Freezing Eggs

Two years ago when I was up to my eyeballs in fresh eggs, I decided to try freezing some as an experiment for preservation for use during the downtime of winter.

Being that I make a frittata most weeks, I chose to do a dozen eggs at a time. So I lightly whipped them up, some I added a bit of sea salt to and others I didn't. Into a freezer bag and the freezer they went. Yes, there are better options for this but it's what I used at the time :)

Make sure when you thaw them it is in the frig only, and on something to contain any leaks. Ask me how I know.

From there, use just ask you would fresh eggs. Literally. While the thawed out eggs look really odd and you don't think they would ever cook up 'normal', they do! I use them to make the aforementioned frittata as well as scrambled and you would never know in taste, appearance, or texture that previously frozen eggs were used.

Even one year old frozen eggs work perfectly fine. Again... I was doing a lot of experimenting. ;)

Tagged:
«1

Comments

  • Gardennan
    Gardennan Posts: 47 ✭✭✭

    That is great information to know. I have been wondering if they would have the same taste and texture. Currently I have 11 dozen eggs in my refrigerator. I think I'll try and freeze a dozen tomorrow. Thanks for the tip😁

  • Marjory Wildcraft
    Marjory Wildcraft Posts: 1,615 admin

    wow, I would have never thought of that...

  • tonya.beech
    tonya.beech Posts: 5 ✭✭✭

    Great to know!! Our chickens just started laying so very excited but we are getting a lot per day. I think we got too many but they were soooo cute! How can you resist!

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    We have done this as well. Whipping is important. We added nothing extra.

    Some people put them in ice cube trays, but we put 2 at a time in a bag instead. We use a lot for baking as well as eating as eggs, so freezing 2 at a time was our choice. We could scale up as needed.

    Supposedly they are at their best (nutritionally) up to 3 months frozen, but we used them past that time frame with good results.

  • DeeperEating
    DeeperEating Posts: 63 ✭✭✭

    This is a great tip! I don't have chickens myself just yet but have friends that often give me their extras and it can get a little wild. Does anyone have experience freezing quail or duck eggs as well? Are there any differences?

  • Ronda Jones
    Ronda Jones Posts: 3

    We currently only get between two and three eggs a day. When our six pullets start to lay, I will be using this method for sure! :)

  • WendySue
    WendySue Posts: 28 ✭✭✭

    Thank you for this info! I was just thinking about this a couple days ago. I don't have chickens, but I can buy really nice brown free-range eggs at a local all natural store. I eat a lot of eggs, and some weeks it's my main staple....I just crave them. It's great to know how you do it.....thanks again!

  • tammyrichardsmt9
    tammyrichardsmt9 Posts: 109 ✭✭✭

    We use ice cube trays to freeze our eggs. I have used them for baking and for scrambling. It is a great way to keep extra eggs and to have good eggs when they stop laying in the winter.

  • JOBallinger
    JOBallinger Posts: 15 ✭✭✭

    I have never frozen eggs but we are experimenting with preserving eggs using hydrated lime. It has been a few months now but we are waiting until Winter to try them out.

  • Sarah Lam
    Sarah Lam Posts: 3 ✭✭✭

    I freeze eggs in the shell, when there's too many in the spring. First carefully wash them with a hot damp dishcloth or under a small stream of running hot water, then dry the eggs. (Water that's colder than the egg will cause bacteria to be drawn into the egg through the pores; and submersing the eggs in a bowl of water will cause water pressure to push bacteria through the shell - info found through research, I'm no scientist.)

    In my old refrigerator, food pushed to the back often gets frozen - so my breakfast eggs got frozen. Yes, the shells cracked. I rinsed them under hot water a bit, and peeled the shells off, and put them into the heated oil in the frying pan. Then I put the lid on (is this called poaching?), and check 2 or 3 times until they're done, shaking the steam water off the pan lid before I put it back on the pan. I don't scramble or turn them, just make sure the whites are solid white. (This is how I usually cook our breakfast eggs when they're not frozen.) I served them to my husband and son, and they never noticed anything different - I even asked if they noticed! The yolks cooked as very round balls, the whites were very flat - but they tasted the same!

    So now I freeze them in plastic egg cartons in the freezer and eat them in winter when the hens aren't laying much. I usually take the eggs out of the freezer and place in a bowl to thaw overnight; the shells close up and some of the white leaks out. I've also made pancakes with them by mixing the batter in a Vitamix blender; that worked fine. I've chopped the yolks into little pieces and poured the eggs over stir-fried vegetables to make a fritata in the oven; the pieces of yolk stayed on top and the whites soaked in - it was beautiful and delicious.

    It would not work to make mayonnaise or hard-boiled eggs or scrambled eggs. I haven't tried cookies or cakes but it would take a blender to "smithereen" the yolk; freezing makes the yolk about the texture of a hard-boiled egg yolk. I fry 8 or more eggs in a 10" frying pan; less eggs and the yolk will roll off the spatula when you try to take it out. Thawed egg white is like water, it does not gather around the yolk.

    When I researched, the reason I found that it's "not safe to freeze eggs in the shell" is because bacteria would get into the egg. Since I wash my eggs, that makes no sense to me. If an egg is so dirty and stained it won't come clean, I don't freeze it (but I do use it fresh). So if you crack your eggs into a bowl, whip them up, freeze them in ice trays, transfer to storage bags - and bacteria is not a problem, but a shell is? We've been eating these frozen eggs 3 or 4 years now and no problems.

    So try at your own risk, as it's not "officially" approved. I never give frozen eggs to anyone, as they may let them be thawed and kept in the frig just like store-bought. I have never tried that and don't know how well thawed eggs would keep, plus the whites leak.

  • RustBeltCowgirl
    RustBeltCowgirl Posts: 1,403 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Great tip. Will be trying that with the cost of eggs going up.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @Sarah Lam I am thinking that salmonella might be the biggest cause for concern (right after visibly dirty eggs). I also think that if eggs are frozen in the coop before collection, those should certainly be discarded, as I am sure you will agree. That carries high risk, which should be obvious.

    If you want to make sure salmonella (which is spread by mice/rodents & wild birds in the coop) is not a factor, you might want to spray the eggs with vinegar after giving them a rinse. If you let them sit for a time (I think I read 20 min), it will kill the salmonella. Then you could rinse the vinegar off. Any concern of compromise to the shell shouldn't be a factor since they are being frozen anyway.

    I have never frozen eggs in shell on purpose.


    After all of that, I would like to welcome you to the TGN forum.

    When you have a moment, take some time to leave a short introduction in the Introductions thread & check out the forum rules & FAQ. I will leave a couple handy links for you below.

    Introductions:

    https://community.thegrownetwork.com/categories/introductions

    Rules& FAQ:

    https://community.thegrownetwork.com/categories/our-front-porch-welcome%21-%28please-read-before-posting%29

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    I have never frozen eggs on purpose but have experienced frozen eggs due to fridges that weren't working properly. I have used them as is, peeling the shell off and letting them melt/cook in the pan or on the grill.

    My mother talked about water glassing (hydrated lime) for eggs in her youth but never did it in my memory as we always had refrigeration.

    @Sarah Lam Welcome to TGN's forum!

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I have frozen eggs in plastic ice trays like @tammyrichardsmt9 had done with good success. Latley I have thought of making a scrambled egg mixture like you can buy in ther stores. It would make a fast breakfast when your short on time

  • Sarah Lam
    Sarah Lam Posts: 3 ✭✭✭

    @LaurieLovesLearning Thanks for the vinegar information. I forgot to mention, that when I use frozen eggs, I always cook them , and never use them raw. And any eggs that are frozen or cracked otherwise before collection are discarded (buried in the garden. So far they've never been dug up by the numerous wild critters around!).

  • marjstratton
    marjstratton Posts: 1,132 ✭✭✭✭

    I had always heard that frozen egg yokes are as hard as golf balls! Good to know that they are still usable.

  • dipat2005
    dipat2005 Posts: 1,289 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Thanks for all the great tips. I have been wondering about freezing eggs for a long time.

  • frogvalley
    frogvalley Posts: 675 ✭✭✭✭

    I used to save leftover bread in a bag in the freezer. When there was plenty in the bag, I made a frittata on the wood stove with the bread. It was great because I used an iron stock pot with a lid and it NEVER burned even if I forgot it for a few hours. Do you think I could just throw in eggs and cut vegetables as the opportunity arises (like when using celery for a chicken recipe, just throw a little into the frittata bag). Then as the bag fills enough for a meal, it's like instant dinner.

    Or do you think the bacteria would thrive?

  • Kelley
    Kelley Posts: 140 ✭✭✭

    My problem with freezing eggs is the planning needed to use them. I rarely remember to get them out ahead of time.

  • Silkiemamuska
    Silkiemamuska Posts: 99 ✭✭✭

    I have been freezing eggs by the dozen for several years. My go to recipe is has been quiche which is a lot like pizza - anything can go in it!

  • SuperC
    SuperC Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭

    @twohunnyz amazing eggy news! I’ll be sharing this with friends :) in the frozen northern tundra.

  • Michelle D
    Michelle D Posts: 1,465 ✭✭✭✭✭

    This is all wonderful information. Thanks to everyone for sharing. I have always been told that you can not freeze raw egg. My mother would always cook them into one recipe or another before freezing them. It was usually some sort of egg bake or quiche. Can anyone tell me if there would be a taste/texture difference between an egg bake made then frozen vs frozen eggs made into an egg dish? I will probably play around with it a bit either way.

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My quail eggs never make in long enough to freeze. I love to boil them. They are a fast protein snack and pickle so easily when they are that small. And pickled eggs do not last in this house. Pickled eggs also make great bribery material in my house!

  • Owl
    Owl Posts: 346 ✭✭✭

    We used this method and forgot about them for about 18 months. Right in the middle of the grocery store rush, when I didn’t have enough eggs for a recipe, we pulled them out and no one knew the difference.

  • John
    John Posts: 163 ✭✭✭

    Awesome! One of the reasons I love this site-I learn something new all the time. :)

  • toseepop
    toseepop Posts: 3

    Anyone ever try dehydrating eggs?

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin
    edited February 2021

    Welcome to the forum, @toseepop!

    When you get a moment, please skip over to the Rules & FAQ sections to become familiar with how things work here. There are a lot of helpful tips about how to navigate the forum in the FAQ.

    It would also be good to leave a short intro (where you are from) in the Introductions section. This was put together to help like minded people in more localized areas find each other to network.

    I will leave a couple links below for your convenience:

    https://community.thegrownetwork.com/categories/our-front-porch-welcome%21-%28please-read-before-posting%29

    https://community.thegrownetwork.com/categories/introductions

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @toseepop Welcome!

    My friend has a new freeze dryer and has been experimenting. Not sure how eggs work in a regular dehydrator but they work very well in the freeze dryer.

    I think a dehydrating course would be a good addition for the Academy as there has been quite a bit of discussion about dehydrating on the forum.

  • Michelle D
    Michelle D Posts: 1,465 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @toseepop I haven't tried it myself. I took a class a few months ago that touched on dehydrating eggs. The instructor said that she does do it, but they must still be stored in the refrigerator. She preps the eggs by beating them and spreading them evenly on parchment paper on her trays. She drys them at 125°F for 4-12 hours depending on how many she is doing until they are brittle and shiny. Then she makes it into a powder. This only adds a few months to the shelf life.