Long Term Egg Storage – 6 Month Test – Volusia County Prepping

(Part 1 of 2 – Click HERE for Part 2)

Eggs are called “The Perfect Protein” for good reason, and they should be part of your food storage program. The most common method in use today is to store dried eggs, but in the 1700’s, other methods were used. In this case, we are using Lime water. This video shows how it is done.

The Lime/Water mixture is not critical. We used one cup of lime in a gallon of water. This gave a small amount of lime sediment, which would indicate that the mixture was saturated. Adding any more lime would just result in more wasted sediment at the bottom, making it messier to deal with.

This test was done using a half-gallon glass jar. For regular storage, we are using a 3-gallon Ohio Stoneware crock (link), with lid (link), kept in a large feed bucket. Be sure to read Part 2 to see what we would do different – lessons learned.

Note that we used a piece of wax paper between the jar and the lid. This is to avoid any corrosion of the metal jar lid (none was noted at 6 months).

Six Month Test Results:

Appeared to be near-perfect preservation
No unusual smell or taste or color
The yolk was not as firm, and it easily broke when added to a frying pan.
While the fried egg was quite good, the weaker yolk means it would probably be better suited to scrambling or baking.
No detectable taste difference between the day-old and the 6-month old egg.
This 6-month test was done on June 15, 2021. The eggs were gathered over a period of a week or two, and were kept at room temperature before being immersed in the lime water.

A few things to keep in mind:

Use either glass or ceramic for the container – NEVER use metal, since it will react with the lime.
Consider keeping the container inside of a bucket to protect it from breakage and make it easier to handle.
Be sure to use a container with a wide enough mouth to allow you to carefully remove the eggs without breaking them.
Eggs MUST be fresh, clean, and unwashed. Store-bought eggs will not work since the protective “bloom” layer has been washed off during processing.