs a year old without significant degradation of the quality of the raw egg.
My grand-mother told me that, during WWII, they preserved eggs in slaked lime and it worked well. At the time finding food was very difficult , so these eggs were like a treasure to her family. I write from Florence, Italy.
For those interested. I started a lime bucket and stocked it with eggs one year ago. Last week I opened two more eggs (see other long discussion for other egg openings) and found that the shells were slightly harder but they did not float and did not lose any liquid. However, the yolk was beginning to dry out and the gelatin of the egg contents was breaking down but not contamination. So honestly, I wouldn't keep them longer than 9 months for a really useful egg but in case of real emergency, I haven't seen them go rotten yet! Pretty amazing!
I imagine much of the justification long-term preservation hinged on the fact that in scarce time the luxury of familiar texture and taste weren't a factor. Pretty cool experiment and I imagine most people wouldn't think of eating year old eggs today.
In April of 2015, my chickens started laying eggs again after "winter break". In July, I had a glut of eggs and couldn't give them away fast enough. One day the thought came to mind of how, before refrigeration, chicken eggs were stored during the winter when hens generally stop laying. That's when I came across this video. After viewing a couple of times, and later finding some university test cases from the early 1900's, I decided to give the hydrated lime and water method a go. In August of 2015, I packed 4 dozen eggs into a large glass container and simply poured a solution of waterproof and pickling lime over the eggs and set them aside. I used approximately a 30 ppm mixture. I placed the container on my kitchen counter so I could easily keep an eye on conditions. Over the winter, I would cook a couple of eggs from the container every few days. The other days I would eat store bought eggs. I couldn't tell the difference, and neither could anyone else. BTW, no one unknowingly ate stored eggs... today is June 18th, and I ate the last 2 eggs just a few days ago. They were just as tasty and cooked the same as store bought eggs 10 months later. 48 eggs stored, eaten over the course of 8 months, perfectly preserved, 100% success rate! Pretty amazing!!! This year, I'll store 2 gross, 288 eggs in 6 separate containers. Thanks Jon for originally presenting this info in a most interesting and informative way. Had I not seen your video, I probably wouldn't have tried this.
Eggs only need to be refridgerated in current times by the United States and a few other countries. It is mandated that all eggs be washed and sterilised. It removes their defense against bacteria. We regridgerate to keep this bacteria in check, not to keep the eggs fresh.
Years ago in the late 70's and early 80's I was an ocean sailor sailing around the world , and preserving food with very little refrigeration was always a challenge . The system we used for eggs was to coat them , but with none of the methods mentioned here . We used bee's wax . It worked fantastic for many months and did not impart any flavors or anything .Bee's wax has natural anti-microbial properties .We had several techniques for other things also .We could triple or more the lifespan of leafy greens and celery type foods by storing them with the stem parts wrapped in cloth and kept wet (the stems not the whole plant) . This would essentially keep them growing for weeks .
@@unnamedchannel1237 You would want to learn the distinction should you ever desire to get a sailboat . There are lake boats and there are ocean boats , and they rigged and built differently .
@@mrmrsk219 No , sorry I haven't .I would worry about that imparting bad flavor or toxicity .Any kind of unscented wax will work and is pretty easy to come across . Amazon has bees wax for pretty cheap sold in a couple once weight bars . It goes a long way . You just take a wire coat hanger or a piece of wire and make a dipper like was often used to make easter eggs , and use a small container of glass or metal just large enough to dip them in , and use a small basting brush to brush off the excess ( you only need a thin film ) . You can do 4 dozen eggs in a few minutes .
@@robertwilson8789 Did you mean any kind of unscented beeswax, rather than ANY wax? Many candle making waxes available today are only hydrogenated oils...soy, coconut, hemp, etc. Not sure they'd work like beeswax.
I went on a three month voyage and had read about Napoleons crew preserving eggs by painting them with melted beeswax. I painted 12 dozen eggs for the trip and they did great- we didn’t have any break nor did they spoil.
The price of tuna has more than doubled. I'm a senior on a very limited budget. I've learned to dehydrate and can, taking advantage of sales. I'm no longer able to garden like I used to, so I garden in 5 gal buckets on my big porch. For those who are not able to garden, perhaps like they used to, that's an option. I also fish from docks and off the bank. I'm saving for a small chest freezer. If the day comes and there may not be electricity, I'll have food storage.
Just an interesting sidenote. Here in germany it is not allowed to wash eggs before selling them to the consumer and it is also not allowed to import previously washed eggs from other countries. It is also advised to not wash eggs yourself. That is indeed the reason why eggs are quite long durable here (maybe 3-4 weeks) and you do not have to cool eggs for the first 1-2 weeks. If you buy eggs here it is said on the package something like: Date of expiry: XX.XX.XXXX Advised to cool from: XX.XX.XXXX
Yeah, the U.S. is obsessed with cramming as many animals together as possible, which means bacteria-rich shitty living conditions (literally), and many of the animals die in those conditions. What's the "solution" used?! Rather than spending money on treating the animals better, and providing larger areas (which would prevent both death and illnesses in the first place), they spend the money on antibiotics (the meat industry uses most of the antibiotics in the U.S.), which just causes the bacteria and viruses to mutate creating a need for even stronger antibiotics (which are shown to still exist in the meat we consume, meaning that our human illnesses mutate to resist antibiotics as well, yay!), and harsh chemical washes for all animal products (including meat. Ground meat is washed with ammonia, and eggs with chlorine. Wtf?!). It's extremely backwards and infuriating.
+SlavaZone Not only that, the US government has made it virtually impossible for everyone to buy fresh/organic/free-range chicken and the eggs without paying what I would consider ten times the cost of what you get from the non-organic. In many states, they have made it illegal to sell raw, organic milk. It's not fair to Americans like me who need to use these items due to health problems. I am already into stage 1 Kidney disease. :(
Diane Milligan I'm sorry you have to deal with that! :( I've chosen not to play the game, so I rarely buy dairy products or eggs any more. Luckily, I live in a city where there are Whole Foods stores and farmers markets to get raw milk and good eggs from, but yes, they're crazy expensive so I rarely use them now. In baking, I replace eggs with chia powder and water; in every day life and baking, I replace dairy milk with almond milk; in breakfast, I replace eggs with scrambled tofu (but usually I make stove-top oatmeal, much tastier!). If I crave ice cream, I luckily have coconut milk options (or I make my own; look up "banana nice cream," it's delicious!!). I try to find alternatives so I'm not supporting the messed up system our country has made. I hope to have chickens one day, like I did when I was very young! :)
SlavaZone I hear ya! Everything you mentioned is what I have used from time to time as well, including tofu. I use that in my vegetable fried rice in place of eggs. I am not a true vegetarian, but I strive to eat only vegetarian food just to give my body a rest from meat. Currently, I am eating too much red meat, and I know that isn't good for me. But, I will try to do better. :) Banana nice dream? Never heard of it. I'll search for the information. Thank you! I order a lot of my organic/non-GMO freeze-dried fruits,vegetables and grains from a company here in the U.S. Their food is delicious and very easy to use. The prep work is already done, so there is no more peeling, chopping or whatever. This company also has Textured vegetable protein (chicken and beef flavored) which is actually pretty tasty.
Diane Milligan That's really cool, I really like how there are more and more food delivery companies popping up. :) But yeah, banana nice cream, like ice cream but with an "n" because it's a nice flavor but not truly ice cream, haha! What I do is let bananas get over ripe, then freeze them. When ready, thaw just a few at a time for a little bit in warm water just until you can slide the skin off, then peel them, blend them or food process them until the consistency of ice cream, add a bit of whatever milk if you need it to be smoother. Finally, you can put whatever you want in it! It has the consistency of soft serve ice cream, and super sweet so you don't need to add any sweeteners. :) I add cacao powder, or dark cocoa, usually, but I've also done berries, and a tropical themed batch before. Super tasty, and good for you! :)
My grandma (93) was from rural Ohio in a house w no electricity or running water and told me about having to get eggs out of the basement and hated having to reach into the lime water barrel to get the eggs. Always bring told to reach down to the bottom and hated getting her arm wet all the way up. Now here I am seeing it in use. Amazing .
More food preservation videos, please! These are great for ANY century! And it's a great way to get friends and family interested in 18th century cooking.
My limed eggs (I thought this was called waterglassing) are a full year old. The only degradation I have noticed is that the yolks have become quite fragile. This is fine if they will be beaten, such as for baking or scrambled eggs or omelets, but I wouldn't try to separate them for meringue or the like. The flavor is just fine, too. I would advise not to fill a 5-gallon bucket, like I did. The weight of the eggs (although buoyed by the solution) did break one way down at the bottom. That was "pleasant" to eventually reach, after smelling the promise of it for 3/4 of the bucket. All the other eggs in the bucket (that hadn't cracked - though none others fully broke) were perfectly edible. So this year I am using one-gallon glass jars instead. Then there isn't so much weight on the ones on the bottom, and I can see in there, too. This is my new go-to method.
Hi. I keep my harvested eggs in the fridge..unwashed. Can I add these into the process? Also what is the ratio of pickeling lime to water.. do you use something other than pickling lime??
"Water glassing" eggs with sodium silicate (water glass) was commonly used from about 1890 to 1940 to preserve eggs. "Liming" eggs with calcium hydrate or slaked lime (sold in grocery stores as "pickling lime") has been used much longer to preserve eggs but is not approved to be safe by the USDA, State agricultural extension agencies, or university agricultural departments. Agricultural or garden lime is calcium carbonate aka limestone and will not work as an egg preservative. "Liming" is not "water glassing" and never has been. Please, at least get the name(s) of the preservation methods correct.
I'm getting ready to preserve eggs here using the hydrated lime solution. I might add that eggs should be stored big end up, small or "pointy" end down. The air sac is in the pointy small end, and storing them that end down will keep the air sac from spreading through and drying out the egg.
@@kathykernell5836The air sac is in the rounded large end. If you glassed them with the pointy end up, the air sac is now at the bottom and will be pushed upward through the egg by force of gravity pulling the liquid of the egg down on the air sac. At least thats the way I understand it.
I don't think it would work with the pasteurized eggs we have today the super clean supermarket pasteurized eggs must be kept refrigerated. Gotta be free range eggs.
I just want to say how very much i appreciate your channel. I was lucky enough to still experience my very early days around people from the very old days. I didn't realize I should be asking questions as these people were meeting the end of their days, and that the casual way they cooked, smoked a pipe, prayed, celebrated holidays, spoke, dressed, kept their houses insulated, and just generally lived life in an efficent manner was going out of style. Quickly. With them passing. So in the last few years I've started stressing out A LOT about all this knowledge getting lost more with each passing day. (I can't even find documentaries and other movies from the 70s and before that were still shown as reruns on tv in tge early 2000s. Like, I know I've seen black and white videos of true traditional craftsmen making snow shoes but do you think I can find any? Nope). I'm horrendous at expressing myself in an efficient manner, so THANK YOU for sharing these natural ways of doung things. Knowledge that, in some cases, was gathered over hundreds or even thousands of years and should be essential to have. Knowing how to keep your food from spoiling is as necessary as it gets. Thank you very veey very much..If you have more tips/tricks no matter how small or insignificant they may seem to you, please throw them in a video/blog for anyone that may still not know. I apologize for the very long message and will brain storm on how to share my appreciation and passion on the topic in a.. shoryer manner TY !
Interestingly, in the UK it's illegal for farmers to wash eggs for this specific reason. British eggs don't need to be refrigerated to stay fresh because the natural antibacterial coating that eggs have stays intact. It also means that condensation doesn't form on the outside of an egg once you remove it from the fridge in the supermarket, which can cause serious problems for bacterial growth inside the egg if the buyer doesn't dry the eggs before storing them. The trade-off is that in the UK you need to wash your hands after handling eggs in the kitchen.
@@mellie4174 Excellent point! We too easily forget there was a societal network to support the lifestyle they lived back then. "When" civilization crumbles, that will not be there at all!
Mellie you can get oyster shells at any farm store... in fact most with chickens probably already have them, it’s good for the chickens to eat them! Now the kiln.... well 🤷♀️
I love this video! The other day I was watching a WW2 documentary about food rationing and victory gardens, and there was a scene where a lady was putting all of her fresh eggs in a big pot of cloudy water (but it wasn’t ever explained for some reason) and I was really confused. Now I know what it all means! Thank you for amazing content.😁
No lie, as a prepper, I absolutely love your videos. They're educational, entertaining, and highly positive. You remind me a little bit of Bob Ross and Mr. Rogers, and I mean that as an absolute compliment. Why don't you have a show on PBS yet!?
As a prepper I try to be ready for anything from an EMP, to foreign hacking, from a complete grid shut down, to civil unrest. Lets not forget about natural disasters, here in the PNW we have annual floods on top of the threat of, earthquakes, tsunami, and more common mudslides; to the occasional tornado to name a few. Its not just for big events, recently I lost my job and I was able to feed my family on the stored previsions until I could find another one. I find it calming when my life gets stressful to have plans for what to do in a zombie apocalypse. I love this video and if I can save my girls eggs threw the winter that would be the BEST THING EVER!
I was taught (at a commercial egg farm) to always store eggs with the pointed end down and the round end up. This is supposed to take advantage of the air space in the egg and delay they yolk reaching the shell. That could help explain why some eggs last longer than others.
if you are hatching eggs, putting the pointy side down is important. they are more viable that way as the air sac is naturally on that side for the chicks to receive oxygen. when shipping hatching eggs, its rough on the eggs and for better viability you put them pointy side down for 25 hours before incubating so the air bubble has a chance to move back into position.
I did the slaked lime with my chicken's eggs. After 9 months they taste like eggs. Yokes aren't as stiff as fresh, but they're fine scrambled or for baking.
I was raised by my great aunt and uncle. They were both born around 1903. They used this method to preserve the eggs during the non laying “season”. I don’t remember it cause they had refrigerators by then, but it was one of those “when I was a child...” stories.
Hi there! I really took interest in this video, because fermented eggs are well-known in my household, as both my parents are Chinese emigrants. We eat both brine and lime preserved eggs, although lime eggs are more of a treat (we can only get them at Asian supermarkets). My mom makes her own salt eggs: we soak eggs (raw) in brine for a very long time, along with some spices like peppercorn. The result is a salty egg white with a rich, sometimes mealy yolk. Since we use chicken eggs the yolk isn't very rich, but salted duck eggs will have a very fatty yolk. Lime eggs (century eggs) are preserved in quicklime, mud, and some other things (I'm not super familiar with the details). They have a dark, green/black yolk, a translucent brown white and a strange ammonia smell, but they don't actually taste too crazy. We eat these preserved eggs with porridge or very simple bread. You can eat century eggs by themselves or as a cold dish, but salt eggs must be eaten with something! Or else you'd just taste salt.
I LOVE the century eggs too! Just had some for dinner, with soft tofu, soy sauce, sesame oil, a dash of sugar, and some cilantro. The egg is almost a condiment at this point. I believe the century eggs are duck eggs encasesd in mud (containing lime water and rice husks; I seem to remember other recipes containing tea leaves). Don't know how long they leave them out for though. Probably at least a week, if I have to guess.
Once, when I stayed for dinner with a Chinese family, they had these salt eggs. I thought they were just ordinary hard-boiled eggs, and almost put ate an entire egg just like that! Luckily, the family managed to warn me in time, haha! They were really good though!
I love black eggs and salted eggs, especially salted duck eggs. My Thai stepmom likes to put the salted duck egg in a bowl of rice with water added, and she'll steep tea in the water/rice mixture before adding the egg. the water takes the salt away and the tea adds flavor to the rice. you can add stuff to the egg/rice mixture or just eat it straight.
Read a lot of comments so please note- the more eggs you put in one container, the higher the risk of the simple weight cracking an egg on bottom. Our largest egg basket taught us how easy that can happen, which is why, even tho liquid greatly reduces weight, I will not store any lime-eggs in a container larger than 1 gallon size, and most of my containers are about half that size. The old saying of never put all your eggs in one basket is very true for more than one reason. Cookie jars, new and from Goodwill, are excellent for lime egg storage.
Nice video! A bit of explanation here if I may: From a microbiological point of view, both wood-ash and lime create an alkaline environment. Many bacteria depend on their environment having a slightly lower pH (being more acidic) than their cytoplasm (the liquid inside the cell wall), using the difference to create energy by letting H+ ions (protons) flow through the membrane in a controlled fashion. The same principle generates energy in the mitochondria of our own cells. So, by generating an alkaline (high pH) environment, bacteria using this technique are cut off from their energy supply. Plus, alkaline environments wreak havoc on the plasma membrane over time. But of course we know how that works today...its fascinating to see these techniques used to such great effect by people who didn't even know for sure wheter or not bacteria actually existed :D
george Lee Lime and wood ash are ALKALINE not ACIDIC. The two are opposites. ACIDS have a PH balance below 7, ALKALIES have a PH balance above 7. Extremes at EITHER end of the spectrum can have a corrosive effect.
This is amazing! Seriously, it is amazing how well old techniques for food preservation work, and if techniques like this are still viable, you could be prepared for all sorts of problems or disasters. Plus it's neat to see people trying to keep these bits of history alive!
It's amazing watching these old videos, then going and watching the newer stuff and seeing how much Jon's presence on camera has improved. He seems a lot more natural now, particularly regarding plugging his products in the videos and not saying sentences that sound like something out of a BuzzFeed article (you will not BELIEVE number one, for example). He also seems to be generally enjoying it a lot more in newer stuff, instead of just imparting information.
Lol. So, not a man of this world huh?, God must love you. God bless. 1 John 5:19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
I am now in the EIGHTH month of my egg preservation experiment using the Hydrated Lime. So Far, SO GOOD! It is working like a charm! I will post again in four months to tell how the experiment will have worked for an entire year.
@@clausroquefort9545 Things went wonderfully. I started my "Eggsperiment" in November 2016 with Eleven fresh organic eggs purchased from Costco. None of the eggs had cracked shells and I did not wash them. The eggs were placed in a 1/2 Gallon wide mouth Ball Jar. I used a serving spoon to place the eggs in gently to avoid breakage. I diluted 1 cup of Ball 100% Natural Pickling Lime (Food Grade Hydrated Lime) in about 4 cups of cold tap water in a separate Stainless Steel bowl. I poured in enough lime water to completely cover the eggs, then applied the lid and ring. Then the jar was placed on a shelf in my pantry, which is actually a closet beneath the stairs adjacent to my downstairs family room. I store all of my canned food (including home-canned food_ in this pantry, which is a COOL, DARK environment that never gets warmer than about 65 degrees F. About every 6 weeks or so, I examined the jar and removed an egg for testing by cooking and eating. The eggs remained fresh and edible until approximately December 7, 2017, when I discovered that one of the last two eggs failed and was spoiled. Because of the extent of the spoilage, I estimated that the last two eggs must have spoiled sometime in November 2017. I concluded that this liming method can keep eggs fresh for a maximum of one year, but I would not rely on it for preserving for more than 8-9 months to be on the safe side. The absolute key to the success of this method is that theeggs must be stored in a COOL, DARK and CLEAN place such as on a shelf in a basement or lower level closet in the home AWAY FROM ANY SOURCES OF HEAT. Storing in a Kitchen is not recommended. Of course, one must use good judgement every time these eggs are used and discard anything that shows any hint of spoilage (such as if the eggs FLOAT in the jar or in a bowl of water after being removed from the jar.)
I found an ancient Chinese preserved egg recipe (a missionary wrote it down) that included slaked lime, wood ash, salt, and clay. It is an alkaline preservation. Interesting that they had the components here separately.
@@gosiajakubowski8905 All the ingredients were mixed with clay, then the egg was covered in clay. I had tasted these eggs ages ago in China, so I know they come out well.
Funny enough, I can see the scientific processes used in using limewater and slaked lime to help preserve your eggs. Calcium is the main element in both eggshells and slaked lime (calcium carbonate for eggshells, and calcium hydroxide for slaked lime.) Burying the eggs in slaked lime is a lot like covering the eggs in a stronger "powdered eggshell." Limewater is slaked lime that's been dissolved in water, and it's been used for hundreds of years - the Chinese turned eggs into century eggs by coating the eggs with clay mixed with slaked lime and limewater. The Nahuatl (or the Ancient Mexicans) cooked corn kernels in limewater to make hominy. I guess people today generally don't have to worry about where they get their next meals, so food preservation is a skill that's been overlooked.
Corn (flint or can't, not sweet) was soaked in limewater for several reasons: to remove the hard coating, make grinding easier (with flat stones), remove toxins,. Most importantly, to make Niacin available and absorbable for humans. Corn was their main dietary source, without niximilization (or however it's spelled) people would have a niacin deficiency which causes palegra, a painful skin disease which can kill through infection.
We still use lime in water ehen boiling corn to make our tortillas. Tortillas are a base of mexican food and for some poor households tortilla and beans is the only meal they have for the day. That being said, the extra calcium from tortillas helps a lot, you wont see a person with bad bones provided they eat a healthy amount of tortillas every day.
My grandmother used to store her eggs in flaxseed oil and I never heard about any bad eggs. She would keep the galvanised bucket on the floor and put a slate pad on top with a stone on top ,the stone had eggs painted on it because she had several buckets for storing stuff so each bucket had a pretty painted stone to let you know what was in the bucket. I don't think the eggs had any strong flavour from the flaxseed oil. Store for more than six months.
@@glorygloryholeallelujah me too. Mineral oil is cheaper and easy to find. Ate some 9 months later as an experiment. The oil supposedly mimic inside of chicken.
@@ruthieohair4743 that’s what I was told too! 😁 My family said that it basically “tricks” the egg into thinking it hasn’t been laid by the hen and exposed to oxygen- so it kinda keeps it in a semipermanent stasis!💖 I’m *definitely* not brave enough to test it out-but I wonder what the *maximum* time you could keep the egg like that and it remained edible…😋🤔 (Or at least the approximate time, since all egg varieties and climates would differ.)
I love your channel! I've done a LOT of food preservation research and I've NEVER heard of this before! Your research really is enriching the lives of so many people! Thank you!
Storing eggs in salt brine is actually a very common method of preserving eggs in China. The two main methods historically, and even today were salting, and storing in lime. Lime and ash might be a little difficult to do at home, and while these are every day fare in China, may be too strong for western tastes. Salt eggs on the other hand are very easy to make and I do it at home often. Usually we get a large jug and fill it with warm water and mix in salt until it stops dissolving. After that we add more in just to be sure. When the water cools (we don't want to cook the egg), we pack in as many eggs as we can and cover the top with seran wrap, although any lid will do. It doesn't need to be air tight. Usually we'll let them brine for 2 months, and half way through we'll add in extra water as some will evaporate (also why we use more salt than necessary at the beginning). at around 6 weeks we take an egg out every week and boil like any other hard boiled egg (although the yolk should be solid, in case you prefer runny yolks). It's done when the yolks are dark orange and release a dark oil, which is considered a delicacy. Afterwards you'll want to remove them from the brine and refrigerate. These are indeed salty, and they're meant to be eaten with rice as a side dish, not snacked on. It's common to eat it with congee (a thick rice gruel) for breakfast. The yolks are often boiled and used in other dishes as well. Egg drop soup is very common. They're also used in certain regions in moon cakes, which are traditionally eaten during the autumn-moon festival, which celebrates the harvest. It's a little weird having a briny umami egg yolk in an otherwise very sweet tart like thing, but I personally enjoy it.
Interesting, but I use so many of the eggs I preserve in baked goods that I wouldn't want to have the extra salt that salt brine leaves in the egg albumin. Using Hydrated Lime and water leaves no taste and requires no refrigeration. My goal is to be off grid, no electricity needed for food storage if possible.
Yes, we let them soak in soy sauce for a week then make VERY tasty hard boiled eggs. Thousand year eggs which someone here mentioned is preserved for months or years in ash (depending on the consistency and flavor you prefer)... They're just given a sensational name: thousand year eggs.
Thanks so much for posting this video! My girlfriend and I just finished our log cabin and couldn't find a good way to preserve our eggs without refrigeration. You're a life saver!
from personal experience, rubbing your eggs in mineral oil and placing into a basket or egg crate kept my eggs 100% for up to 14 months. I rotated my stock before finding when they do go bad. the mineral oil mimics the protection naturally applied when first laid. great stuff!
_Click-bait_ is used to _bait_ you to _click_ on a link or video, it's not clickbait if it appears 20 seconds after you clicked on it. It would be clickbait if he puts it on the video's title, which he didn't.
I have nearly a gross of eggs preserved in this manner (lime water) from the summer when the girls are laying at a rapid pace. They taste fresh and last through the winter molting season. Great video, as always!
My grandmother's mother coated with wax (the kind cheese is dipped in) after lightly coating with mineral oil or tallow. Kept for months in the cool box
wax is how they preserve apples as well, those ones found in store are generally at least year old for what I have heard. but if its true, just goes to show how well it can go since they are so ripe and juicy. cant be year old apples.
Ive heard my grandma tell me the same thing about the wax. She said they would also store their milk and other dairy in glass watertight containers in a hole they surrounded with rocks in the stream (river) to keep them cold because there was no refrigerators yet.
@@housecat524 there was also a preserving method of cutting ice during winter and then burying it in saw dust. since saw dust is an insulator, you got your self a some ice for summer time.
Another tip I saw on another video - When you put the egss in the pickling lime, try to pack them together so the big end of each one is up (little end pointing down). This has to do with the small bubble of air in them.
I actually referred a couple friends to this specific video a month ago when people were trying to figure out how to store eggs outside of the fridge. I don't even have chickens but you wouldn't believe how many people with chickens don't know about not washing them if they're not cracked! Thanks again for getting some of us through this pandemic Mr. Townsend!
I LOVE YOU ALL SO DARN MUCH! Thank you so very, very much for adding to my knowledge and some of this came from my little bit o time with my grandparents that foraged during wars, and for what I know I can do for my family too. Thank you folks. Best channel on Earth.
it is insane that we use water and energy, both scarce resources, to wash eggs, which then reduces their shelf life. I learned a lot from this video, thank you! The salt method seems really expensive. I like the wood ash method, wood ash preserves tomatoes really well too. The oil coatings sounds affordable and easy. The lime works probably in a similar manner as the wood ashes, increasing pH and reducing oxygen exposure, but lime is harder to find and more expensive than wood ash. Great video!
Excellent!!! Just what I was looking for. Eggs are so important in the kitchen. With eggs, flour, salt, milk, yeast, you can make so many things. Thank you for your perfect presentation!
I find it odd no one has mentioned this before. I LOVE water glassing my eggs for the winter! And so easy one ounce (weighted not measured) to one quart of fresh clean water. So easy. Another trick if you do not have a top put about 2 inches of cooking oil over the top of it to keep it from evaporating and just put a towel over it to keep bugs out. My eggs can last upwards of 18 months if I had to.
I remember reading about some early-20th-century egg preservation methods, and the most commonly mentioned one was "water glass", which is a solution of sodium silicate, that coats the eggs and makes them less porous.
I was having a bad day and these videos calmed me down, so thank you for that. This channel is so neat I love getting lost in different worlds historical or fantasy but historically worlds have that added bonus of me actually learning something. I will subscribe now, God bless.
Did the Lime Eggs again in Oct 2017. I actually forgot about them until this month. I tried them & they are still great. The yokes break a little easier, so if you like your eggs soft or over easy, they may break, but I found if I break them gently into a small bowl & into the pan, less chance of breakage. Found no after taste. Just did 4 dozen more on Nov 1, 2018 & will try to do about 1 or 2 dozen every 2nd month. I stored my eggs in a cold room in my house. Temp is usually in the mid 50's in the winter & maybe low 70's in the peak of summer.
UPDATE - Just did my last 2 eggs from Oct 1, 2017 yesterday (Nov 30, 2018). The very last one was bad. Now it didn't smell or anything, it just looked like the yolk had developed it's own hard, rubbery coating. It may have been fine to eat, but I did want to take the chance. In hindsight, I should have cooked & tasted.
@@2010Hals I dont think its that critical. And probably changes depending on your watersource. Its more "make alkaline water" than "65.2g per litre" 2 handfuls for a small jar seems about right. But i bet that changes, 4 handfulls if its snowmelt, one if its from a limestone well. And if its like most other "granpappys recipes", what works best is what works for you. Id just bung a few handfuls in, it'll saturate at whatever point, n excesses will precipitate. If youve excesses lime, it'll go sludgy. If excess eggs (n your gonna have more lime), well, eat alotta eggs.
Been watching these videos way before the pandemic, taking notes. My husband always chuckled at me... now we're looking at a food shortage in the coming months. Got him to build me a coop and I ordered 10 live chicks...who's chuckling now?!
When you mentioned packing eggs in wood ash, I was reminded of the Chinese 'Century Egg'. While edible, I would say that they had an 'aroma' similar to Windex and a flavor that , ah, takes some getting used to. Plus they resemble more like boiled eggs than fresh.
Century eggs are made using 'base' materials...lime, wood ash, salt and rice husks or maybe clay to wrap the egg - which raises the ph of the egg and allows for long term storage. In my experience, it took about 5 weeks to get them preserved. I like them, so have never pushed the envelope on storage time myself, but have tried some at the in-laws that were said to be close to a year old. Flavor was stable v-a-v the newly made eggs. As for the 'windex' odor...eggs are sulfurous and I think the preservation technique allows the sulphur to come through a bit. Both sulphur and ammonia have similar effect on our sense of smell...in the end though - thin slices of these preserved eggs with simple rice soup is one of (my) life's little pleasures
I understand that store bought “washed” eggs will not keep well even this way. There is a natural preservative that gets washed away once they’ve been cleaned with water. Thanks for all the awesome videos over the years.
It's so old it's new. Great resource for inspiration from a time when immigrants had a brutal time surviving, burying their children along the trail. Quote from the Last of the Mohicans.
@@ShadowPoet you never know, dude. They may ask for a 30 day shutdown. Think of the elderly and those who cant leave their homes in general because of compromised immune system, now imagine a govt shutdown?
Slaked Lime is also called HYDRATED Lime at the garden center. The lime water is how we store eggs. They will literally stay perfectly good for years. We use a 5 gallon Lowe's bucket. It even works for store bought eggs. The shells harden and are great in the garden. Not toxic if the animals get to them either. If you use too much, it just falls out of solution. No danger.
So true about the shelf life part. My neighbors who own a lot of chickens and they give away the "defective" double yolk (why you wouldn't want twice the yolk for the same price is beyond me) or too small eggs for free. They last so much longer than store bought eggs. Plus it's cool to sometimes see a bit of chicken feather on the eggs, reminds you where it came from.
In most countries, eggs aren't washed and polished, which is why in the UK, France, Spain etc you will usually see eggs in the ambient section of stores and stored in cupboards rather than chillers.
Ya, only in Anerica are we forced to kill off most of the nutrition in things to “make them safe”. God save us from the people trying to “keep us safe”. Might have a little something to do with why Americans aren’t as healthy as they used to be.
I loved your video!!!! Thank you SO much!!! So informative and easy to understand. We may have a time when we NEED to preserve eggs this way again in 2022.
Thanks so much for citing your references on your website. It's hugely refreshing. These videos are exceptionally well produced and edited, and the content is fascinating.
Jon, your videos are so informative and entertaining. I love this one. As we navigate social distancing, we see how easy one event can cause major changes in the way we live our lives. Your channel helps me learn things that very well may become useful if we reach a point in time where we may not have power or many other modern conveniences that we have become to heavily rely on. I have a sister in law who raises chickens. I think I will get some fresh eggs from her and try out method #1 very soon. Thank you, your family and your staff for bringing this time period to life and teaching us of these old ways. God bless you and may he keep you and yours safe.
That's amazing. I sell hydrated lime in 50lb bags at my job, a farm supply store. Most people buy it to kill fleas, repel snakes or inhibit odors. I had heard it could be used in pickling but hadn't confirmed it. I'll have to mention this to the guys! Thanks for the tip
Jason some markets have it, in the south called pickling lime, We use it a lot in Latin America for candied fruits, and pumpkin flesh cubes , we soak pumpkin cubes 1and 1/2 inch big in lime water , then rinse them well, and then put them in syrup to cook for awhile, The cubes come out cooked but crunchy not mushy , like pickles. Eat with cheese. In Spanish the name is Cal Viva, or live lime.
@@catalinacassineri6435 i would love to know more, i searched for "cal Viva", "live lime" and every combination of the words with pumpkin preserving, lime, Latin America cooking/cuisine/traditional and only found scientific stuff (not related to cooking directly) or random healthcare info. If you have the time could you please share a recipe and/or instructions? I have access to various pumpkins, squashes and gourds every Autumn and would love to learn another way to use, preserve or share the goodness.
Heather Cox the recipe is called “zapallos en almíbar”. or zapallo en almíbar , or calabaza en almíbar (con cal). In the U S You can use pickling lime and Squash like butternut , don’t use jackalantern type. Look up some recipes , there are several, ex: “ pumpkins desert candy version” or Argentinian pumpkin in syrup, The result is crispy and shine pieces of pumpkins. If you have trouble finding a recipe, I’ll translate mine. The recipe has to call for soaking peeled pumpkin pieces about a kilo in a mix of water and pickling lime for several hours about 7 (100 gram of lime per gallon of water let this mixture rest until is clear and when lime goes to the bottom then add pumpkin pieces ) . then rinse very well , then cook in a syrup for an hour. sorry I don’t have my recipe handy right now. With out the lime soaking the pumpkin pieces turn out mushier. Check out TH-cam: ZAPALLO EN ALMÍBAR Matías Chavero. Or Zapallos al almibar, receta de Alba del Castillo en Bien De Córdoba (BDC).
Loved this vid. wish you would do more stuff like this that can be applied to shtf and survival/longterm food storage situations. preppers and survivalists will all love it. I in fact mostly watch this channel to mine it for ideas for surivalism hehe
2:45 I can attest to the shelf life of unwashed eggs. I lived in Jakarta Indonesia and eggs are only lightly rinsed with water, if at all, and are at room temperature - which in Indonesia is summer year round. They last for a long time this way. FUN FACT: Indonesian eggs are brown, white eggs are considered to be better tasting and healthier!
Yes! When I was younger traveling I noticed all the eggs were sold outside of fridges. I got older my travels took me to Asia n saw the same. After all these yrs it took this vid n thread 4 me to realized the cleaning process is what causes the need for cool storage. I always did wonde as a kid how ppl ate eggs n other basics without fridges. 😂
@@hyperbunnygirl101 idk there's a flav n texture diff in both the brown n white (that are natural) in other countries not here from my experience. Not sure why.
@@hyperbunnygirl101 We have 20+ chickens depending on broody Brahma momma's mood and the ambition of the local bobcats and coyotes. We get green, blue, white, off white, almond and all sorts of shades that Martha Stewart would patent and sell to paint makers... they eat EVERYTHING - from hamburgers to kale and pigs feet and flax seed. Sprouted wheat, fermented corn; it's a great adventure and the egg yolks are like a stick of fine butter in the pan. I used to cook and feed them road kill rabbits and squirrels when I had more ambition, but still they manage to catch and kill some mice and eat them raw. Chickens are Velociraptors minor. And geese are 2 legged locusts - very loving animals I have always kept.
I've had my eggs in a slacked lime mixture for about six months now. I took a few out for an omelette and had no problems. Well the one draw back is that the yolks break after time but it doesn't affect taste and they're still good for many purposes.
I've always wondered about old-school egg preservation, given how quickly eggs go bad outside of the refrigerator. I didn't know that part of that was the modern egg-washing process taking away part of the egg's natural protection. Interesting stuff.
I took a course in food sanitation many years ago. We were told that eggs have a rubber-like membrane between the inside of the shell, and the egg white. We see that membrane when we peel hard boiled eggs sometimes making it hard to peel. That membrane is supposedly air tight and therefore, eggs are fine left at room temp. However, boiling the eggs breaks down the membrane so boiled eggs need to be refrigerated. This what we were taught in that course.
There is an air cel at the rounded end of the egg that functions as respiration. Is that a contained finite source enclosed inside the membrane, or does it have to be replenished which would allow air and so contamination through the shell?
Wow, that's fascinating!!! I just forgot I left the eggs I bought a couple hours ago in my car!! They were still cool to the touch, a few were slightly room temp. Hopefully their ok
My grandma use to leave the fresh eggs set on the counter just not washed. so when I got chickens I did the same thing. Ive kept eggs on the counter for up to 6 months of fresh non washed eggs. Before the frost would hit we would pick all the green tomatoes and bury them in wood ash so they would ripen and it would slow down the process.
Cyrene the Cat Because when they are first laid they are covered in a thin membrane that protects them from outside contaminants and keeps existing moisture in the egg inside. When you wash them you remove this membrane at which point germs and bacteria can get in and moisture inside the egg can evaporate out of the egg. In europe most store bought eggs are unwashed (and unpasteurized) and many people still just store them out on a counter or table. But here in American they are washed (and I think often or most/all of the time pasteurized) and so need to be refrigerated. And the reason for the washing is because of Salmonella. There is a small chance of people getting Salmonella from unwashed eggs It is sometimes on the outer surface of eggs and then when they are touched or cracked to use it can get in the food and then into the people eating the food. It is not a huge risk but it is a risk and one the government decided not to risk so they mandated that eggs sold in American most be washed. This is not as much of a problem if you have your own chickens because you can control the living environment of them and minimize the chances of contamination.
What about coating the eggs in, say, beeswax? I would think that would work rather well in avoiding evaporation while sealing the egg itself(also, it wouldn't be too hard to seal the lime water vessel with wax). The only issue would be preventing it from melting, so a root cellar would be needed.
I’m raising 11 chickens right now who lay more eggs than my family can eat but not enough to go into business with. We give some away but we still have a lot left over. I think I have found the answer for what to do with the extra! Thanks!
Fast forward from the eighteenth century to the late nineteenth and the great depression and water glass (sodium silicate) comes along. My grandparents in the deep south had a giant pickle jar filled with sodium silicate with a lid. It's thick and goopy, it's used as a last-ditch head gasket sealer and glue for cardboard boxes. They would thin their mix with cool water (hot water makes it turn into a glassy substance). My grandmother had a little wire mesh basket she'd fill with fresh eggs and dip it into the big pickle jar. She'd swirl it a bit and hang it to drip back into the jar. Her eggs would last at least a year on the counter in a woven wooden basket with a top. Great video! Thank you for helping to keep the old ideas alive!
8/22/18 So two years ago I set up my bucket and stocked it. Last weekend I unpacked it. All the eggs were viable but had cracks where they touched which was filled by lime. The shells were thinning and the insides were more runny than new eggs but about the same as at 6 months. I boiled them up and tested them against 2 week old eggs and they were a bit salty and had a slight pickling lime flavor but all of them were edible. The boiled product was actually smoother and creamier than new eggs. So no rotten eggs after two years is a pretty good amount of time. Definitely useful for overwintering eggs or short term non-refridgerated eggs storage in a cool location. Not tested for warm or tropical environs.
Dang girl that follow-through tho!
Dedicated! Thank you so so much!
preserving eggs over 2 years is an achievement on its own. they practically go old already in the chicken.
Wow, I'm impressed with your scientific dedication!
Kelley Johnson thanks for testing
I simply dip my eggs in boiling water for approx. 3-5 seconds. This seals the shell . I then place it back in the egg container and find a shaded area to keep them. I am a world traveler aboard my sailboat and this method of preservation has worked out well for me. The eggs still taste great even after 2 months. Thought some off your subscribers might be interested. Thanks for a interesting video. Vince Roberts
Thanks for sharing
Awesome thank you!
howowow
Nowadays the equipment involved in pasteurizing eggs (like how commercial pasteurized whole eggs are produced) is easy to come by. It slightly stiffens the egg, but makes it keep really well. You can also coat pasteurized eggs in mineral oil, which is nontoxic, seals the shell in terms of moisture, and is hostile to bacteria.
I pack fresh eggs in a quart jar, then fill to the neck with water. I use a reusable polypropylene lid I get off Amazon to seal but the metal canning are fine.
I then place the quart jars in an ice chest filled with weather and use a sous vide controller to heat everything to 130F for 12 hours, pasteurizing the eggs. Make sure the lids are tight after removing from the ice chest. Store at room temperature in a cool, dark location but refrigerator is not required.
I’ve used eggs a year old without significant degradation of the quality of the raw egg.
My grand-mother told me that, during WWII, they preserved eggs in slaked lime and it worked well. At the time finding food was very difficult , so these eggs were like a treasure to her family. I write from Florence, Italy.
Time to learn this skill once again because WWIII is right around the corner.
@@lordot8665 the fact that this statement isn't laughable anymore scares me
Buy some chickens ✔
Buy some slaked lime ✔
I am doing this with my chicken eggs. I was skeptical and shy about using them lol but it does actually work. You can't do it with store bought eggs
@@aneeveewhohasinternet1871 It definitely is still laughable.
For those interested. I started a lime bucket and stocked it with eggs one year ago. Last week I opened two more eggs (see other long discussion for other egg openings) and found that the shells were slightly harder but they did not float and did not lose any liquid. However, the yolk was beginning to dry out and the gelatin of the egg contents was breaking down but not contamination. So honestly, I wouldn't keep them longer than 9 months for a really useful egg but in case of real emergency, I haven't seen them go rotten yet! Pretty amazing!
I imagine much of the justification long-term preservation hinged on the fact that in scarce time the luxury of familiar texture and taste weren't a factor. Pretty cool experiment and I imagine most people wouldn't think of eating year old eggs today.
Kelley Johnson that is so interesting seeing you go through the experience on your comments. TH-cam is awesome lol.
Kelley Johnson and thanks for the updates!!
indigo0086 Actually, due to refrigeration, the sell by date on grocery store eggs is 1 year from laying.
Bethany Lade eww wtf. I needa get a chicken then
In April of 2015, my chickens started laying eggs again after "winter break". In July, I had a glut of eggs and couldn't give them away fast enough. One day the thought came to mind of how, before refrigeration, chicken eggs were stored during the winter when hens generally stop laying. That's when I came across this video. After viewing a couple of times, and later finding some university test cases from the early 1900's, I decided to give the hydrated lime and water method a go. In August of 2015, I packed 4 dozen eggs into a large glass container and simply poured a solution of waterproof and pickling lime over the eggs and set them aside. I used approximately a 30 ppm mixture. I placed the container on my kitchen counter so I could easily keep an eye on conditions. Over the winter, I would cook a couple of eggs from the container every few days. The other days I would eat store bought eggs. I couldn't tell the difference, and neither could anyone else. BTW, no one unknowingly ate stored eggs... today is June 18th, and I ate the last 2 eggs just a few days ago. They were just as tasty and cooked the same as store bought eggs 10 months later. 48 eggs stored, eaten over the course of 8 months, perfectly preserved, 100% success rate! Pretty amazing!!! This year, I'll store 2 gross, 288 eggs in 6 separate containers. Thanks Jon for originally presenting this info in a most interesting and informative way. Had I not seen your video, I probably wouldn't have tried this.
Rey - you are a scientist - keep up the good work !
I am impressed! Thank you for the perfectly detailed info!
Eggs only need to be refridgerated in current times by the United States and a few other countries. It is mandated that all eggs be washed and sterilised. It removes their defense against bacteria. We regridgerate to keep this bacteria in check, not to keep the eggs fresh.
@5dope can you please offer the ratio mix for the calcium carbonate that you would use. And have you tested this?
Please can u tell me how yo make pickling lime?
Years ago in the late 70's and early 80's I was an ocean sailor sailing around the world , and preserving food with very little refrigeration was always a challenge . The system we used for eggs was to coat them , but with none of the methods mentioned here . We used bee's wax . It worked fantastic for many months and did not impart any flavors or anything .Bee's wax has natural anti-microbial properties .We had several techniques for other things also .We could triple or more the lifespan of leafy greens and celery type foods by storing them with the stem parts wrapped in cloth and kept wet (the stems not the whole plant) . This would essentially keep them growing for weeks .
What other type of sailor is there other than ocean ? Sailor moon?
@@unnamedchannel1237 You would want to learn the distinction should you ever desire to get a sailboat . There are lake boats and there are ocean boats , and they rigged and built differently .
have you ever use mineral oil to coat the eggs?
@@mrmrsk219 No , sorry I haven't .I would worry about that imparting bad flavor or toxicity .Any kind of unscented wax will work and is pretty easy to come across . Amazon has bees wax for pretty cheap sold in a couple once weight bars . It goes a long way . You just take a wire coat hanger or a piece of wire and make a dipper like was often used to make easter eggs , and use a small container of glass or metal just large enough to dip them in , and use a small basting brush to brush off the excess ( you only need a thin film ) . You can do 4 dozen eggs in a few minutes .
@@robertwilson8789 Did you mean any kind of unscented beeswax, rather than ANY wax? Many candle making waxes available today are only hydrogenated oils...soy, coconut, hemp, etc. Not sure they'd work like beeswax.
This channel is so wholesome. Just a happy dude sharing historical recipes. What’s not to love
I went on a three month voyage and had read about Napoleons crew preserving eggs by painting them with melted beeswax.
I painted 12 dozen eggs for the trip and they did great- we didn’t have any break nor did they spoil.
wow! How long was the trip?
@@jacquiandbrendon4779 "I went on a three month voyage...".
@@jacquiandbrendon4779 read the comment again bro
Did you just keep them out on the counter or did you have to keep them cool? This is amazing.
A three hour tour ?
The price of tuna has more than doubled. I'm a senior on a very limited budget. I've learned to dehydrate and can, taking advantage of sales. I'm no longer able to garden like I used to, so I garden in 5 gal buckets on my big porch. For those who are not able to garden, perhaps like they used to, that's an option. I also fish from docks and off the bank. I'm saving for a small chest freezer. If the day comes and there may not be electricity, I'll have food storage.
NG B this is awesome advice! Thanks!
What state are you in my friend?
TN
NG B that’s great, I’m in ky. About an hour north of Nashville. Would you happen to be near me?
@@claytonatkinson865 I'm a bit North of Memphis. My daughter, just recently told me of a farmer's market at the fair grounds.
Just an interesting sidenote.
Here in germany it is not allowed to wash eggs before selling them to the consumer and it is also not allowed to import previously washed eggs from other countries. It is also advised to not wash eggs yourself.
That is indeed the reason why eggs are quite long durable here (maybe 3-4 weeks) and you do not have to cool eggs for the first 1-2 weeks.
If you buy eggs here it is said on the package something like:
Date of expiry: XX.XX.XXXX
Advised to cool from: XX.XX.XXXX
Yeah, the U.S. is obsessed with cramming as many animals together as possible, which means bacteria-rich shitty living conditions (literally), and many of the animals die in those conditions. What's the "solution" used?! Rather than spending money on treating the animals better, and providing larger areas (which would prevent both death and illnesses in the first place), they spend the money on antibiotics (the meat industry uses most of the antibiotics in the U.S.), which just causes the bacteria and viruses to mutate creating a need for even stronger antibiotics (which are shown to still exist in the meat we consume, meaning that our human illnesses mutate to resist antibiotics as well, yay!), and harsh chemical washes for all animal products (including meat. Ground meat is washed with ammonia, and eggs with chlorine. Wtf?!). It's extremely backwards and infuriating.
+SlavaZone Not only that, the US government has made it virtually impossible for everyone to buy fresh/organic/free-range chicken and the eggs without paying what I would consider ten times the cost of what you get from the non-organic. In many states, they have made it illegal to sell raw, organic milk. It's not fair to Americans like me who need to use these items due to health problems. I am already into stage 1 Kidney disease. :(
Diane Milligan I'm sorry you have to deal with that! :( I've chosen not to play the game, so I rarely buy dairy products or eggs any more. Luckily, I live in a city where there are Whole Foods stores and farmers markets to get raw milk and good eggs from, but yes, they're crazy expensive so I rarely use them now. In baking, I replace eggs with chia powder and water; in every day life and baking, I replace dairy milk with almond milk; in breakfast, I replace eggs with scrambled tofu (but usually I make stove-top oatmeal, much tastier!). If I crave ice cream, I luckily have coconut milk options (or I make my own; look up "banana nice cream," it's delicious!!). I try to find alternatives so I'm not supporting the messed up system our country has made. I hope to have chickens one day, like I did when I was very young! :)
SlavaZone I hear ya! Everything you mentioned is what I have used from time to time as well, including tofu. I use that in my vegetable fried rice in place of eggs. I am not a true vegetarian, but I strive to eat only vegetarian food just to give my body a rest from meat. Currently, I am eating too much red meat, and I know that isn't good for me. But, I will try to do better. :)
Banana nice dream? Never heard of it. I'll search for the information. Thank you!
I order a lot of my organic/non-GMO freeze-dried fruits,vegetables and grains from a company here in the U.S. Their food is delicious and very easy to use. The prep work is already done, so there is no more peeling, chopping or whatever. This company also has Textured vegetable protein (chicken and beef flavored) which is actually pretty tasty.
Diane Milligan That's really cool, I really like how there are more and more food delivery companies popping up. :)
But yeah, banana nice cream, like ice cream but with an "n" because it's a nice flavor but not truly ice cream, haha!
What I do is let bananas get over ripe, then freeze them. When ready, thaw just a few at a time for a little bit in warm water just until you can slide the skin off, then peel them, blend them or food process them until the consistency of ice cream, add a bit of whatever milk if you need it to be smoother. Finally, you can put whatever you want in it! It has the consistency of soft serve ice cream, and super sweet so you don't need to add any sweeteners. :) I add cacao powder, or dark cocoa, usually, but I've also done berries, and a tropical themed batch before. Super tasty, and good for you! :)
You thank us?
We should thank you Sir.
You have a charming,honest,straightfoward way about you.
My grandma (93) was from rural Ohio in a house w no electricity or running water and told me about having to get eggs out of the basement and hated having to reach into the lime water barrel to get the eggs. Always bring told to reach down to the bottom and hated getting her arm wet all the way up. Now here I am seeing it in use. Amazing .
just use a soup ladle and drill some holes in the bottom to fish them out. Work smart not hard.
@@adtopkek4826 how will you keep the lye water from leaking out through the holes
@@bubblegumplastic I want the water to go back into the bucket.
More food preservation videos, please! These are great for ANY century! And it's a great way to get friends and family interested in 18th century cooking.
My limed eggs (I thought this was called waterglassing) are a full year old. The only degradation I have noticed is that the yolks have become quite fragile. This is fine if they will be beaten, such as for baking or scrambled eggs or omelets, but I wouldn't try to separate them for meringue or the like. The flavor is just fine, too. I would advise not to fill a 5-gallon bucket, like I did. The weight of the eggs (although buoyed by the solution) did break one way down at the bottom. That was "pleasant" to eventually reach, after smelling the promise of it for 3/4 of the bucket. All the other eggs in the bucket (that hadn't cracked - though none others fully broke) were perfectly edible. So this year I am using one-gallon glass jars instead. Then there isn't so much weight on the ones on the bottom, and I can see in there, too. This is my new go-to method.
It is called Water Glassing as well.
Hi. I keep my harvested eggs in the fridge..unwashed. Can I add these into the process? Also what is the ratio of pickeling lime to water.. do you use something other than pickling lime??
"Water glassing" eggs with sodium silicate (water glass) was commonly used from about 1890 to 1940 to preserve eggs. "Liming" eggs with calcium hydrate or slaked lime (sold in grocery stores as "pickling lime") has been used much longer to preserve eggs but is not approved to be safe by the USDA, State agricultural extension agencies, or university agricultural departments. Agricultural or garden lime is calcium carbonate aka limestone and will not work as an egg preservative. "Liming" is not "water glassing" and never has been. Please, at least get the name(s) of the preservation methods correct.
I'd rather use small lidded buckets, but stack them. Put the oldest eggs on the top, and use first.
I can’t get a clear answer from anyone on this; I have farm fresh unwashed eggs, but they have been refrigerated. Can they still be water glassed ?
In a deleted scene, John actually buried eggs in nutmeg.
Hahahaha!
I don't get it
@@timothyharrison9467 He likes nutmeg
@@fosty. shut up meg..
@@timothyharrison9467 John is known for loving nutmeg. th-cam.com/video/0VtWHsCkqIk/w-d-xo.html
I'm getting ready to preserve eggs here using the hydrated lime solution. I might add that eggs should be stored big end up, small or "pointy" end down. The air sac is in the pointy small end, and storing them that end down will keep the air sac from spreading through and drying out the egg.
Right you are! Also distilled water is best.
The air sac is in the big end. Eating 3-6 eggs every day for half my life, I know this stuff without thinking
@@OffGridInvestor yes I waterglassed my eggs pointed end up.
@@kathykernell5836The air sac is in the rounded large end. If you glassed them with the pointy end up, the air sac is now at the bottom and will be pushed upward through the egg by force of gravity pulling the liquid of the egg down on the air sac. At least thats the way I understand it.
Just how did you manage to achieve keeping your eggs in that position for a year? My eggs would not stay that way.
2015: This might be great for a historical presentation
2021: You might need to do this to continue to eat
Literally bought chickens and learning this so I might continue to eat
True story
Replace 2021 with 2020 when everybody was hoarding Twinkies.
😢
I don't think it would work with the pasteurized eggs we have today the super clean supermarket pasteurized eggs must be kept refrigerated. Gotta be free range eggs.
I just want to say how very much i appreciate your channel. I was lucky enough to still experience my very early days around people from the very old days. I didn't realize I should be asking questions as these people were meeting the end of their days, and that the casual way they cooked, smoked a pipe, prayed, celebrated holidays, spoke, dressed, kept their houses insulated, and just generally lived life in an efficent manner was going out of style. Quickly. With them passing. So in the last few years I've started stressing out A LOT about all this knowledge getting lost more with each passing day. (I can't even find documentaries and other movies from the 70s and before that were still shown as reruns on tv in tge early 2000s. Like, I know I've seen black and white videos of true traditional craftsmen making snow shoes but do you think I can find any? Nope). I'm horrendous at expressing myself in an efficient manner, so THANK YOU for sharing these natural ways of doung things. Knowledge that, in some cases, was gathered over hundreds or even thousands of years and should be essential to have. Knowing how to keep your food from spoiling is as necessary as it gets. Thank you very veey very much..If you have more tips/tricks no matter how small or insignificant they may seem to you, please throw them in a video/blog for anyone that may still not know. I apologize for the very long message and will brain storm on how to share my appreciation and passion on the topic in a.. shoryer manner
TY !
Interestingly, in the UK it's illegal for farmers to wash eggs for this specific reason.
British eggs don't need to be refrigerated to stay fresh because the natural antibacterial coating that eggs have stays intact.
It also means that condensation doesn't form on the outside of an egg once you remove it from the fridge in the supermarket, which can cause serious problems for bacterial growth inside the egg if the buyer doesn't dry the eggs before storing them.
The trade-off is that in the UK you need to wash your hands after handling eggs in the kitchen.
Who doesn't wash their hands after cracking an egg anyway?
Worth the trade off. Should be washing hands when cooking anyway…
I wash my hands after handling eggs anyway.
@@hrmpk26 Americans, because it is not necessary?
@@cagribaba4464 have you ever cracked an egg?
When civilization crumbles, guys like him will be bees knees!
if you will be able to find the lime or enough oyster shells, and a kiln to make it in...
@@mellie4174 Excellent point! We too easily forget there was a societal network to support the lifestyle they lived back then. "When" civilization crumbles, that will not be there at all!
Mellie you can get oyster shells at any farm store... in fact most with chickens probably already have them, it’s good for the chickens to eat them! Now the kiln.... well 🤷♀️
Ginger Golden
For starting over with no tech at all, visit Primitive Technology channel.
There he made lime with snail shells
Hmmm. YT recommended this video today (3/12/20), are they trying to tell me something?
I love this video! The other day I was watching a WW2 documentary about food rationing and victory gardens, and there was a scene where a lady was putting all of her fresh eggs in a big pot of cloudy water (but it wasn’t ever explained for some reason) and I was really confused. Now I know what it all means! Thank you for amazing content.😁
No lie, as a prepper, I absolutely love your videos. They're educational, entertaining, and highly positive. You remind me a little bit of Bob Ross and Mr. Rogers, and I mean that as an absolute compliment. Why don't you have a show on PBS yet!?
Prepping for what?
As a prepper I try to be ready for anything from an EMP, to foreign hacking, from a complete grid shut down, to civil unrest. Lets not forget about natural disasters, here in the PNW we have annual floods on top of the threat of, earthquakes, tsunami, and more common mudslides; to the occasional tornado to name a few. Its not just for big events, recently I lost my job and I was able to feed my family on the stored previsions until I could find another one. I find it calming when my life gets stressful to have plans for what to do in a zombie apocalypse. I love this video and if I can save my girls eggs threw the winter that would be the BEST THING EVER!
this guy isnt on pbs because he isnt a sell out punk.as a prepper u should know pbs stands for propaganda broadcasting system.
robert joker are you suggesting that Big Bird is out to get us?
I'm glad he's not on PBS.
I was taught (at a commercial egg farm) to always store eggs with the pointed end down and the round end up. This is supposed to take advantage of the air space in the egg and delay they yolk reaching the shell. That could help explain why some eggs last longer than others.
I wish Mom was still alive so I could ask her whether the eggs on her farm were placed into the ash with the point down or up...
Rt Gall that is true, we do that
Egg pointed down
Sometimes its hard to tell which end is which.
if you are hatching eggs, putting the pointy side down is important. they are more viable that way as the air sac is naturally on that side for the chicks to receive oxygen. when shipping hatching eggs, its rough on the eggs and for better viability you put them pointy side down for 25 hours before incubating so the air bubble has a chance to move back into position.
I did the slaked lime with my chicken's eggs. After 9 months they taste like eggs. Yokes aren't as stiff as fresh, but they're fine scrambled or for baking.
I was raised by my great aunt and uncle. They were both born around 1903. They used this method to preserve the eggs during the non laying “season”. I don’t remember it cause they had refrigerators by then, but it was one of those “when I was a child...” stories.
Hi there! I really took interest in this video, because fermented eggs are well-known in my household, as both my parents are Chinese emigrants. We eat both brine and lime preserved eggs, although lime eggs are more of a treat (we can only get them at Asian supermarkets). My mom makes her own salt eggs: we soak eggs (raw) in brine for a very long time, along with some spices like peppercorn. The result is a salty egg white with a rich, sometimes mealy yolk. Since we use chicken eggs the yolk isn't very rich, but salted duck eggs will have a very fatty yolk. Lime eggs (century eggs) are preserved in quicklime, mud, and some other things (I'm not super familiar with the details). They have a dark, green/black yolk, a translucent brown white and a strange ammonia smell, but they don't actually taste too crazy. We eat these preserved eggs with porridge or very simple bread. You can eat century eggs by themselves or as a cold dish, but salt eggs must be eaten with something! Or else you'd just taste salt.
Thanks for sharing, it sounds very very interesting. I just don't know if I am ready for that..... but if the camera is on, I would do it.
I LOVE the century eggs too! Just had some for dinner, with soft tofu, soy sauce, sesame oil, a dash of sugar, and some cilantro. The egg is almost a condiment at this point.
I believe the century eggs are duck eggs encasesd in mud (containing lime water and rice husks; I seem to remember other recipes containing tea leaves). Don't know how long they leave them out for though. Probably at least a week, if I have to guess.
Once, when I stayed for dinner with a Chinese family, they had these salt eggs. I thought they were just ordinary hard-boiled eggs, and almost put ate an entire egg just like that! Luckily, the family managed to warn me in time, haha! They were really good though!
yltraviole Oof yeah even a Chinese wouldn't do eat the whole thing at once. Crisis averted!
I love black eggs and salted eggs, especially salted duck eggs. My Thai stepmom likes to put the salted duck egg in a bowl of rice with water added, and she'll steep tea in the water/rice mixture before adding the egg. the water takes the salt away and the tea adds flavor to the rice. you can add stuff to the egg/rice mixture or just eat it straight.
Read a lot of comments so please note- the more eggs you put in one container, the higher the risk of the simple weight cracking an egg on bottom. Our largest egg basket taught us how easy that can happen, which is why, even tho liquid greatly reduces weight, I will not store any lime-eggs in a container larger than 1 gallon size, and most of my containers are about half that size. The old saying of never put all your eggs in one basket is very true for more than one reason. Cookie jars, new and from Goodwill, are excellent for lime egg storage.
So, you have to leave them in the water until you use them? You don't just soak them for a certain amount of time, and then take them out?
Thanks for that tip! It will also make them easier to use.
Re: cookie jars. Shouldn't they be sealed?
Nice video!
A bit of explanation here if I may:
From a microbiological point of view, both wood-ash and lime create an alkaline environment. Many bacteria depend on their environment having a slightly lower pH (being more acidic) than their cytoplasm (the liquid inside the cell wall), using the difference to create energy by letting H+ ions (protons) flow through the membrane in a controlled fashion. The same principle generates energy in the mitochondria of our own cells.
So, by generating an alkaline (high pH) environment, bacteria using this technique are cut off from their energy supply. Plus, alkaline environments wreak havoc on the plasma membrane over time.
But of course we know how that works today...its fascinating to see these techniques used to such great effect by people who didn't even know for sure wheter or not bacteria actually existed :D
Severus Fumizuki
In 2nd paragraph...Plus, ALKALINE wreak havoc on membrane over time. Did you mean ACIDIC wreaks havoc over time?
george Lee Lime and wood ash are ALKALINE not ACIDIC. The two are opposites. ACIDS have a PH balance below 7, ALKALIES have a PH balance above 7. Extremes at EITHER end of the spectrum can have a corrosive effect.
Y5
Severus Fumizuki Cool. Thank you for that explanation.
@@juliebaker6969 truth! every seen people burned with drain cleaner? it is alkaline and it will eat your flesh to the bone!
This is amazing! Seriously, it is amazing how well old techniques for food preservation work, and if techniques like this are still viable, you could be prepared for all sorts of problems or disasters.
Plus it's neat to see people trying to keep these bits of history alive!
It's amazing watching these old videos, then going and watching the newer stuff and seeing how much Jon's presence on camera has improved. He seems a lot more natural now, particularly regarding plugging his products in the videos and not saying sentences that sound like something out of a BuzzFeed article (you will not BELIEVE number one, for example). He also seems to be generally enjoying it a lot more in newer stuff, instead of just imparting information.
*And 30% is better than nothing*
*_Me on every exam_*
Hahahaha something my 8th grade son would say "well, at least I didn't get a zero!"
Lol. So, not a man of this world huh?, God must love you. God bless.
1 John 5:19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
@@Anonymous-km5pj piss off cultist
Felix Argyle there’s no need for that on Jon’s channel.
I am now in the EIGHTH month of my egg preservation experiment using the Hydrated Lime. So Far, SO GOOD! It is working like a charm! I will post again in four months to tell how the experiment will have worked for an entire year.
E Devos, I started this and after a day or so the lime and water separated. Is this normal or should it stay milky white?
so how did it go?
@Helen Burnley maybe she ate the 1 year eggs ahahahahahah
Where to get the lime, a special kind???
@@clausroquefort9545 Things went wonderfully. I started my "Eggsperiment" in November 2016 with Eleven fresh organic eggs purchased from Costco. None of the eggs had cracked shells and I did not wash them. The eggs were placed in a 1/2 Gallon wide mouth Ball Jar. I used a serving spoon to place the eggs in gently to avoid breakage. I diluted 1 cup of Ball 100% Natural Pickling Lime (Food Grade Hydrated Lime) in about 4 cups of cold tap water in a separate Stainless Steel bowl. I poured in enough lime water to completely cover the eggs, then applied the lid and ring. Then the jar was placed on a shelf in my pantry, which is actually a closet beneath the stairs adjacent to my downstairs family room. I store all of my canned food (including home-canned food_ in this pantry, which is a COOL, DARK environment that never gets warmer than about 65 degrees F. About every 6 weeks or so, I examined the jar and removed an egg for testing by cooking and eating. The eggs remained fresh and edible until approximately December 7, 2017, when I discovered that one of the last two eggs failed and was spoiled. Because of the extent of the spoilage, I estimated that the last two eggs must have spoiled sometime in November 2017. I concluded that this liming method can keep eggs fresh for a maximum of one year, but I would not rely on it for preserving for more than 8-9 months to be on the safe side. The absolute key to the success of this method is that theeggs must be stored in a COOL, DARK and CLEAN place such as on a shelf in a basement or lower level closet in the home AWAY FROM ANY SOURCES OF HEAT. Storing in a Kitchen is not recommended. Of course, one must use good judgement every time these eggs are used and discard anything that shows any hint of spoilage (such as if the eggs FLOAT in the jar or in a bowl of water after being removed from the jar.)
I found an ancient Chinese preserved egg recipe (a missionary wrote it down) that included slaked lime, wood ash, salt, and clay. It is an alkaline preservation. Interesting that they had the components here separately.
Thank you. In what form was the clay used?
@@gosiajakubowski8905 All the ingredients were mixed with clay, then the egg was covered in clay. I had tasted these eggs ages ago in China, so I know they come out well.
@@wildswan221 thousand year old eggs?
Whats the recipe?
Century eggs
Funny enough, I can see the scientific processes used in using limewater and slaked lime to help preserve your eggs.
Calcium is the main element in both eggshells and slaked lime (calcium carbonate for eggshells, and calcium hydroxide for slaked lime.) Burying the eggs in slaked lime is a lot like covering the eggs in a stronger "powdered eggshell."
Limewater is slaked lime that's been dissolved in water, and it's been used for hundreds of years - the Chinese turned eggs into century eggs by coating the eggs with clay mixed with slaked lime and limewater. The Nahuatl (or the Ancient Mexicans) cooked corn kernels in limewater to make hominy.
I guess people today generally don't have to worry about where they get their next meals, so food preservation is a skill that's been overlooked.
The Mexicans soak their hominy corn to soften the husks. Mexican kids all have beautiful teeth.
Since a famine is being deliberately engineered, they should be concerned about it.
Corn (flint or can't, not sweet) was soaked in limewater for several reasons: to remove the hard coating, make grinding easier (with flat stones), remove toxins,. Most importantly, to make Niacin available and absorbable for humans. Corn was their main dietary source, without niximilization (or however it's spelled) people would have a niacin deficiency which causes palegra, a painful skin disease which can kill through infection.
We still use lime in water ehen boiling corn to make our tortillas. Tortillas are a base of mexican food and for some poor households tortilla and beans is the only meal they have for the day.
That being said, the extra calcium from tortillas helps a lot, you wont see a person with bad bones provided they eat a healthy amount of tortillas every day.
@@patriotamazon189 US dentists are amazing.
My grandmother used to store her eggs in flaxseed oil and I never heard about any bad eggs. She would keep the galvanised bucket on the floor and put a slate pad on top with a stone on top ,the stone had eggs painted on it because she had several buckets for storing stuff so each bucket had a pretty painted stone to let you know what was in the bucket. I don't think the eggs had any strong flavour from the flaxseed oil. Store for more than six months.
Where those eggs washed or un-washed eggs?
@@tamaracano7521 washed in white vinegar first, left to dry then put into flaxseed oil.
We grew up doing something similar!
Except we used mineral oil, instead of flaxseed. ❤️
@@glorygloryholeallelujah me too. Mineral oil is cheaper and easy to find. Ate some 9 months later as an experiment. The oil supposedly mimic inside of chicken.
@@ruthieohair4743 that’s what I was told too! 😁
My family said that it basically “tricks” the egg into thinking it hasn’t been laid by the hen and exposed to oxygen- so it kinda keeps it in a semipermanent stasis!💖
I’m *definitely* not brave enough to test it out-but I wonder what the *maximum* time you could keep the egg like that and it remained edible…😋🤔
(Or at least the approximate time, since all egg varieties and climates would differ.)
I love your channel! I've done a LOT of food preservation research and I've NEVER heard of this before!
Your research really is enriching the lives of so many people! Thank you!
This channel is a shiny pearl among the sea of nonsense. Great idea, thank you very much!
Storing eggs in salt brine is actually a very common method of preserving eggs in China. The two main methods historically, and even today were salting, and storing in lime. Lime and ash might be a little difficult to do at home, and while these are every day fare in China, may be too strong for western tastes. Salt eggs on the other hand are very easy to make and I do it at home often. Usually we get a large jug and fill it with warm water and mix in salt until it stops dissolving. After that we add more in just to be sure. When the water cools (we don't want to cook the egg), we pack in as many eggs as we can and cover the top with seran wrap, although any lid will do. It doesn't need to be air tight. Usually we'll let them brine for 2 months, and half way through we'll add in extra water as some will evaporate (also why we use more salt than necessary at the beginning). at around 6 weeks we take an egg out every week and boil like any other hard boiled egg (although the yolk should be solid, in case you prefer runny yolks). It's done when the yolks are dark orange and release a dark oil, which is considered a delicacy. Afterwards you'll want to remove them from the brine and refrigerate. These are indeed salty, and they're meant to be eaten with rice as a side dish, not snacked on. It's common to eat it with congee (a thick rice gruel) for breakfast. The yolks are often boiled and used in other dishes as well. Egg drop soup is very common. They're also used in certain regions in moon cakes, which are traditionally eaten during the autumn-moon festival, which celebrates the harvest. It's a little weird having a briny umami egg yolk in an otherwise very sweet tart like thing, but I personally enjoy it.
Interesting, but I use so many of the eggs I preserve in baked goods that I wouldn't want to have the extra salt that salt brine leaves in the egg albumin. Using Hydrated Lime and water leaves no taste and requires no refrigeration. My goal is to be off grid, no electricity needed for food storage if possible.
I’ve had moon cakes with egg yolks in them. I wondered why the yolks were so dark yellow!
@kkaradin no, thousand year eggs are made with ash. Brined eggs are the filling for moon cakes.
So are lil boy urine eggs so....I can't get behind Chinese techniques for egg preservation.
Yes, we let them soak in soy sauce for a week then make VERY tasty hard boiled eggs. Thousand year eggs which someone here mentioned is preserved for months or years in ash (depending on the consistency and flavor you prefer)... They're just given a sensational name: thousand year eggs.
Thanks so much for posting this video! My girlfriend and I just finished our log cabin and couldn't find a good way to preserve our eggs without refrigeration. You're a life saver!
from personal experience, rubbing your eggs in mineral oil and placing into a basket or egg crate kept my eggs 100% for up to 14 months. I rotated my stock before finding when they do go bad. the mineral oil mimics the protection naturally applied when first laid. great stuff!
Mineral oil is a by product of petroleum! It causes cancer!
I'd use coconut oil or ghee or even olive oil if kept in a cool, dark place, in place of mineral oil.
"You will not believe how well number one works!"
Clickbait in the 18th century
Not clickbait if it's true 😂
But I already clicked 🤔
Master of the Universe it’s not tho, only clickbait if you haven’t clicked yet
_Click-bait_ is used to _bait_ you to _click_ on a link or video, it's not clickbait if it appears 20 seconds after you clicked on it.
It would be clickbait if he puts it on the video's title, which he didn't.
@@this_is_patrick you just contradicted yourself??
nothing more comforting or dopamine inducing than a history teacher who loves history
I have nearly a gross of eggs preserved in this manner (lime water) from the summer when the girls are laying at a rapid pace. They taste fresh and last through the winter molting season. Great video, as always!
My grandmother's mother coated with wax (the kind cheese is dipped in) after lightly coating with mineral oil or tallow. Kept for months in the cool box
wax is how they preserve apples as well, those ones found in store are generally at least year old for what I have heard. but if its true, just goes to show how well it can go since they are so ripe and juicy. cant be year old apples.
Ive heard my grandma tell me the same thing about the wax. She said they would also store their milk and other dairy in glass watertight containers in a hole they surrounded with rocks in the stream (river) to keep them cold because there was no refrigerators yet.
@@housecat524
there was also a preserving method of cutting ice during winter and then burying it in saw dust. since saw dust is an insulator, you got your self a some ice for summer time.
Was gonna suggest this. Seems kinda foolproof.
Mineral Oil is from petroleum. So it is a poison. I don't recommend coating it for your eggs if you plan to eat them.
i love this guy. been having a crumby week, feeling really low, and watching these videos makes me feel a bit happier. thanks james.
I can just imagine how out of place the camera is in that room
Rusty Shackleford plus the store eggs....
Rusty Shackleford I like your name
You have knack for IRREVERENCE
Rusty Shackleford hahaha, this cracked me up
I just set up a lime bucket and stocked it with eggs. Now I will be checking it over the next months to see how they fair. Thanks so much!!
That's great. Post a comment here in a while and let us know how they taste. Hopefully the notification will still pop up.
I agree. Would like to hear an update.
I would love to hear the results as well.
Tell us if it's a success updated us
I'm commenting here so I can get a notification of your results.
Another tip I saw on another video - When you put the egss in the pickling lime, try to pack them together so the big end of each one is up (little end pointing down). This has to do with the small bubble of air in them.
I actually referred a couple friends to this specific video a month ago when people were trying to figure out how to store eggs outside of the fridge. I don't even have chickens but you wouldn't believe how many people with chickens don't know about not washing them if they're not cracked! Thanks again for getting some of us through this pandemic Mr. Townsend!
Me: It's time to go to sleep.
Townsends: These are the top 6 Egg Preservation Techniques
Me: Well well, then let's find out!
Love you comment this first one I have seen really limed it. I had been wo deri g about eggs
literally me right now
Me almost falling asleep: let's read all comments
@@spaceforthesoul6286 That's where I am too.
Very cool...I used to work at Renaissance Festivals, so this piqued my interest. So glad I found your channel! Endeavor to persevere!
I LOVE YOU ALL SO DARN MUCH! Thank you so very, very much for adding to my knowledge and some of this came from my little bit o time with my grandparents that foraged during wars, and for what I know I can do for my family too. Thank you folks. Best channel on Earth.
it is insane that we use water and energy, both scarce resources, to wash eggs, which then reduces their shelf life. I learned a lot from this video, thank you! The salt method seems really expensive. I like the wood ash method, wood ash preserves tomatoes really well too. The oil coatings sounds affordable and easy. The lime works probably in a similar manner as the wood ashes, increasing pH and reducing oxygen exposure, but lime is harder to find and more expensive than wood ash. Great video!
Excellent!!! Just what I was looking for. Eggs are so important in the kitchen. With eggs, flour, salt, milk, yeast, you can make so many things. Thank you for your perfect presentation!
The subject of food preservation in the 17 and 1800's has always amazed me. This is something that preppers would be very interested in.
I find it odd no one has mentioned this before. I LOVE water glassing my eggs for the winter! And so easy one ounce (weighted not measured) to one quart of fresh clean water. So easy. Another trick if you do not have a top put about 2 inches of cooking oil over the top of it to keep it from evaporating and just put a towel over it to keep bugs out. My eggs can last upwards of 18 months if I had to.
It's fascinating material you offer to your audience. Thank you very much for contributing. A heartfelt thanks!
I love all of this. Hands down the most helpful information helping me figure out my 1892 cookbook. Yes I’m trying the recipes. Very carefully.
Man, I really appreciate you bringing us this living history and enthusiasm. You earned a new subscriber.
If you're not a history teacher, you should be or at least would be a great one. Such enthusiasm and caring.
I remember reading about some early-20th-century egg preservation methods, and the most commonly mentioned one was "water glass", which is a solution of sodium silicate, that coats the eggs and makes them less porous.
Thank you for keeping history alive!
Its amazing how much history we forget. Great job bringing it back.
I was having a bad day and these videos calmed me down, so thank you for that. This channel is so neat I love getting lost in different worlds historical or fantasy but historically worlds have that added bonus of me actually learning something. I will subscribe now, God bless.
Did the Lime Eggs again in Oct 2017. I actually forgot about them until this month. I tried them & they are still great. The yokes break a little easier, so if you like your eggs soft or over easy, they may break, but I found if I break them gently into a small bowl & into the pan, less chance of breakage. Found no after taste. Just did 4 dozen more on Nov 1, 2018 & will try to do about 1 or 2 dozen every 2nd month. I stored my eggs in a cold room in my house. Temp is usually in the mid 50's in the winter & maybe low 70's in the peak of summer.
UPDATE - Just did my last 2 eggs from Oct 1, 2017 yesterday (Nov 30, 2018). The very last one was bad. Now it didn't smell or anything, it just looked like the yolk had developed it's own hard, rubbery coating. It may have been fine to eat, but I did want to take the chance. In hindsight, I should have cooked & tasted.
Hi, I am not clear of the lime recipe / messurement? can you share with me the ratio of water and lime? thanks!
@@2010Hals I dont think its that critical. And probably changes depending on your watersource. Its more "make alkaline water" than "65.2g per litre" 2 handfuls for a small jar seems about right. But i bet that changes, 4 handfulls if its snowmelt, one if its from a limestone well. And if its like most other "granpappys recipes", what works best is what works for you. Id just bung a few handfuls in, it'll saturate at whatever point, n excesses will precipitate. If youve excesses lime, it'll go sludgy. If excess eggs (n your gonna have more lime), well, eat alotta eggs.
I hear you can’t use store bought eggs, is that true? I’ve seen unwashed eggs and Mr. Townsend’s looked like washed, store bought eggs...
I've learned if a egg floats in a bowl of water they are bad. Because air formed inside to make them float. They sink of course they are good.
Been watching these videos way before the pandemic, taking notes. My husband always chuckled at me... now we're looking at a food shortage in the coming months. Got him to build me a coop and I ordered 10 live chicks...who's chuckling now?!
When you mentioned packing eggs in wood ash, I was reminded of the Chinese 'Century Egg'. While edible, I would say that they had an 'aroma' similar to Windex and a flavor that , ah, takes some getting used to. Plus they resemble more like boiled eggs than fresh.
Sounds pretty gross, the chemical that gives Windex it's scent is ammonia.
YES!!!!
Century eggs are made using 'base' materials...lime, wood ash, salt and rice husks or maybe clay to wrap the egg - which raises the ph of the egg and allows for long term storage. In my experience, it took about 5 weeks to get them preserved. I like them, so have never pushed the envelope on storage time myself, but have tried some at the in-laws that were said to be close to a year old. Flavor was stable v-a-v the newly made eggs. As for the 'windex' odor...eggs are sulfurous and I think the preservation technique allows the sulphur to come through a bit. Both sulphur and ammonia have similar effect on our sense of smell...in the end though - thin slices of these preserved eggs with simple rice soup is one of (my) life's little pleasures
I understand that store bought “washed” eggs will not keep well even this way. There is a natural preservative that gets washed away once they’ve been cleaned with water.
Thanks for all the awesome videos over the years.
This channel is instrumental in helping people to prepare for this time on earth with possible isolation due to covid 19
Shut up.
Big time
It's so old it's new. Great resource for inspiration from a time when immigrants had a brutal time surviving, burying their children along the trail. Quote from the Last of the Mohicans.
@@ShadowPoet you never know, dude. They may ask for a 30 day shutdown. Think of the elderly and those who cant leave their homes in general because of compromised immune system, now imagine a govt shutdown?
ihazpowrz you know what. Stop. Don’t generalize literally a whole group of people just because they vote differently from you. That’s gross, man.
Slaked Lime is also called HYDRATED Lime at the garden center. The lime water is how we store eggs. They will literally stay perfectly good for years. We use a 5 gallon Lowe's bucket. It even works for store bought eggs. The shells harden and are great in the garden. Not toxic if the animals get to them either. If you use too much, it just falls out of solution. No danger.
Thank you for your reply. I had this question in mind. Hope others read your comment.
Matches my experiences.
So true about the shelf life part. My neighbors who own a lot of chickens and they give away the "defective" double yolk (why you wouldn't want twice the yolk for the same price is beyond me) or too small eggs for free. They last so much longer than store bought eggs. Plus it's cool to sometimes see a bit of chicken feather on the eggs, reminds you where it came from.
How can you tell if it’s double yolk without cracking it first?
In most countries, eggs aren't washed and polished, which is why in the UK, France, Spain etc you will usually see eggs in the ambient section of stores and stored in cupboards rather than chillers.
Yes. When I had chickens, I never washed the eggs.
Ya, only in Anerica are we forced to kill off most of the nutrition in things to “make them safe”. God save us from the people trying to “keep us safe”. Might have a little something to do with why Americans aren’t as healthy as they used to be.
I loved your video!!!! Thank you SO much!!! So informative and easy to understand. We may have a time when we NEED to preserve eggs this way again in 2022.
Thanks so much for citing your references on your website. It's hugely refreshing.
These videos are exceptionally well produced and edited, and the content is fascinating.
We learned about this a few weeks ago and are giving it a try! Glad to hear it has a 100% success rate.
Jon, your videos are so informative and entertaining. I love this one. As we navigate social distancing, we see how easy one event can cause major changes in the way we live our lives. Your channel helps me learn things that very well may become useful if we reach a point in time where we may not have power or many other modern conveniences that we have become to heavily rely on. I have a sister in law who raises chickens. I think I will get some fresh eggs from her and try out method #1 very soon. Thank you, your family and your staff for bringing this time period to life and teaching us of these old ways. God bless you and may he keep you and yours safe.
That's amazing. I sell hydrated lime in 50lb bags at my job, a farm supply store. Most people buy it to kill fleas, repel snakes or inhibit odors. I had heard it could be used in pickling but hadn't confirmed it. I'll have to mention this to the guys! Thanks for the tip
Jason some markets have it, in the south called pickling lime,
We use it a lot in Latin America for candied fruits, and pumpkin flesh cubes , we soak pumpkin cubes 1and 1/2 inch big in lime water , then rinse them well, and then put them in syrup to cook for awhile, The cubes come out cooked but crunchy not mushy , like pickles. Eat with cheese.
In Spanish the name is Cal Viva, or live lime.
@@catalinacassineri6435 i would love to know more, i searched for "cal Viva", "live lime" and every combination of the words with pumpkin preserving, lime, Latin America cooking/cuisine/traditional and only found scientific stuff (not related to cooking directly) or random healthcare info. If you have the time could you please share a recipe and/or instructions? I have access to various pumpkins, squashes and gourds every Autumn and would love to learn another way to use, preserve or share the goodness.
Heather Cox the recipe is called “zapallos en almíbar”. or zapallo en almíbar , or calabaza en almíbar (con cal). In the U S You can use pickling lime and Squash like butternut , don’t use jackalantern type. Look up some recipes , there are several, ex: “ pumpkins desert candy version” or Argentinian pumpkin in syrup, The result is crispy and shine pieces of pumpkins. If you have trouble finding a recipe, I’ll translate mine. The recipe has to call for soaking peeled pumpkin pieces about a kilo in a mix of water and pickling lime for several hours about 7 (100 gram of lime per gallon of water let this mixture rest until is clear and when lime goes to the bottom then add pumpkin pieces ) . then rinse very well , then cook in a syrup for an hour. sorry I don’t have my recipe handy right now.
With out the lime soaking the pumpkin pieces turn out mushier. Check out TH-cam: ZAPALLO EN ALMÍBAR Matías Chavero. Or Zapallos al almibar, receta de Alba del Castillo en Bien De Córdoba (BDC).
@@catalinacassineri6435 thank you! So much to learn from other cultures, as well as other times!💗
@@catalinacassineri6435 thank you as well!💗
I like how the videos are fun, interesting, factual and he gives tips on how to purchase today’s equivalent food products.
Thanks so much for this video! I work at a historic site which is developing a hearth cooking program, and this is great info to add! ❤️🥚
such great videos - we love adding them to our homeschool studies - Thank you for the time it takes to put them together.
I've read historical accounts of eggs being taken by wagon trains out west, packed in barrels of lard.
Glad he mentioned the term Water Glassing. A few other videos on TH-cam about the procedure. Fantastic preservation method!!
What a great episode. This is information useful in long term boat cruising.
I just found your videos and I really love how they are very informative and well made. thank you for the info!
+Seth Counts Thanks for your kind comments!
+Jas. Townsend and Son, Inc. the nr 1 method with lime was used by my grandmother utill she died 4 year ago. 100% effective
+Seth Counts same here. Informative. stupid to NOT sub.
Here in Danmark Calcium rock (Lime) is still cooked in huge outdoor kilns then ground up, hydrated and used for paint, a very durable paint for sure.
Loved this vid. wish you would do more stuff like this that can be applied to shtf and survival/longterm food storage situations. preppers and survivalists will all love it. I in fact mostly watch this channel to mine it for ideas for surivalism hehe
2:45 I can attest to the shelf life of unwashed eggs. I lived in Jakarta Indonesia and eggs are only lightly rinsed with water, if at all, and are at room temperature - which in Indonesia is summer year round. They last for a long time this way.
FUN FACT: Indonesian eggs are brown, white eggs are considered to be better tasting and healthier!
Yes! When I was younger traveling I noticed all the eggs were sold outside of fridges. I got older my travels took me to Asia n saw the same. After all these yrs it took this vid n thread 4 me to realized the cleaning process is what causes the need for cool storage. I always did wonde as a kid how ppl ate eggs n other basics without fridges. 😂
Meanwhile in the USA brown eggs are seen as being better and are more expensive since most store bought eggs are white 😂
@@hyperbunnygirl101 idk there's a flav n texture diff in both the brown n white (that are natural) in other countries not here from my experience. Not sure why.
@@hyperbunnygirl101 We have 20+ chickens depending on broody Brahma momma's mood and the ambition of the local bobcats and coyotes. We get green, blue, white, off white, almond and all sorts of shades that Martha Stewart would patent and sell to paint makers... they eat EVERYTHING - from hamburgers to kale and pigs feet and flax seed. Sprouted wheat, fermented corn; it's a great adventure and the egg yolks are like a stick of fine butter in the pan. I used to cook and feed them road kill rabbits and squirrels when I had more ambition, but still they manage to catch and kill some mice and eat them raw. Chickens are Velociraptors minor. And geese are 2 legged locusts - very loving animals I have always kept.
@@hyperbunnygirl101 True! lol
I've learned so much from this channel. One of the best education channels on the whole darn interwebs.
I've had my eggs in a slacked lime mixture for about six months now. I took a few out for an omelette and had no problems. Well the one draw back is that the yolks break after time but it doesn't affect taste and they're still good for many purposes.
This is so fascinating! I was expecting to see eggnog or something similar, & definitely didn't expect the techniques to be so viable.
I've always wondered about old-school egg preservation, given how quickly eggs go bad outside of the refrigerator. I didn't know that part of that was the modern egg-washing process taking away part of the egg's natural protection. Interesting stuff.
"Great project for kids and way to connect!" Thanks for your video in this time of global quarantine! WA State
I took a course in food sanitation many years ago. We were told that eggs have a rubber-like membrane between the inside of the shell, and the egg white. We see that membrane when we peel hard boiled eggs sometimes making it hard to peel. That membrane is supposedly air tight and therefore, eggs are fine left at room temp. However, boiling the eggs breaks down the membrane so boiled eggs need to be refrigerated. This what we were taught in that course.
There is an air cel at the rounded end of the egg that functions as respiration. Is that a contained finite source enclosed inside the membrane, or does it have to be replenished which would allow air and so contamination through the shell?
Wow, that's fascinating!!! I just forgot I left the eggs I bought a couple hours ago in my car!! They were still cool to the touch, a few were slightly room temp. Hopefully their ok
@@susannefiore4338 It's a myth that eggs need to be refrigerated. Boiled eggs however, need to be refrigerated.
It's always nice when someone proves that our ancestors knew much more than we think today! Greets from Germany
My grandma use to leave the fresh eggs set on the counter just not washed. so when I got chickens I did the same thing. Ive kept eggs on the counter for up to 6 months of fresh non washed eggs. Before the frost would hit we would pick all the green tomatoes and bury them in wood ash so they would ripen and it would slow down the process.
Yes, farm eggs keep naturally for months with no treatment.
Green tomatoes ripen really well. We always wrapped them in newspaper, and pickled some as well.
Why would washing the eggs make them goo bad faster? That seems counter-intuitive...
Cyrene the Cat
Because when they are first laid they are covered in a thin membrane that protects them from outside contaminants and keeps existing moisture in the egg inside. When you wash them you remove this membrane at which point germs and bacteria can get in and moisture inside the egg can evaporate out of the egg. In europe most store bought eggs are unwashed (and unpasteurized) and many people still just store them out on a counter or table. But here in American they are washed (and I think often or most/all of the time pasteurized) and so need to be refrigerated. And the reason for the washing is because of Salmonella. There is a small chance of people getting Salmonella from unwashed eggs It is sometimes on the outer surface of eggs and then when they are touched or cracked to use it can get in the food and then into the people eating the food. It is not a huge risk but it is a risk and one the government decided not to risk so they mandated that eggs sold in American most be washed. This is not as much of a problem if you have your own chickens because you can control the living environment of them and minimize the chances of contamination.
Oh very interesting! Thanks. City-girl here, born and bred, obviously lol.
What about coating the eggs in, say, beeswax? I would think that would work rather well in avoiding evaporation while sealing the egg itself(also, it wouldn't be too hard to seal the lime water vessel with wax). The only issue would be preventing it from melting, so a root cellar would be needed.
That would be a good experiment to try.
I’m raising 11 chickens right now who lay more eggs than my family can eat but not enough to go into business with. We give some away but we still have a lot left over. I think I have found the answer for what to do with the extra! Thanks!
Fast forward from the eighteenth century to the late nineteenth and the great depression and water glass (sodium silicate) comes along. My grandparents in the deep south had a giant pickle jar filled with sodium silicate with a lid. It's thick and goopy, it's used as a last-ditch head gasket sealer and glue for cardboard boxes. They would thin their mix with cool water (hot water makes it turn into a glassy substance). My grandmother had a little wire mesh basket she'd fill with fresh eggs and dip it into the big pickle jar. She'd swirl it a bit and hang it to drip back into the jar. Her eggs would last at least a year on the counter in a woven wooden basket with a top.
Great video! Thank you for helping to keep the old ideas alive!
Had to scroll through thousands of comments to see if anyone mentioned sodium silicate. Good job.
You should do a garden tour! I would love to see how you garden and maybe even get some ideas from you! Thank you.
Ive found your channel whilst being in quarantine. How amazing and helpful this is! Thank you!
Absolutely MARVELOUS channel!
As is your channel, Patriot Nurse.
Wash your eggs, dry them, and coat them in glyserine. Lime is poisonous.
I agree with drdiannelc, yours is good too! But I love this channel too!
Saw your channel, it's nice, short, and straight to the point. I like it
Nothing like watching a video then seen another person in the comments I like to watch, ThePatriotNurse and Reid Henrichs.