In my chicken and egg update post, I mentioned wanting to try freezing some of our extra eggs. They would be great for use this winter, when we will likely get none. Freezing eggs is something I've never done before, but I wanted to give you the steps in pictures (hee hee, this is actually so I have a reference for myself in the future). I followed the directions from the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
I probably don't have to tell you that farm eggs should be individually cracked open into a separate container before adding to anything. I'm pretty confident that mine are all fresh, but it isn't unheard of for folks to find developing chicks in them.
The eggs are then beaten, to mix the whites and yolks.
According to the directions, the yolks can get grainy when frozen. To prevent this, a small amount of salt, sugar, or corn syrup can be added to the eggs before freezing. I opted for the salt, as everything usually has a little salt in it, even cakes or cookies. The ratio is 1/2 teaspoon salt per cup of eggs. I had two cups.
[UPDATE: 1/23/11: I found even this much made scrambled eggs too salty. Comments for my taste test post indicate salt probably isn't even necessary. The directions addressed adding salt when freezing yolks, but didn't mention whole eggs. Next summer I'll try freezing whole eggs without the salt.]
Hmm. It's a good thing I'm writing this post for myself, because I just realized that I added 2 teaspoons. :o
The next step was to pour the mixture into an ice cube tray. Supposedly, one can get one egg per cube, but obviously this depends on the size of the cubes, since not all trays are the same size. Now, according to this egg chart, a large whole egg equals 3 and 1/4 tablespoons. Well, my largest ice cube tray only holds a tad under 3 tablespoons per cube. I reckon the question is, how exact do I want to be with this?.
And the answer is, not that exact. What the heck, my own eggs are a variety of sizes anyway. Only my two Ameraucanas lay those large eggs every consumer loves. At least I'll have my own eggs for winter baking. For the record, it took eleven eggs of a variety of sizes to fill that ice cube tray.
The only thing the directions didn't mention, was that the frozen eggs bonded to the tray like glue.
A few seconds in warm water solved that problem and I was able to turn them out easily.
A quart freezer bag holds the dozen nicely. I did notate that this batch has extra salt.
I'm not sure how many I'll freeze, but I'm getting over 3 dozen a week. We do use a lot of eggs and give some away, but I'll make it a point to preserve as many as I can. I know I'll be glad I did come winter.
Now, curious as to how they turned out for cooking and eating? Get the lowdown here.
How To Freeze Eggs © August 2010
I've never heard of freezing eggs but what a great idea!!! I can't wait to hear how you like them.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try this next summer when the hens start laying at their peak again. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWell, that's the coolest thing I have ever seen! I will be passing this on to a couple of friends of mine who get more eggs from their chickens and any of us can eat. Waste not, want not, indeed!!!
ReplyDeleteI have never had extra eggs to freeze, but do freeze the whites when for some reason a recipe calls for only the yolk. How wonderful to have the extras for the winter!
ReplyDeleteI've never tried this, but I knew it could be done as my favorite TV chef does it.
ReplyDeleteNow what happens if your chickens continue to produce so well over the winter? ;o)
Barb, I will be sure to let you know. I doubt we'll notice in baked goods, but will definitely try them scrambled sometime, just to see.
ReplyDeleteEverett, you're welcome!
Benita, I hope this is useful for them. We aren't at the point where we have eggs coming out of our ears, but this would certainly be a solution for those who do.
Evelyn, I never thought about just freezing those leftover whites! Duh. Great idea.
Renee, if my chickens keep on laying over winter I'll be the happiest woman on the planet. Actually though, they will stop (or nearly stop) when they begin their annual moult. And since laying is directly influenced by the amount of daylight, I won't count on it unless I keep a light bulb burning in the hen house. DH is dead set against artificially forcing farm animals, and I do agree with him. The other option, would be to get a breed that does lay in winter.
I've never heard of freezing egg, how totally cool is that!
ReplyDeleteI've always wondered if one could freeze eggs but never did any investigating beyond asking those I know (none had done it or knew how). We're not getting the abundance we did in previous years, but this is still wonderful information that I will use, since I don't buy store-bought anymore. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteyes, I have been wanting to try, so really appreciate your post! Thank you, Good timing as I am hoping to downsize hens soon before winter.
ReplyDeleteWill I try this? Holy cow, yes!! Hubby and I have been having kind of an on-going discussion as to what we should do to avoid our terrible lack of eggs for almost two months this past winter.
ReplyDeleteI've read a bit on freezing eggs but nothing that seemed this easy and doable. I am going to do it!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the great tutorial and laying the ground work for all of us!
I had no idea that one could freeze eggs! That's totally cool!
ReplyDeleteThanks for showing us how...
This is great info, Leigh. Thanks! It seems so basic but oddly enough I've never even thought of doing it before. I'm definitely going to do this in the future. -Carrie
ReplyDeleteBety, my son works for a university dining common and he mentioned that they use frozen rather than powdered eggs. They get them by the gallons!
ReplyDeleteMichelle, now that you mention it, I'm not sure I could go back to store bought either. I'm glad I found this information and am able to share it.
Michelle, do post how this works for you! I'll be interested in what you think.
Mama Pea, this was the easiest method I could find and I'm always about easy. :) Yes, it would be terrible to be without eggs for a couple of months!
Sara, it was a relief to find out I could do it. We love eggs, but eating them for all three meals a day during laying season seemed a bit much. :)
Carrie, I reckon it's because we don't ordinarily find them that way in the stores. Mostly we buy them fresh, which I'm sure are better for most uses anyway.
Who knew?!! I buy Mim's extras and am happy to not have store eggs. I'm sure there are people who would love to buy some from you.
ReplyDeleteWow...Great post! Thanks SO MUCH for your step by step. I had no idea you could do this! Live and learn...and BLOG of course!
ReplyDeleteIt will be really interesting to see how you like eating them after they have been frozen. I have been freezing eggs but I have been boiling them first. We aren't planning on eating them but using them as supplemental feed for the pigs we get.
ReplyDeleteI have frozen eggs but neglected to add that extra something to preserve the yolk consistency.
ReplyDeleteGiven the commercial egg recall crisis, I'll bet you could easily sell your eggstras to your neighbors!
Hi Leigh, Sorry for the late comment!
ReplyDeleteWe kept a heat lamp running in our coop last winter as our chicks were born last Oct and were still young when the cold hit. We had a bitter frozen winter, which was extra specially cold when we had the 5 feet of snow in Feb. I was glad the pullets and cockerels had the heat lamp. And even though the pullets were only 4 months old in Feb, they started laying eggs in Feb and got "regular" by March. They all are morning layers, usually lay in the first 4 hours of daylight. I'm curious to hear how yours lay in the wintertime.
Thanks for the info about how to freeze eggs. I haven't done it yet, as I've been selling all my extra eggs to neighbors and co-workers. Everyone loves farm fresh eggs!
~Lynn
Cool! Maybe you have updated on this since and I haven't gotten to it yet, but my question would be...how are the frozen eggs working out for you and what all do you use them for?
ReplyDeleteDiana, good question! Actually, I haven't had to use them yet. I'm still getting 1 or 2, sometimes 3 eggs every day or so, and that's enough for now. When I do try the frozen ones, I'll experiment, and probably give an update on a future "Around the Homestead" post.
ReplyDeleteWow, finally something I know about,
ReplyDeleteIve been freezing eggs for years...
It works great and better if you thaw them slowing in the refer before you need them. I freeze 6 egg blocks in a tupperware container,flip them out and put them in a freezer bag. Ive never added salt and have never had Grainy eggs.
Rhode Island Reds....
Preppernovice, I appreciate knowing that about the salt. The directions I followed mentioned needing an additive especially for the yolks, but really didn't address freezing whole, beaten eggs. My next go-round, I'll skip the salt. :)
ReplyDeleteNot sure if everyone knows this but if chickens are provided warm water in winter, they should lay about all year. We have a heater in their water and normally get eggs even on the coldest days.
ReplyDeleteInteresting you should mention that. We had a discussion about eggs and egg laying on another series of posts. We didn't heat last winter and still managed to get a few eggs everyday. A heater in the water though, would be a good idea and interesting experiment to blog about. Thanks for the idea.
ReplyDeleteFantastic post. Thanks so much for this. I'm going to add this to NZ Ecochick's facebook page.
ReplyDeleteMadeleine, thanks! I appreciate the comment, the link, and the heads up. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post, I've links it too thanks to NZEcochick. How long can you freeze the eggs for -
ReplyDeleteKris, good question. I started freezing them in August of 2010, and over several months ended up with 13 dozen in the freezer. I thought I'd use them that winter, but I still got about 3 eggs a day all winter. I just started using those same frozen ones in October 2011, when my hens moulted all at the same time and egg production dropped drastically. So they've been in the freezer for over a year and still taste and cook up fine. My DH has very sensitive taste buds and if they were freezer burnt, he'd let me know right away! I do plan to use them up this winter though. I'll definitely be freezing more next time I have more eggs than I can use.
ReplyDelete